Disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 1999)

Compared with the original trilogy, I am disappointed with Phantom Menace. I can't believe that the same person (Lucas) that wrote and directed ep 4 also did ep 1.
The chemistry between characters in ep 4 is nowhere to be seen in ep 1. At least Luke, Leia and Solo had ambitions. And when they were together they were always on each others case even though deep inside you knew they were just pushing each other to be better. The same cannot be said with Qui-Gon and Obi-Won. They act more like robots whose only ambition is to protect the Queen. They are always SO SERIOUS. They need to loosen up. The only interesting characters are Anakin and the Queen when she takes her makeup off.
It seems that comic relief in ep 1 is the "exclusive right" of Jar Jar Binks. Problem is he isn't funny, even when you can understand what he is saying. R2-D2 and C3-P0 his is not.
The bad guys also do not compare to ep 4. Darth Maul is the evil guy in ep 1. You know how you can tell? He's the one with evil makeup. Other than that we know absolutely nothing about him nor what he has done to become evil. When the good guy dies, we do not cry. When the bad guy dies, we do not cheer. Actually one person clapped. It was easy to count through all the silence.
Special effects in this movie are the reason to go see it. The computer generated characters and scenery look very very good. The only problem with the digital characters is they still don't look real when they walk. It would look better if you dressed somebody up in a costume. The pod race was excellent (although a little reminiscent of the chariot race in Ben-Hur).