Review of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 1999)

What can I say? I've been waiting for this movie for nearly sixteen years, and it was worth it! A little note of caution; I'm a die-hard fan, so it would be hard for me to give this movie a bad review. Frankly, they could have shown ninety minutes of R2-D2 rolling down a hill or outtakes from the other films and I probably would have liked it. So of course I asked for the day off and saw the second show on opening day.
That being said, I might as well get my negative remarks out of the way. Here they are:
The movie started slow. It took me a little while to really get into it - I don't think I was that excited about what was going on for at least the first twenty minutes or so. But once things really got moving, I was loving every minute of it. So - if you think you aren't liking the film, wait a little while and give it a chance. It picks up. There was a significant dose of corniness. This was especially noticeable in the character of Jar-Jar Binks, an alien that teams up with our heroes early on. He's your typical cutesy comic-relief character, and frequently says silly things in an attempt to squeeze out some cheap laughs. He's clutzy and a little dim-witted, which is funny enough without some of his stupid (in my opinion) lines. If I want to hear someone say "How rude!" in a cute childish voice ad nauseum, I'll watch reruns of the Olsen twins on Full House, thankyouverymuch.
Okay, now that I got that over with, let me say that I loved this film. The battle scenes were fantastic, the special effects phenomenal. As always, John Williams' musical score was terrific, adding a pulse to the movie. And the story itself was well-done. I've heard it said that this movie was really just a set-up for the next two, but really it works great as a stand-alone film. There wasn't a real cliffhanger to force you to come back for the next episode, but there was enough groundwork laid down to leave you begging for more.
There were some scenes that may be scary for small children (say, under seven years old) but I might just try to brace my daughter for them and bring her anyway (she's almost five). There was enough about the film that a child can relate to without making it a kid's movie; I think she'll like it. At the very least, it's an excuse for me to see the movie again.
I've been following the progress of this movie during its entire production, reading every article, every Internet posting I could find, and even reading the spoilers that have found their way to the web. In a way, I felt a little guilty about knowing a lot of the plot in advance, but when you're as starved for a dose of the Force as I was, it's hard not to. Still, I was happily surprised that not every significant turn of events was leaked. For example (not to give anything away, hopefully), I knew in advance that one character wasn't going to make it to the next film, if you know what I'm saying. That, to me, was the spoiler of all spoilers. But there's at least one event as significant as that which I wasn't aware of.
I guess I can't keep writing without giving more of the film away, so I'll end things here. In summary, this was a great film for die-hard fans and newcomers alike. I strongly recommend this movie, and give it nine stars (out of ten). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.