Fun, but not perfect

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 1999)

We all had such high hopes, didn't we? Unfortunately, no movie could ever live up to the hype of Star Wars 1, but George Lucas has delivered a hell of a good time.
There are some real problems with this film. Lucas is a creative storyteller who has crafted one of the most enduring mythologies of our culture, but while he is a gifted visual artist (with a little help from ILM), he can't write dialogue to match the scope of his visuals. Numerous lines seemed clumsy, forced, contrived... or just plain stupid - young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) yells "Yippee!!" _twice_. We know this is supposed to be more of a children's tale, but the dialogue is still lacking. Though Lucas provides some interesting backstory and scientific explanation for the Jedi and their powers, he leaves his audience with more questions than answers. Despite reported deficiencies in directing humans, Lucas' visual skills shine through, so he should by all means retain his director's chair for Episodes 2 & 3, though he should definitely seek another screenwriter to flesh out his plot. Beyond all this, the plot-revealing soundtrack title snafu was an unforgivable oversight.
Problems existed in front of the camera as well. Frankly, while Jake Lloyd seems to be a talented young actor, he appears to be carved from wood in this film. The extraordinary Ewan McGregor, who mimics Alec Guinness accent well as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, is sadly underused. The demonic Darth Maul (Ray Park), both frightening and impressive with his dual-bladed lightsaber and death's head face, shows up even less - and has about two lines to boot - leaving everyone wishing for more. Finally, the somewhat controversial Jar-Jar Binks didn't strike me as racially offensive, but instead as rather annoying (I'll take Chewie, thanks).
I seem to have listed a lot of faults here, but there's a catch: you won't care. _The Phantom Menace_ has an incredible visual magnetism that is absolutely compelling, highlighted by the edge-of-your-seat podrace and the breathtaking lightsaber duels. Furthermore, it's just plain fun. You've probably already seen it, so my advice is to go see it again.