All Style No Substance

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 1999)

The Phantom Menace does not live up to the expectations of those (including myself) who have grown up on the first (or should i say last?) three films. George Lucas is much farther chronologically from the geewhiz innocence that went into STAR WARS, EMPIRE, and JEDI. He has lost much of his original zest for the series, I feel. MENACE has all the fireworks, all the noise, even some slambang action and machinegun humor. But....where's the heart of the film? For all of its sophisticated screenwizardry, the film seems as if it was churned out by a computer. There are no quiet moments (such as in the early family scenes on Tatooine in the first film.) There are no scenes of true camaraderie or personal chemistry. (compare the indifferent, mechanical interplay between Obi-Wan and his master in MENACE with the more human relationship of master-student between Yoda and Luke in EMPIRE ) and despite its title, is there ever a moment in THE PHANTOM MENACE when we feel that our heroes (such as they are) are really up against an evil force that may or may not be able to be destroyed ? Do we ever really worry for them? Coming out of the theater, I noticed a group of boys playing a STAR WARS zap 'em video game. I remember feeling that I cared about the characters in the film PHANTOM MENACE no more than I did for the digital images that were moving in the video game. Save your money and spend it on the game . You'll walk away with just as much (or as little) true emotions triggered, and you'll actually feel that you' ve gotten your money's worth.