dire, badly written, garbage

Rating: 3/10 (22 May 2005)

SPOILERS In 1999 with the release of "The Phantom Menace" there will have been quite an array of views about the idea. Was George Lucas going to create another amazing trilogy of films to rival the originals? Was he going to destroy the entire franchise through stupidity? Many people will have gone into the cinema with a feeling of dread. It must have been a shame therefore that their fears were proved right. Episode I of these prequels is an abomination and a travesty to the world of "Star Wars" badly written by George Lucas, it's one redeeming grace is the occasional decent performance by it's actors. Sadly though it is such a childish and uncomfortable film that it really should never have been released.
After political sanctions surrounding the peaceful city of Naboo, two Jedi knights are sent to resolve the conflict and bring peace back to the galaxy. Finding themselves on the planet though Qui-gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) work with Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) to liberate her illegally occupied home world.
Bright in colour and not much else, "The Phantom Menace" is truly awful. Written and directed by original creator George Lucas, the script and the direction are amateur in style and almost childlike. The finest moment in the entire "Star Wars" universe was "The Empire Strikes Back" and the reason for this crowning glory was the lack of interference from Lucas. Unfortunately for everyone though, Lucas has far too much involvement in all three prequels.
It is a shame really that so much of this film is badly done. Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman show signs of why they are such respected actors with masterful performances, despite having nothing to work with. Their roles are forgettable though when you consider two characters who make the film childish and incredibly tedious.
One of the most important characters of the "Star Wars" universe is Anakin Skywalker. Father of Luke, Anakin features in one form or another through all six created films. In "the Phantom Menace" we encounter him for the first time as a little boy, played by Jake Lloyd. Lloyd is not a bad actor for his age. Putting in a decent performance, he is let down badly because the character is annoying, infuriating and far too dominant in the story. His scene involving pod racing is particularly bad with visions of an exciting computer game clouding George Lucas' mind and commercial aspects taking complete control.
As well as the character of Anakin, "The Phantom Menace" also contains the worst character to ever feature in George Lucas' universe.
Jar Jar Binks is an ugly computer generated character who spends this film following around our heroes and constantly gets into trouble. Put in the film blatantly for cheap laughs and the approval of children, Binks is so unbelievably bad that there were even versions of the film posted on the internet where all his scenes were removed. He is an awful character and the one travesty is that we never get to see him die.
There is no excuse for garbage like this film. Blatantly after money, George Lucas managed to create a film high on commercial possibilities, but void of plot or entertainment. The script is badly written, the story is weak, the majority of characters are a nightmarish reality and the audience are leaving in their thousands. With this film Lucas managed to destroy his own universe and for many, he inspired terror about the remaining two prequels. Dire.