Good-- up to a point

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2007)

Ah, yes-- Jar Jar Binks. The single most obnoxious character to ever sully the silver screen. As David Schwimmer once said on "Friends," it's "like the pilgrims bringing the Indians syphilis." The combination of Jar Jar and an Anakin Skywalker so "sweet and naive" he'll raise your blood sugars up to 1000 is why this movie only gets a 7 out of 10-- with a little help from Natalie Portman. (Fortunately, she doesn't have as big an opportunity to wreck this one as the next two).
Set 30 years before 1977's "Star Wars," "The Phantom Menace" is the effects-laden tale of how Anakin started on the road to Jedi knighthood. Liam Neeson is appropriately paternal as the mentor to Anakin and a young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and the film's major physical villain, Darth Maul, is one of the best bad guys in the entire series.
Also included in this slightly underrated adventure story are an exciting "Podracing" sequence, a double-bladed lightsaber (oh, yeah!) and a very well-handled battle between the aquatic Gungans and the manipulative Trade Federation. And while Queen Amidala's inner-tube hair proves distracting, it is a fitting beginning to a very popular and successful series.