An uneven new start which dwells too much on childish aspects. Good, but only infrequently great - the Force is not completely back yet.

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 1999)

I'm throwing my opinions into a maelstrom! 962 people have already commented on Phantom Menace on the IMDB, so will anybody even see my review? I guess if you're reading this, the answer is yes :) Like the rest of you, I love to feel a part of Star Wars culture, and grew up with the originals etc etc.. So here are my impressions from a first day screening in Australia.
The film started and we had the blast of John William's great theme, and the intro scrolled up the screen, and soon we were on a ship and meeting the 2 Jedi knights. I have to admit I was frightened how I felt immediately at home, back in the Star Wars universe with the exact same atmosphere and aesthetics as all those years ago.
Unfortunately the film doesn't maintain this magic evenly, it comes and goes. I'd have to agree with all those who've been disappointed by the kiddy-esque qualities of the film. The great kind of human rapport we used to see between Han, Luke and Leia for instance, is hardly in evidence. I felt shimmers of it between Obi-Won (I loved Ewan MacGregor!) and his master, but this story is about introducing us to Anakin, and in many ways we are in a child's world, so to speak. And yes, the rubbery alien Jar Jar grated on me enormously! He really eats up the screen in an unhelpful and overly 'cute' way that even the Ewoks never did. If I had been Queen Amidala, I would hardly have relied on Jar Jar for anything, let alone arranging a treaty with the other major force on my planet!
And yet there's lots to love in this film too. When we do recapture that old atmosphere.. like in the climactic lightsabre battle! The scene where Obi-won is trapped behind the forcefield - well, that's my favourite scene. Very Jedi, very Star Wars, frightening and suspenseful. Accuse me of fidelity studies, but this recaptured some of those great scary traps-and-lightsabre duels at the end of Empire..
General reaction to Darth Maul has been 'great! wish there was more of him!' I suppose part of me agrees, yet I think Star Wars has a great tradition of briefly experienced villains who nevertheless exude great threat and mystery by their presence. Boba Fett, for instance. And I think Darth Maul is in that category. He exemplifies the Phantom Menace, stalking the good guys and yet we know nothing about him.
What else? Yes, more creatures than ever. Seamless CGI, hectic laser fights on the ground (the 'Saving Private Ryan' part of Star Wars) and in space. Definitely at the expense of story and character, which was Not Good, but impressive and a technological feat nevertheless.
Overall - there are some moments of greatness and charm in this film, and it was just exciting to be back in the Star Wars universe for me. But I wasn't there throughout the whole film - the childish aspects, some klunky dialogue and the deficiency of involvement between the characters made a disturbance in my force and would take me away every now and then to a much more mediocre and less interesting universe. Yet, what film could live up to this much hype, and to the hopes in my imagination after all this time?
I was excited, but also disappointed. I'm looking forward to having 2 more instalments of Star Wars in the near future though, and hoping they'll be richer than this film was.