It should have been better.

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2006)

Every generation has a legend, every journey has a first step -- whether good or bad and I guess and Phantom Menace falls somewhere in between. If anything it introduces some of the characters we know and love but beyond that the story is pretty tame for such a supposed epic return to the greatest franchise of all. The performances aren't fantastic, the characters aren't very drawn out and it offers few heart-warming moments or characters as the original trilogy. What this film does offer however are great fights, special effects and chase scenes, most notably the Pod Race and the climactic duel which is sure to please the kids and fans alike.
Critics have mercilessly bashed this film for a number of reasons with the number one complaint being Jar Jar Binks and I have to agree that this film would've been much better without the over the top silliness character. Another complaint is midichlorians. Why, oh why take the mystique out of the force and reduce it to simple science? That really bothers me, because it's just pointless.
While the hype for this movie was amazing, the film surely was not and failed to live up to expectations, this is by no means a terrible film that a lot of people would have you believe. In the scheme of things, watching all six episodes back to back, it's definitely in the bottom two of the series, but that's not to say its awful. It could have been better.