George Lucas is rusty and it shows

Rating: 5/10 (1 June 1999)

The Phantom Menace was sorry. George Lucas has shown no growth as a filmmaker over the last twenty years but has increased his dependence on special effects to hide a lack of storytelling ability. The Phantom Menace has poorly developed characters, no direction to its weak story and plenty of ethnic stereotypes. One would think a veteran director in the 90s would be able to avoid such an ignorant crutch. The movie gets off to a horrible start when we witness his supposedly japanese trade federation officers embarrass anyone in the theater with any racial sensitivity for about twenty minutes. The Phantom Menace wasn't a letdown but it leaves a lot to be desired. Nothing can be expected from Lucas who can't take his work in a different direction and seems to be satisfied by gaining money instead of respect.