'Menace' II Society

Rating: 3/10 (20 May 1999)

Sixteen years for this?
The two-hour special effects rampage that is "The Phantom Menace" is, simply put, the most disappointing sequel of all time. More so than "The Godfather, part III." Heck, it doesn't even hold a candle to "Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach."
With a weak story, dialogue thinner than Calista Flockhart on a hunger strike, and Public Access Television-quality acting, we finally understand why George Lucas was so insistent upon only screening "Menace" in the biggest and bestest theaters in all the land: so excruciatingly bored audience members could take a needed breather from watching the onscreen action to look around them and marvel, "Hey, this is a really cool theater."
While no movie could live up to the hype that made this movie the most highly anticipated since "Gone With the Wind," at the same time a "Star Wars" prequel was seemingly disaster-proof: a couple of gratuitous insertions of characters and gadgets from the original films and some new jive-talkin' robots would have kept me and the rest of the fanatical audience, who were ready and waiting for any excuse to cheer, on our feet and coming back for more. Defying all odds Mr. Lucas, who seems to have left the actors and screenwriters to their own devices while putzing around in Industrial Light and Magic lab, has managed to turn off even the most eager-to-be-pleased "Star Wars" fan.
To the movie's credit, some of the effects scenes are absolutely incredible. But while that is what we have come to expect from the "Star Wars" films, what truly makes the movies so adored has been the compelling stories and characters that are so noticeably absent in the prequel.
"The Phantom Menace," like its 1977 ancestor, will have plenty of appeal for seven-year old kids; however, unlike the first "Star Wars" film, will be tough for adult audiences to stomach.