A good film in it's own right, though by far the weakest of the Star Wars films

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2007)

The Phantom Menace was a good film. However, the fact that it was inferior to the other films cannot be denied even by die-hard fans of Star Wars.
As has been repeated thousands of times, Jar-Jar is representative of the lack of effort on Lucas' part. He is annoying, and seems out of place amongst the serious message Lucas is trying to spread. If his antics had been turned down a couple of notches, the the film would have received an 8. But Jar-Jar seems to be an overdose of comic relief in near-fatal amounts. Perhaps if he was in another film, one which tolerated his behavior, then I might see things differently. But for me, R2 and 3P0 were as funny as the Star Wars films SHOULD get, because they kept the audience laughing without disrupting the plot. (Lucas apparently fixed this Jar-Jar flaw by reducing his screen time in Episode II and allowing him to indirectly cause the rise of the empire) Another thing was the child Anakin. This kid was also annoying. Lucas said that his behavior was to signify the innocence of Anakin, but for me it signified why some animals eat their young. Not to mention that this version of Anakin was so different from the version seen in the next film, and although this can be explained with time, it still seems a little much. He has fulfilled his dream of becoming a Jedi in number II, yet he is more depressed. Not seeing the connection. Now, Jake Lloyd is not to be blamed; he's ten years old, and most children don't have acting skills at 10 years old. No, I blame Lucas for even casting him in the first place. I think that a 13-14 year old Anakin would have been WAAAYY more believable.
Darth Maul...an awesome-looking villain, kicks Jedi *** in the climax of the film, but he had had so little character development, and with one line of dialogue, he barely stood out from the droids (which were very well-done; the concept of a droid army, was, in my opinion, one of Lucas' greater ideas in the film).
The force being explained through science? I need not speak. Part of the fun of the original trilogy was the combination of magic and technology, and the fine line dividing them. Lucas obliterated this line in a fiery explosion. Mysticism: Gone. Or at least diminished.
The podracing scene was an excellent concept, but executed in a disappointing fashion. And the climax of the film, with Anakin and the Droid Control Ship: unbelievable. Really. It was very cheesy. (If the Anakin was older and more mature, then I would have believed it).
Qui-Gon was brilliantly played, although I was disappointed by his lack of a role in the other two prequels. The last bone I have to pick is the lack of Obi-Wan's screen time. One of the most influential characters in cinema history only gets a few lines of dialogue throughout most of the film, and he only shines in the end in the climactic duel with Darth Maul.
Now, I just gave this film what seems to be a negative review. However, in contrast to everything previously mentioned, I enjoyed it. It was a good film. Worth the watch. It just....was disappointing when I realized it was supposed to be Star Wars. STAR WARS, people! Overall, I give it a 7, minus 1 for Binks, minus 1 for Dennis the - sorry, Anakin in a out-of-place role, and 2 for the fact that it failed to live up to one of the greatest expectations for a film in the modern times.