What went wrong!? *sob*

Rating: 5/10 (8 December 2004)

I can remember being a fairly big fan of Star Wars after my parents took me to the cinema to see 'Return Of The Jedi' when i was only seven. I was awe struck and instantly started to collect the weekly 'Return Of The Jedi' comic book. Round about 1984 in the comic it said that there were plans to make the 3 prequels but it was all hush hush. I remember thinking how awesome it would be. Well, as we all know the Star Wars prequels were along time away from being made in 1984 so when 13 years later i heard there were plans to actually make them with the latest effects i was over-joyed. Hmmm, i think you know where i'm going with this. I waited for two more years and when i finally got to see the first of the long awaited prequels. That's the day i lost my faith in George Lucas and CGI.
I was extremely disappointed. I mean it is called 'Star Wars' and it has Jedi's and light sabre's in it. It also has the Emperor in it but it totally did not feel like a Star Wars movie. I really don't know where to begin.
The Structure was poor for a start. The first couple of minutes at the beginning was fine then it just lost it. Talk about rushed scenes. One minute Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are sitting in a room on a Trade Federation starship and the next they're on Naboo with Jar Jar and then 30 seconds later they're in an underwater city. I was like "what's just happened?!". The plot is weak as heck too. Darth Maul was under-used and had very little depth to his character. There was far too much CGI used which made me feel like i was watching an animated movie. The film is just so very shallow. I didn't even care when Anakin blew up the Trade Federation ship at the end. Also, there is Jar Jar Binks who is by far the most annoying character ever! He is so much the definition of something that was supposed to be funny but ended up so not being. What was Lucas thinking!!!? About 95% of people who have watched 'The Phantom Menace' hated that floppy eared t**t! This is probably the reason why Jar Jar is hardly in 'Attack Of The Clones'.
I basically think that the actors did a decent job, all the blame is Lucas's fault. I really was disheartened. I watched it again the other day just to see if i was really being too harsh on it and y'know, i disliked it even more. As a movie on its own it's average but because it was the first ever Star Wars episode and that i had waited about 15 years to watch it it was quite poor. The pod race was pretty cool though. 'Attack Of The Clones' is better but not by much. I just pray to god that 'Revenge Of The Sith' gets it right. 'The Phantom Menace' in many peoples opinion is a let down. 5/10