The Phantom Menace initially shows a familiar world in a new light - droids everywhere, new characters and faster action sequences as well as politics, politics and politics left and right.
The action sequences are better, the lightsaber duels are fast-paced and appear more frequently and the space flight sequences are gorgeous. That much should be noted about the strengths of this film and the entire prequel trilogy.
The entire pod racing sequence is just filler, but it's one the better parts of the film.
The climactic battle with Darth Maul is one of the coolest battles I've seen in anything ever. Additionally, Duel of the Fates is one of John Williams' better works in later years.
While the film has its problems, I still find it better than what people usually give it credit for, and it beats the soap opera that is Attack of the Clones by a longshot. It hasn't aged well, it lacks all of the magic from the first three films and it's a first (huge) step in the wrong direction, but it's watchable.
The Bad:
Jar Jar Binks.
Midi-chlorians.
You pretty soon realize that most of the magic, mythology and might of the original trilogy is missing here. The story feels rushed, throwing our heroes from danger to danger, while halfheartedly developing a political conflict in the background. It's as if George Lucas forgot what his film universe is about between the trilogies.
After the initial rush to pull all the pieces together, the plot slows down to a halt as the heroes enter Tatooine and doesn't pick up speed again before the final battle. Then it slows down even more before the final act during Palpatine's rise to power, as the space opera turns to space politics.
It's a pity that the first 30 minutes of excitement and adventure slowly but surely starts crumbling. The film turns less and less exciting, magical and interesting as we near the end.
Some of the dialogue and almost every attempt at humour sucks. It all comes down to wooden acting and forced attempts at lightheartedness.
Lucas' obsession with diversity turns on its head with the Gungans, the viceroys and Watto speaking in weird dialects and being goofy, suspicious and untrustworthy.
The acting is sometimes terrible, most prominently from Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman.
Some of the CGI here has aged worse than the effects in the original films.
The Ugly:
Obi-Wan did the “NOOO!!!” better than Anakin if ya know what I mean!
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-12-10T06:33:55Z
THE WACPINE OF ‘STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE’
WRITING: 5
ATMOSPHERE: 7
CHARACTERS: 4
PRODUCTION: 6
INTRIGUE: 6
NOVELTY: 7
ENJOYMENT: 7
The Good:
The Phantom Menace initially shows a familiar world in a new light - droids everywhere, new characters and faster action sequences as well as politics, politics and politics left and right.
The action sequences are better, the lightsaber duels are fast-paced and appear more frequently and the space flight sequences are gorgeous. That much should be noted about the strengths of this film and the entire prequel trilogy.
The entire pod racing sequence is just filler, but it's one the better parts of the film.
The climactic battle with Darth Maul is one of the coolest battles I've seen in anything ever. Additionally, Duel of the Fates is one of John Williams' better works in later years.
While the film has its problems, I still find it better than what people usually give it credit for, and it beats the soap opera that is Attack of the Clones by a longshot. It hasn't aged well, it lacks all of the magic from the first three films and it's a first (huge) step in the wrong direction, but it's watchable.
The Bad:
Jar Jar Binks.
Midi-chlorians.
You pretty soon realize that most of the magic, mythology and might of the original trilogy is missing here. The story feels rushed, throwing our heroes from danger to danger, while halfheartedly developing a political conflict in the background. It's as if George Lucas forgot what his film universe is about between the trilogies.
After the initial rush to pull all the pieces together, the plot slows down to a halt as the heroes enter Tatooine and doesn't pick up speed again before the final battle. Then it slows down even more before the final act during Palpatine's rise to power, as the space opera turns to space politics.
It's a pity that the first 30 minutes of excitement and adventure slowly but surely starts crumbling. The film turns less and less exciting, magical and interesting as we near the end.
Some of the dialogue and almost every attempt at humour sucks. It all comes down to wooden acting and forced attempts at lightheartedness.
Lucas' obsession with diversity turns on its head with the Gungans, the viceroys and Watto speaking in weird dialects and being goofy, suspicious and untrustworthy.
The acting is sometimes terrible, most prominently from Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman.
Some of the CGI here has aged worse than the effects in the original films.
The Ugly:
Obi-Wan did the “NOOO!!!” better than Anakin if ya know what I mean!
WACPINE RATING: 6.00 / 10 = 3 stars