Great!

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2002)

I will start by saying where I stand on Star Wars Films. I still recall seeing Star Wars as a child with my parents and it blew me away. I have never collected the figures or read any of the books I love to watch the movies. There are many films I enjoy from the Shrek to Lord of the Rings have all been favorites of mine. My personal favorite Star Wars goes like this Empire, A New Hope, Jedi-didn't like the muppets much, and then Phantom Menace. Films in my home collection run from Gladiator to James Bond and the Mummy. I must say the Phantom Menace was watchable but not a great movie to me. Jar Jar drove me crazy with his slapstick, and my nephews and nieces that I thought would get a buzz from seeing Star Wars thought it just Ok. My wife fell asleep, though she enjoys watching the originals. I recently saw episode two. I loved it, so did my nieces, nephews and wife. The story kept moving along at a good pace. The settings were amazing. If romance was not your cup of tea it would soon move back to Obi's detective story and the last 45mins were a blast. The politics,my nieces and nephews did not seem to understand, but for me were the most interesting part of the story, how everyone was being manipulated. In the Phantom Menace there were some good surroundings but the characters didn't seem to interact with them in this film you could see the depth to the city and felt as part of the locations. I felt actually cold out there in the rain with Obi in part of the movie. The dialogue in the romance scenes was a little corny but I'm used to that from the Star Wars universe, I've also sprouted some pretty corny lines myself when young and in love. The sound and effects especially the sonic mines blew my mind.
What I'd love to see is a Lucas produced re-edit of the Phantom Menace with slightly less Jar Jar. I can hardly now wait for the next film and getting the box set of all the DVD's when they come out. This is now on top of my favorite Star Wars movies, equal to Empire and a New Hope I give it 10 out of ten and thank everyone involved for bringing fun and wonder back into the Star Wars universe.