Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Rating: 2/10 (18 April 2012)

When I first rented this movie at my local DVD rental store, I didn't have high hopes for it at first. But that's only because at the time, I had virtually no interest in Star Wars at all. One day after watching a review of the films, I decided to give the movies a try, and see if they were worth all the fame they have. But little did I know that when I first hit 'play' on that DVD menu, i had taken my first step into a larger world.
In the first half, I thought that the CGI and effects looked great. Now let me just say something for a second: Most people dislike the Prequels for overuse of CGI and not enough real things. But to me, the wonder and mystery of Episodes IV-VI works in a different way. Seeing all of the CGI in the Podrace, the Droids, and a few of the characters, I was stunned. I had never seen CG quality to such an extent before, and much of it really did look real. I had wondered how much work it must've taken to put it all together with the lighting and textures and stuff.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can move on. Personally, I didn't really find that much to complain about. I was able to follow the story just fine, and i thought the characters were really interesting. Anakin as a child didn't bother me at all, and i thought he was pretty likable. He had an interesting character, and I kind of actually felt sorry for him since he lived on such a dusty old planet such as Tatooine. When Jar Jar Binks first appeared, I feared the worst based on some of the reviews I saw. But in the first minute or so, Jar Jar actually didn't bother me at all. In fact, I thought he was quite entertaining and funny. For example, when he got his head stuck in the pod race electrical line, I was laughing out of control.
Now let me explain something else for a moment: Some people may argue that that comedy doesn't belong in a Star wars movie. But to debunk that, I'm only going to say this: In the Empire Strikes Back, remember when Yoda first appeared?...
Near the middle of the film came the saga's first chronological lightsaber dual, between Qui Gon Jinn and Darth maul, the movie's secondary antagonist. his motive is to wipe out the Jedi and overthrow the Galactic Republic as a a way of getting revenge. (Anyone who paid attention during the Jedi Council parts would know that the Jedi wiped out the Sith a long time ago, and Darth Maul is the apprentice of one of the last Sith Lords who want the Sith to come back.
Now that that's out of the way, let's move on. In the second half of the film, the effects only got better. The Naboo Starfighters near the end looked seriously real, the trade Federation battleship looked pretty wicked, and the battle between the gungans and the battle droids looked spectacular, but soon after this happened, came the highlight of the film. While the Theed palace soldiers are trying to take back the palace, they ran into Darth Maul, who had been sent by his master to kill the two Jedi and everyone who stood in their way to victory.
After that came the second best lightsaber fight in the entire saga. For one thing, Darth Maul has a double bladed (duel bladed) lightsaber. And I thought it was nice to see an update on the lightsaber formula. Anyway, when the fight starts, three key factors make it a great fight. 1 is the music, called Duel of Fates. no words can describe how well this piece of John Williams Gold fits into the fight, and the film in general. The second factor is the movements, or choreography. For the first time, we were introduced to lightsaber duels with back flips, jumps, several hits a second, and some seriously fast paced action, which the Original films seriously lacked from the reviews. And the third thing that makes the fight so great is the location its in. The Theed Palace reactor is such a bad ass place to have a lightsaber fight, its almost as if Darth Maul purposely waited nearby it so they could fight there. Overall, just watch the fight on Youtube and you'll see what I mean.
Overall, The Phantom Menace was a great entry in the Star Wars franchise. It's got great effects, lovable characters, a great storyline, and doesn't deserve all of the hate that it has. I highly recommend watching this any day.
I'd give this a 15 if I could.