A shadow of the originals.

Rating: 2/10 (20 June 2000)

It's a shame people were so eager to enjoy this film simply because it was a Star Wars film. They defend it because George Lucas can do no wrong - but he can, unfortunately he did it with the most anticipated film of the decade. Some set pieces regenerated the joy of a great star Wars - you know the ones, The Pod Race, the light sabre battle at the end - and they were great scenes. But between the clunky dialogue, a brat like child and the most unfunny alien since Mac and Me I was left feeling pretty empty. It's like watching someone who had no real understanding of what makes a Star Wars film and trying to replicate it. It shouldn't have been - but it was. The thing is Lucas CAN direct and write, but here after a break from the fold he is struggling. It takes more than amazing special effects to pull an audience in - hasn't Hollywood learned this yet? The site of a lone droid walking alone across a vast desert in the original is a more evocative image than any of the CGI cities and landscapes of TPM. It just seems more real somehow, and pulls the audience in. The Phantom Menace needs special effects, of course it does, but they were in every single scene - and thus took the awe away for the next one. The amount of CGI was overbearing, squashing the story and characters. Oh mumble mumble groan groan.
However, this film isn't hurting anyone. It is a children's film as everyone points out when any flak is directed at it. But a great film has universal appeal, not just at kids. Adults should get a giddy sense of childish joy watching a great 'kids' film - like Toy Story. Lucas repeatedly said the first film was a kid's film, but it was very different - again, it had Universal appeal. That's why it has lasted and, say, Power Rangers have not.

I'm sure you'll like it - you probably will, but on a basic level it's just not quite Star Wars.