Squandered Potential.

Rating: 2/10 (3 January 2020)

Well. I'd like to make one thing clear before continuing. I really don't like this film. I don't dislike it as much as Attack of the Clones but I still really don't enjoy The Phantom Menace. But if you do, then more power to you. I'm not going to try and take away any merit found in this film that I cannot see. I'll simply be explaining why I think this film is deeply flawed and not as good as the originals. As I said before, I think Attack of the Clones is worse and I would likely be crueler whilst reviewing that film but that's besides the point. The Phantom Menace is flawed because of:
1. A very VERY poorly written script.
2. Sterile, fake looking, poorly aged CGI characters and environments.
3. Questionable acting (mainly as a result of the two above points)
4. A bizarrely dull, politically focused plot.
4.5. A scattershot conclusion split into four different - simultaneous - sequences (the Gungan war against the droids, the castle infiltration, Anakin flying in space and Obi-Wan and Quai-Gon Jin VS Darth Maul)
And lastly, as well as possibly the biggest crime this film commits...
5. Wasted Potential
I'll elaborate on that last one later.
1.
The script is just a disaster. It's difficult to blame some of the actors at times just because of how inept Lucas' tired dialogue is. It is strangely focused on some sort of protection deal between a band of aliens on Sidious' payroll and Queen Amidala, for the first 20 minutes or so. The dialogue doesn't serve to advance the plot or develop the characters, it just enables Lucas to insert as many lame gags as he can as well as ret-con the universe from the originals. The introduction of "Midichlorians" was the straw that broke the camels back for me with this film. To take a concept so vast and mysterious as The Force and liquidise it into something so boringly tangible was crushing to listen to. It essentially voided Yoda's entire teachings to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back as Yoda explains that The Force isn't about the physical and yet Lucas literally makes it about how many "Midichlorians" are in your blood cells. Ridiculous and an insult to the original idea.
2. The CGI is astonishingly bad and has aged as well as I would imagine milk from the time of the films release has. It just looks ridiculous, particularly when considering how much time is spent with JarJar next to the main cast in which we are supposed to believe he is real. The environments look pretty hideous, especially during the Gungan war segment, which looks like the old Windows XP desktop background. There is just too much of it as well, far too much time is spent panning across fake looking environments or CGI characters interacting with one another. Not only is that just uninspired, it's not remotely pleasant or impressive to look at, quite the opposite. Some of the designs are plain ugly and honestly can be quite disturbing, particularly the Gungan higher ups. Fortunately they aren't given much screen time. The biggest problem this brought was the lack of authenticity to the acting. The actors spent the majority of the shooting inside a blue room with nothing to look at or interact with, which would make it incredibly hard for them to emote or be invested in what's supposed to be happening in the context of the film. Overall, the CGI that Lucas revelled in only serves to make the film magnificently worse. It is treated as a crutch rather than a tool to be used sparingly for the betterment of the film's visual style which fundamentally breaks it at its core.
3. The performances across the board aren't offensive, but they leave a lot to be desired and, in all honesty, some of them really are bad. Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson (the two leads I suppose seeing as there isn't really a main character) are both talented actors, but the script + the sterile blue screen environments they spent most of the film shooting in front of, caused them to falter. They aren't bad, just stiff and lifeless with little emotion or passion which is fitting given the conditions that they were performing in. But again, the film suffers from Lucas' poor decision making. Natalie Portman is ok I suppose, she doesn't really do very much other than speak to Anakin. Speaking of which... Jake Lloyd is terrible. Yes he's a child, but that's hardly an excuse because they're were a plethora of capable child actors out there that Lucas could've cast. The decision baffles me because time and time again throughout this film he proves he has no aptitude for acting whatsoever. "I'll try spinning, that's a good trick" a perfect example of Lucas' bad script accented by crummy line delivery.
4. The plot is a total mess. It starts with lame political debates to interactions with poorly rendered, horrific looking fish people to princess saving to pod racing and finally fighting a satanic looking man with horns to the death. The first 40 minutes or so are a total bore filled with mindless action and lame, unfunny jokes. The Pod race is somewhat entertaining but the visual effects are far from impressive. The final confrontation with Darth Maul incorporates highly impressive choreography and a wonderful score to accompany it. But for me personally, it's too clean cut and perfect looking. It lacks the raw emotion of the final confrontation in The Empire Strikes Back and especially Return of the Jedi. It's an epic spectacle but I couldn't care less about any of the characters because the film hasn't developed them enough, especially Darth Maul who mutters about three lines throughout the whole film. It's all flash no substance, the scale of an ocean with the depth of a puddle.
4.5
The conclusion is also a massive mess. In spite of what I said about the Darth Maul fight, it is by far the best thing about this film and if the conclusion had focused solely on it then it perhaps would've resonated more with me. However, it is only one quarter of a four part ending with the additional three sequences moving alongside at the same time. They're all not nearly as interesting or half as cool looking as the lightsaber duel. The least terrible of the remaining three is probably Anakin flying around in space, even though the acting is still very poor from Lloyd. The castle infiltration and the Gungan war against the droids are both absolutely needless and awful. The castle sequence is just such a bore and the war is an ugly, unfunny, chaotic disaster depicted entirely through CGI.
(Also as a final side note I'd like to mention how utterly rubbish the Droids are. Stormtroopers were very inept at fighting but they at the very least represented a physical presence of the Empire. The Droids get cut down by lightsabers like butter with a hot knife. They present absolutely no threat to anyone and exude no presence whatsoever. Not to mention they look terrible as well as they are entirely CGI. Godawful looking, easily defeated, pathetic toothpick robots that serve as nothing more than cannon fodder for the Jedi).
5. And finally, The Phantom Menace's biggest failure:
Wasted Potential. What do I mean? I mean that the film had everything it needed conceptually to be great.
It had a lineup of perfectly capable actors: (save for Jake Lloyd) Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Iain McDiarmid etc.
It had John Williams, the genius who composed the iconic score of the originals.
It had all new CGI potential that could've been utilised effectively if used only when needed.
It had a very interesting premise - the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader, and this would be the first chapter to explore it.
But alas, it managed to squander every ounce of potential and delivered to us one of the biggest disappointments in cinematic history.
I'm honestly glad if you can enjoy this film and the rest of the prequels for that matter.
But to me, these films are nothing but a painful insight into Lucas' ineptitude and ego when it comes to his own property when left entirely in charge.