George, in the future, please adhere to the followingrules

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 1999)

Saw Phantom Menace last night, and I had to give it some thought. I did like it more than "Return of the Jedi," but it does not rate above Episodes IV and V. However, it does its part for being the first movie in the hexalogy.
It explains the Force and the Jedi really well and gives us an innocent, though repressed, Anakin Skywalker, which really allows you to understand the significance of his redemption in "Return of the Jedi."
Despite some of the mainstream critics' remarks, I'm glad the movie didn't have a character resembling Han Solo. The swashbuckler really didn't have a place in this movie. If that type of character would have been used, it would have looked all too familiar. Don't get me wrong -- I definitely would like to see someone in the next two episodes with Han's wit and character.
Jar-Jar Binks. Love the name. Hate the character. Jedi can sense good and evil, among many other things. Why can't Jedi sense a bad character in a movie? Was he as bad as what critics made him out to be? No, but he sure didn't add anything particular to the movie except for Chevy Chase clumsiness. Don't worry, all of the computer-generated characters were not flops -- Watto and Sebulba were rich in character and really made me appreciate the abilities of CGI.
I'm not sure what type of editing George Lucas' scripts go through anymore. I mean, he has scripted many classics, so who is to argue with him. But in the next two episodes, he should consider a writing partner to help polish the scripts. Maybe I can help...
George, in the future, please adhere to the following rules:
1.) No more ultra-cute and funny characters for the kids, i.e., Jar-Jar and the Ewoks. Think back to Star Wars. Yes, we had C-3P0 and R2-D2 and they were fun (and still are) together. Chewbacca was a draw for kids ... I was a kid at the time of the original trilogy, and I used to try to imitate his growl. Those characters are perfect for kids and don't give adults headaches. Please stay away from the totally irrelevant comedy from Jar-Jar. I don't mind using humor, such as Solo's witty comments or the droid's off beat remarks. But please avoid anymore "Jar-Jar-steps-in-Bantha-dung scenes" or "Jar-Jar-sticks-his-long-frog-tongue-out scenes" or
"Jar-Jar-gets-his-foot-tangled-in-a-damaged-droid-and-almost-destroys-every- bad-guy scenes." (Though I did like it when he shocked his tongue on the pod racer. That small scene was well scripted and directed.)
2) Please help some of the actors with their delivery. Jake Lloyd portrayed Anakin nicely, but he could have been so much better had his dialogue been more solid and his direction a bit stronger.
3) Please take advantage of subtitles. It has been done in all of the movies before, Jabba the Hutt and Bib Fortuna carried conversations in subtitles, as did Han Solo and Greedo. Even in Phantom, Watto and Sebulba used subtitles. Yet, I felt cheated when the trade federation aliens, who team up with Darth Sidious, spoke in broken English with an oriental dialect. I felt like I was watching an old Bruce Lee movie, because their mouths certainly didn't match their voices. It was a bad glitch in a movie applauded for perfecting details using computer graphics. That, besides Jar-Jar, was by far the biggest disappointment.
To sum up: The Phantom Menace was good and will probably win Oscars in technical areas. But let's face it -- who was expecting Liam to win Best Actor and Phantom Menace to get Best Movie? Even "Star Wars" lost to "Annie Hall" and Alec Guinness lost to Jason Robards in 1978.
Go see it. It's candy for the eyes. 7 out of 10.