I had no expectations and came out disappointed anyway

Rating: Null/10 (4 February 2000)

Considering all the hype for this movie, I think I went into it this summer as blank as it was possible to be. I purposely I had found out next to nothing about it and had expectations neither high nor low. I loved the Star Wars movies as a kid, but they hadn't become a religion to me and it had been years since I had seen them. But I had good memories, you know, and at the beginning of Phantom Menace when the John Williams music started blasting and the "Star Wars" logo first flashed on screen, I got goosebumps because, amazingly, I was eight years old all over again. It was an awesome experience.
Sadly, it was the highlight of watching The Phantom Menace - everything was down hill from there. The movie's not outrageously bad (except for a few key places), just dull. Even the action scenes don't have much kick to them because nothing seems at stake, we don't care about the characters enough for it to matter who wins. Of course, it's the good guys who do win, but unlike the first series, this outcome never seems seriously in doubt. There's no villain here with the strength or authority of Darth Vader to pose a real threat - even Darth Maul, who looks awesome, has a totally cool way with a light saber. . . but someone forgot to write him a part. His lack of authority and screen time was one of the film's biggest disappointments.
At the other extreme, too much screen time for Jar Jar Binks. Now, people have been bad-mouthing this character ever since the film came out so I don't feel I need to add too much here - except to wonder, when did "comic relief" become for George Lucas a prime reason for creating a character? One of the great things about the first trilogy was that, amusing as several of the characters were, there was never one that was thrown in JUST for the purposes of laughs - they all had a function and were all competent within their chosen spheres of activity. Even the dreaded Ewoks from Jedi were preferable to Jar Jar since, as sickeningly cute as they were, they were also fierce fighters and were essential to the rebellion's ability to fight off the Imperial troops. But Jar Jar serves no useful purpose, is actually *inept*, and only remains alive through the whim of the filmmakers. Hopefully, this whim will run its course shortly into the second episode (though I wouldn't count on it).
Now, about that pod race. This thing has been getting almost as much positive ink as Jar Jar has negative; even people who pan the movie just love that pod race. I hated it. Several reasons here: 1)It had no real reason for being, except to serve as a show-off special effects moment. That is, it's connection to the rest of the plot was skimpy at best (SPOILER: what, Lucas wants us to believe that the *only* way two jedis could figure out how to get off Tatooine was betting on the winning of a 9-year old boy? Come on. Even Ben Kenobi didn't ask that much of Luke Skywalker when first taking him under his wing) 2)It was built up too much within the movie itself. One of the great things about the action sequences of the first trilogy is how casually set up they were; before you knew what hit you, the characters were off and running - either pursuing, being pursued by someone, light saber duelling, etc. With the pod race, there's all this talk about it and set up for it first, so that by the time it arrives it's actually anti-climactic. 3)The very notion of a central event like the pod race contradicts what we feel we know about Tatooine - which is that it is a planet of isolated groups and interests, with no central authority (no, not even Jabba) who would be able to set up an event such as this on such a wide scale. Oh well, guess we were wrong.
The special effects were impressive, I guess, but they cause the look of the film to veer too closely, I think, to computer animation - to the point where I began to wonder, "Hey, why didn't Lucas just hold on to Pixar and make computer animated movies like a Bug's Life and Toy Story." Those films actually have more heart and, yes, "humanity" in them than this one does - and they don't have to worry about using actors, which from the looks of this movie, Lucas dosn't really know what to do with anyway (all negative comments about Jake Lloyd are completely justified, while Natalie Portman, Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson just don't get a chance to do very much).
One final note: Lucas had defended this movie by saying it was meant primarily for 11-year olds, and not grownups. Hmm. Considering that this whole story arc must necessarily end in tragedy (the central character turns to evil), defeat (of the Republic) and even cruel disfigurement. . . I have to wonder, is that the best target audience? And is that the best way to approach and write such a story? Time will tell, of course, but I don't hold out much hope for the next two films based on this one.