Phantom Menace may not be as disastrous as its reputation dictates, however it is still an embarrassment to the Star Wars franchise.

Rating: 5/10 (11 November 2017)

When reviewing Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, it is first important to note what it does well. The film establishes a decent Narrative, has brilliant special effects and has involving, if over exaggerated action sequences. Now onto the negatives-and there are a number. The script is awful, and George Lucas' dialogue is both laughable and ridiculous, although his direction is adequate enough. Some performances in the cast are soulless, Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker and Natalie Portman as Padme being especially poor. And then there's Jar Jar Binks; in fairness to Ahmed Best, he worked from a lazy script and lackluster humour, but his performance is the most irritating part of this film. The inclusion of his character in the prequels is one of Lucas' most terrible ideas, if not his worst. There are positives in the cast; Liam Neeson's Qui Gon Jin is fairly well acted, and Ewan Mccgregor does well as a young Obi Wan Kenobi. But these glimmers of hope are killed dead by the tedious pacing leading up to the climax. The character development is non-existent, and the plot is too straightforward and devoid of originality. Perhaps it seems that I'm being to strict on the film, but I have to give my honest opinion. There are elements of Episode One that I asked myself as to why they were included. When I compare Phantom Menace to Its counterpart, the original Star Wars, the gap in quality is enormous, and blatantly noticeable; where A New Hope feels original and fresh, Phantom Menace feels bland and unoriginal. As my summary says, the film isn't horrendous; there are positives, if few in number, and the prequels improve with every picture. But it cannot be denied that Episode One is a poorly acted and written film, which is tedious throughout.