Disappointing At First, But Gets Better Each Time I Watch It

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2000)

I think it might help figure out how serious you should take my review by stating my stance on the Star Wars franchise to begin with. I am not a huge fan of the original trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi)...I think they are great films in their own right, I just am not that interested in the whole franchise. I also want to point out that I am basing my final grade of this film on it's own merits. This means I based my grade on how good of an action/sci-fi/adventure film.....not holding it in the same ranks as other films, aka dramas, comedies, straight out action, adventure, or sci-fi films...you get my point. Just wanted to make that clear as well.
When I first saw Star Wars:The Phantom Menace, I didn't really know what to expect. I mean I was just hoping to be entertained, not like others who expected this movie, along with every other film, to be a truly spiritual experience that grabs hold of your emotions and leaves you touched at the end. I just wanted to be entertained. Well when I saw the film in the theatre for the first time, I was relativly dissappointed...I didn't think it followed through on the standard set by the original trilogy and the dialogue,acting and direction were all sub-par for this form of movie. Well now that I have seen the film many times on VHS (bought it before hearing that Lucas was going to put out a DVD!!!) I think I can put up a good final opinion.
Now it is a rule of mine not to give anything away, so I will make my comments on the quality of the different aspects of the film. First of all,the performances.....or the lack thereof. Now I wasn't expecting much from these performances...but there is no excuse for how bad some of these are. Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn) and Ewen McGregor (Obi-Won Kenobi) as the Jedi are servicable, just "blah" acting but nothing too horrendous. Then there is Ahmed Best (voice of Jar-Jar Binks) who, when I first saw the movie, became the worst film character of all time, but after seeing it more and more, he isn't as annoying. The worst by far were Queen Amidala/Padme (Natalie Portman) and Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). First of all, I don't see a whole lot of talent in either of these actors in the first place...and this film just solidified my stance. Natalie Portman who splits her "acting chops" between two characters (....sorta....) and neither of them have any inflection, emotion, anything remotely human about them...again that makes sense for one of her characters, but you'll see. She is at her worst with Lloyd, where she looks so uncomfortable trying to emote that she loves this kid who is 8 years younger then her. Then there is Jake Lloyd...could an actor say more lines wrong? He makes Anakin into a cartoonish tough kid...nothing that makes me care about him in the least. He is basically what to expect from many child actors of this time, but I think I am just spoiled by Haley Joel Osment's Cole from The Sixth Sense.
The other aspects of the film were among the same lines. The screenplay, by George Lucas, is very lopsided. Some parts of the film capture the semi-serious tone of the original trilogy, while other parts (i.e. anything with Jar-Jar or Anakin) are worse then many other scenes of dialogue in action/adventure/sci-fi films. The direction is much alike. The scenes that you would think the audience would like to linger over....the introduction to Otah Gunga City.....he speeds through, and the scenes that should be quick and to the point seem to drag on and bring the pacing down. All in all it is much better then a majority of these types of films though.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this film. Based on it's own merits, it really fulfills what it sent out to do...be an entertaining film that doesn't make you think, but just sit back and enjoy it.
My Rating : 8/10