Good, but hardly a cinematic masterpiece...

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2002)

We'll try and forget George Lucas's psychobabble and delusion that what he is doing is great cinema in the mode of Bergman,Kurosawa, whoever...And we'll forget about William Goldman's spot-on observation about resurrecting The Star Wars Franchise.
'The Phantom Menace' wasn't that bad- just too long, a bit childish- not surprising since Lucas hadn't directed since 1977. And it used the word "Yipee!!" frequently, had Anakin destroying the trade federation ship out of slapstick, rather than Jedi skills- and if it was a kids film- why the theme of trade politics and utopian notions of collective/symbiotic democracy? 'Attack of the Clones' is better- but its not THAT good.
*SPOILERS*
As with the previous film there is too much going on-screen- the bounty hunter/changer (?) chase was like watching 'Blade Runner' & 'The 5th Element' at the same time as listening to gabba and playing Nintendo. It all looks great- but the eye is drawn to different points across the canvas- a talented director and/or cinemetographer-editor should direct the viewer to what it is trying to express. This is all just SFX spectacle.
The love story is as woeful as that in 'Titanic'- a concession to the teenage demograph that develops suddenly and hurriedly. Lucas has no clue what to do here- amusing when Anakin tells Amidala that he loves her because she's not sand! Also, in a concession to the anti-'Phantom Menace' crowd and films like 'Crouching Tiger' & 'The Matrix' there is more action- too much action. Arms and heads being chopped off becomes rather dull by the end of the movie (why does Obi Wan only get a few nics off Dooku's lightsabre, while Anakin gets some amputation?). The plot is rather absent also- the film meanders along without that crucial notion of beginning,middle & end.
There were some nice touches- the plans for the 'Death Star', Christopher Lee (in a rather similar role to his LOTR's part), Natalie Portman's see-through top, Mace Windu et al in the arena, Ian McDiarmid as both Sidious & Palpatine (though not in it enough), the lack of Jar Jar, the Sand People massacre (could have been more graphic), the Fetts, the 'Close Encounters' like Clone-makers, Owen & Beru...Though why did we have a scene where C3P0 could have recieved his carbon outer coating and then not receive it? And what was all than nonsense about Amidala abdicating and a new Queen etc?? And the nightmares of Anakin are woeful- couldn't we have had an image like that Luke experiences of Vader in Dagobah (cuts off his head, reveals his own face beneath) in 'Empire' (which was not directed by Lucas and was co-written by Lawrence Kasdan- please hire him for the dark third part!!). At times this felt like conventional SF- it could be 'Dune' or 'Cities in Flight'. The dialogue is consistently appalling, the droids are poorly used (haven't noticed R2 flying before!), Obi Wan suddenly has an aversion to flying etc.
It was nice to see some dark elements arising, liked the fact the end victory was pyrrhic- more groundwork for Part III. And I thought the Yoda kicking ass with the Clones and the Sabre-duel with Dooku scenes were great. This is far from the best film of the year- though does look better than 'Spiderman' and isn't as drawn out as 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. Not a patch on films like 'Bully' or 'Mulholland Drive' though. And not even close to 'Star Wars' & 'Empire'!! (though that opinion may be directed by nostalgia and the memory palace).