What a colossal waste!

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2000)

Oh what a shame. Ok. Some context. There's no doubting that Star Wars 4, 5 and 6 single-handedly invented the "blockbuster" movie, made a lasting mark on a generation of cinema-goers, and created a mythology that will surely last as long as cinema itself and beyond. Whatever. We all know the score. George Lucas created a phoenomenon. But with Episode I, he seems hell-bent on destroying what he created.
"The Phantom Menace" should be shown to film students everywhere before being posed the question, 'What is wrong with this picture?" TPM isn't a *bad* movie, for sure; the galaxy far, far away has never looked better or been rendered so magnificently, with a detail that regularly drops the jaw. The vistas, the droids, the ships... and *that* pod race. George and his entourage have vision, for sure. But what is lacking, most definitely, is a story.
My God, George, what were you thinking? Taxation disputes and trade blockages are hardly the stuff that fits in to this galaxy that has been so close to our hearts for the past quarter-century. TPM starts of sure-footed enough, but very soon gets in to trouble and flounders. The story seems awkward, disjoined, and contrived. It trips under the weight of it's own pomposity, taking itself far too seriously. And the dialogue! Sheesh. TPM's stuffed to bursting with the obligatory backstory that frequently grinds the movie to a standstill, a smattering of action scenes, stilted "character" scenes that build nothng but boredom, and a finale that's on the whole ineffective and unsatisfying.
Granted, this is the first Episode in a 6-part saga, and granted that it certainly had its job cut out for it in kicking the saga off... but surely there was a better and more exciting way to do this! TPM could have been worse, sure, but it could have been a whole lot better, too.
Roll on Episode II, anyhow... but let's all hope and pray that Mr. Lucas comes quickly to his senses, and remembers that Star Wars is about story-telling, and not FX.