A little review

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 1999)

So I just got back from the Phantom Menace and thought I'd give y'all my review while it's still fresh in my mind and hasn't been clouded over with ILM faerie glamour. Good movie. Visually stunning (bet you weren't expecting that!), all in all, a worthy successor (or rather predecessor) to the middle trilogy. Certainly not worth the hype. That's the unfortunate risk you take when you're George Lucas and have created the most massive work of popular myth in history. You f**t and it takes on almost religious proportions.
What I liked: The ship/hardware design - first rate (Doug Chiang is the MAN). Liam Neeson is always a pleasure to watch, although he doesn't really stretch here. Natalie Portman is strangely charismatic, and I think she did an excellent job. I'm also happy she's signed for the next two. I really think Ewan McGregor did fantastically portraying the young Obi Wan. He's got all of Alec Guinness's vocal inflections and facial expressions down. The lightsaber fight is incredible, but devoid of any kind of dialogue (as in New Hope, Empire and Jedi). The scenes on Coruscant (especially the external shots) are amazing, as is the scene within the Senate chambers. The podracing sequence lives up to the hype. The flying CG character Watto was one of the better executed creatures. It was a creepy joy to see Ian McDiarmid working the politics of the Senate, giving us a glimpse into his future as the Emperor (that's not a spoiler -- everyone knows he becomes the Emperor). The undersea sequences were pretty darn cool. The destroyer droids were genius. John Williams' score is wonderful.
What I didn't like: Granted, Jake Lloyd was only 9 when he shot the film, but the critics were correct in saying he's just a tad wooden. Mannequin Skywalker was the term I heard. The Trade Federation aliens were weak. And I have a basic peeve in the general design of the Gungans (although I kinda liked their special weapons and the beasts they rode), and the character Jar Jar in particular. Obnoxious. But not quite as obnoxious as Ewoks. Some of the aliens on Tattooine were pretty darn weak as well (on par with or moreso than A New Hope).
That's basically it: the good outweighs the bad, so it's definitely worth the place it will hold as the first installment of the most lucrative franchise in movie history. But even as cool as the new CG effects were, it still didn't have nearly the impact as watching the star destroyer cruise overhead in A New Hope. Of course, I was but a lad of nine. I have yet to talk to any nine year old boys about Phantom Menace, but I have a feeling none of this will be quite as revolutionary as the original.
And FYI, I share the opinion of the majority of Star Wars fans. Empire Strikes Back is my fave, still.