Not Perfect, But Much Better Than the Haters Say

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2015)

So I've started watching the six Star Wars movies so I can go see The Force Awakens. That meant starting with Episode One--The Phantom Menace.
This is the one movie of the entire franchise that receives the most hate from fans. People dislike it for Jar Jar Binks, the pod racing, and a handful of other things. One friend recently said that it's a kid's move set in the Star Wars universe. I'm pretty sure they're all just that--but I suppose I comprehend the meaning of the comment there.
I tend to disagree with the criticism on most all of the above, though. This is not a perfect film, but it's far from garbage, which is why I've gone with 7/10 stars. There's good and bad here.
The good: I personally enjoy the story of the film. We are introduced to some new characters, and to others that we know from the original Star Wars series (Episodes IV-VI). Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader), Chancellor Valorum (The Emperor), Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2 and C-3PO all make their debuts and all receive origin stories. The overall set up for what is to come is pretty good, in my view, although there are some issues with the plot which I'll get to in a moment.
What I do like about the film, oddly enough, is the pod racing scene. It may not be for everybody, but I think it's a cool scene that sets up Anakin's story as a pilot well. I also think the background of his being born into slavery along with his mother is good for the later narrative. And, Princess Amidala is a good, strong character addition for the franchise.
I also am not bothered by the political nature of the film, which it sometimes is critiqued for. At least not the part that revolves around Valorem and the Senate. The Jedi Council baffles me.
Things I take issue with: Let's start with the Jedi Council. It's a bit later in the film, but without saying too much, basically there's a council of Jedi who are supposed to rule over how Jedi knights do stuff. Qui-Gon Ginn (Liam Neeson) openly disobeys the demands of the council at one point, and it's no big deal. That I thought was strange.
Darth Maul is a vastly under-developed character who exists purely for looks. He gets no back story whatsoever, and is one of the poorer elements of the film--despite his being the central antagonist of the movie's climax.
The other big thing that I just find weird is the huge age gap between Anakin and Amidala, who we all know are going to eventually have kids together. "Huge age gap" may be a slight exaggeration, but Amidala, the female of the pair, is played by an actress who was eighteen at the time, whereas Anakin is a ten year old boy. Maybe that wouldn't be as big of a deal at 28 and 20 or whatever, but the on screen oddity of seeing this young princess who's clearly of age interacting with this little boy, knowing that they're going to be birthing children together, is odd. And then in the next film, the new actor who portrays the now-grown up Anakin (Hayden Christensen) is the same age as Natalie Portman. Strange.
All that said, again, this is not a perfect film. But it does have its pluses. I disagree with the suggestion that it's not essential viewing to the overall franchise, as this is the initial chapter in the story of the Obi-Wan/Darth Vader storyline. Again, I give it 7/10 stars.
Side Note: I really don't have a big issue with Jar Jar, as I noted above. I did, however, find that the CGI effects on that character looked very odd on Blu Ray. Not the best effects there, which is odd considering the budget of this film.