Not as bad as I remembered it (possible spoilers)

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2005)

When I remembered Stars Episode 1 the Phantom Menace I thought of an annoying character named Jar Jar Binks and the famous Pod Race sequence. I did not like the character Jar Jar, but loved the Pod Race sequence. Now I have re-watched Phantom Menace and I must say I am mildly impressed. The special effects are better then I remembered them(Jar Jar Binks, end battle, pod race, etc.), but more importantly there actually was a good story here and the acting may have been the best in the prequel trilogy(except for Ian Mcdiarmid's splendid job in Revenge of the Sith). Liam Neeson portrayed the Jedi night Qui Gon with ease and Ewan Mcgregor looked more comfortable in this movie then the following two. Now the main complaints about acting come from people talking about Jake Llyod, which is understandable because he can get under your nerves at times. But, he is not the worst actor in the prequel trilogy(that dubious award goes to Natalie Portman, who imo actually had better chemistry with Llyod then with Hayden Christiansen.) My major complaints however are Yoda's looks(looks way better as CGI then a puppet.), and Darth Maul's limited character. Darth Maul could have been an extremely cool and effective bad guy given a bit more screen time. The battles are exciting and the dialog is way better then that of episode 2. Although not as good as the original trilogy, the Phantom Menace is worth a watch. 7/10