A good start

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2000)

This show is wonderful for small children, the audience it seemed to be directed toward. The acting in certain parts (On the part of Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman in particular) was lacking and shadowed the rest of the movie. Jar Jar was unbearable but enjoyable to small children though, if you were an adult you would rather have clawed your own eyes out then watch a scene with him. Liam Neeson, Ray Park, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August were splendid! Ray Park certainly deserved a higher billing then the one he received for he had such presence in all his scenes, and seemed totally engrossed in his role unlike Ewan McGregor who grated on the nerves as a whiny lap dog nipping at Liam Neeson's heels. Lloyd seems to have promise as an actor, though I feel his performance was a bit exaggerated, as if he was trying too hard to be a little boy. The pod-racing scene lasted too long and I found myself wishing I could fast forward to the exciting, suspenseful fight scenes toward the end (Though I admit I was rooting for Maul). Natalie Portman's acting in this movie was poor, especially as Padme Neberrie with extremely odd dialogue between herself and Anakin. She was stiff as the fourteen-year-old Queen and completely detached from her part. Whether that was intentional on the part of Lucas I do not know but I hope she is more bearable next time though it doesn't appear that this talented actress has suffered any from her poor performance in this film. This film seemed more directed toward children then adults, if I was five or six I believe I would have liked it more myself.
I saw this movie six times, now own it and have never regretted spending my money on enjoying this lovely film and like it more each time.
This is a wonderful start to a legendary saga though the casting was questionable.