Entertaining...but "Classic" status is questionable

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 1999)

Although I'm a fan of the series (which I do think is deservedly a classic work of art), surviving the hype for Episode 1 was still an effort. As my expectations dropped, I found that when I finally did see the film, I got what I expected.
Overall, the movie was visually spectacular. The digital cinematography was awesome. Lucas really did make the worlds come alive.
However, the characters are somewhat cardboard. Jar-Jar and his faux-Jamaican speech inflection was utterly annoying. Honestly, I didn't know what he said half the movie.
I think the storyline was great, especially if you know a little of Star Wars lore. From this perspective you can truly appreciate the intrigue.
The single most horrible part of the movie though was the explanation of the Force. I enjoyed the mystery of its presentation in episodes 4-6. To explain it as some kinda organism (Microcholorides?) that resides in all lifeforms was an absolute travesty to the mysticism that was The Force. I find no need explain away The Force by saying its derived from something akin to Mitochondria. I plead to Lucas: Why couldn't they just feel how strong Anakin was with the Force instead of having to quantify it with a blood test?
All this aside...I thought the film was truly entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the force and lightsabers duels. Not to mention the uses of lightsabers that I'd only imagined. The choreography was spectacular, rivaling in my estimation even kung-fu movies. Darth Maul was awesome.
I do hope that the series gets darker and less child oriented in the future. It would also be nice if they brought back Darth Maul and gave him more lines.