Aside from the beginning, middle, and end this is dreadfully dull.

Rating: Null/10 (28 November 2002)

5 out of 10
The Phantom Menace is the introduction to the Star Wars saga, meaning it has a lot to live up to. For me, I'm just looking for good old-fashioned fun, but the movie mostly fails to live up to even those expectations. Yeah, like some of the previous Star Wars movies, the dialogue is horrendous and the acting is incredibly stiff, but this would all be acceptable if the movie was consistently entertaining, which it most definitely is not.
Is there anything commendable about the film? Certainly. The special effects are excellent and imaginatively conceived. Liam Neeson delivers a fine performance, easily the movie's best. And yes, the action sequences (of which there aren't nearly enough of) are quite thrilling, particularly the climactic two-on-one lightsaber fight. All this, of course, isn't enough to make this a high recommendation but sci-fi/action fans will see it anyway. At least this set up the far superior Attack of the Clones.