Stunning visuals, but is that all there is?

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 1999)

After waiting 16 years since the release of Return Of The Jedi, I ventured to the local theatre for the 3:15am screening of The Phantom Menace. As much as I want to tell everyone that this is the most incredible movie that I have ever seen - I can't.
Being someone who grew up loving and learning Star Wars, I am naturally predisposed to loving anything pertaining to this universe. Now that I have seen it, I so desperately want to feel that this was the best film ever, but I am left grasping for something that is just not there.
The Phantom Menace lacks the character, story development and intrigue that gripped the original trilogy. It seems that in his haste to create this universe, George Lucas has lost vision on what made Star Wars: Star Wars. Lucas has taken his folly of altering the original trilogy with computer graphics to a whole new level. The Naboo capital is breathtaking, Coruscant is overwhelming and the computer generated droids, Blinks and the rest seem as though they really could jump off the screen and be real. But something is missing in the CG effects that the miniatures of the original captured - that essence of physical mass that makes something "real."
So, in a nutshell, the CG work is incredible - but is that all we are left with in the end? I am always leery of any film that is supposedly from a different era using modern-day American cultural quircks. Jar Jar Blinks does this a couple of times and it just rings hollow and false to me. What's missing is a great and adventurous storyline - that's what we have come to expect from Star Wars and George Lucas and he has failed to deliver just that.
That said, I thought that the performances were outstanding. Natalie Portman is truly beautiful as Padme/Amidala, the Naboo Queen. Liam Neeson is wholly believable as a master Jedi who follow unorthodox ways. Ewan MacGregor is invigorating as Obi Wan Kenobi. C3PO and R2D2 are as entertaining as always. Anakin Skywalker is interesting and it is slightly unnerving to know the fate that awaits this bright eyed, young boy. Jar Jar Binks is the comic relief of this film, although there are many times throughout TPM that his dialogue is simply unintelligible because of the accent they chose for him.
Darth Maul looks menacing and the lightsaber fight scenes are the best yet. However, the film drags in a couple of places where there is just an inordinate amount of narrative and dialogue. I am disturbed that Maul is eliminated since I expected him to be a threat for at least awhile longer. The burgeoning relationship between Padme/Amidala and Anakin is fascinating and I can't wait to see more.
So, while The Phantom Menace lacks the intensity, urgency and intrigue of A New Hope, it still is a film that I recommend you to see - if only to make the judgement for yourself.