Where it all began?

Rating: 6/10 (22 June 2005)

STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE is an interesting place to start the STAR WARS saga. Although it has taken me a while, I have grown to really like watching this film. It is, in my humble opinion, every bit as good as the original STAR WARS (A NEW HOPE).
The dialog is comparable (meaning that it is god-awful); the acting is about the same (sub-par in most respects) but has some notable exceptions (such as Liam Neeson's performance, which I consider to be as good as Sir Alec Guinness' performance in STAR WARS).
My one complaint in the film? Jake Lloyd.
"What?" you ask... "Not Jar Jar Binks?" No. I have no trouble with Jar Jar Binks what-so-ever. Although, admittedly, I had some trouble with the character after my initial viewing of the film, I have come to realize that Jar Jar is no more annoying than C3P0... in other words, this is a movie designed to be entertaining to kids at the ages of 10-14; and as an adult, I need to re-capture that 10-14 year old kid inside me in order to fully appreciate it. Jar Jar is fun when you look at him in that light.
But Jake Lloyd... it is not his fault really, it is just that George decided to make Anakin too young in this film. Had Anakin been a 14-year old instead, much of the things that he does would have made a lot more sense. Watch the film -- imagine Anakin as a 14-year old and I think you will see what I mean.
And back to my initial comment: once you start putting together the plot that extends from this film to Episode III, you see why this film begins when it does. But let's face it -- the sage of Star Wars actually begins much, much earlier. It would be very interesting to go back a thousand years and tell those tales...