It Works as a Kids Movie...And it's a fun one.

Rating: Null/10 (26 October 2002)

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is not a bad movie at all. It's not a great movie, and is certainly inferior to the original Star Wars trilogy, but it's far better than it's sequel, Attack of the Clones. The Phantom Menace is a fun and cheerful family movie. It doesn't have the memorable mythology of the original trilogy. It lacks character development, yes, and these new characters lack the likability of the original characters. That said, The Phantom Menace didn't bored me, and I enjoyed it because it delivered what it promised to deliver. It has solid performances, flat but sometimes funny dialogue (hey, it's only a kids movie), wonderful special effects and action sequences that are a lot of fun. And that was enough for me, as this is only the first chapter in the Star Wars saga and it plays better as an introduction than a real important passage of the story. We get to see new planets, places we didn't see in the original trilogy, and the story is nicely developed in a way that we meet young Anakin Skywalker and we are aware that he is just a kid, but with a special gift. Liam Neesom also manages to make his character more interesting. He is the wise jedi who encounters Anakin and becomes aware that he is not an ordinary boy. Yes, the acting could be a bit better, but it's fine enough. Another thing I want to mention is that some people believe this is inferior to Attack of the Clones, the next chapter. I strongly disagree. The direction, writing, pacing and acting in this movie are far better than in its sequel. The reason why this film works is that it only wants to be a fun kids film, and on that level it succeeds very well. Not many family movies are good, and this one is. *** out of ****