The Phantom Menace Review

DADADADADADADADADADADADADADADADADA-DADADADUMDUMDUMDUMDUMDUMDUM! Okay, yeah. I’m shutting up now. You know, The Phantom Menace is actually a decent movie. Definitely not a masterpiece, but it’s pretty decent. Words are not enough to explain how disappointed people were when they walked out of the theaters after watching The Phantom Menace. Fans all over the world had waited 16 years for the next installment of this incredible series. Only, it wasn’t incredible now! Okay, so. Why do I think The Phantom Menace isn’t an atrocious piece of garbage? Because it’s not. It’s kind of bad, but it’s not terrible. Okay, moving on to the review.

The Phantom Menace’s greatest problem is its story, and the fact that there’s nothing here to make us believe that this is Star Wars. Literally like 30 minutes of the movie are taken up by political discussions. Its other problem is that much of the movie just fails to be interesting. It’s a pretty solid movie until the Jedi travel to Tatooine. Then things go downhill. We basically get a bunch of dramatic scenes until the pod race, which is pretty much the highlight of the movie. Then we get more talking, and even more talking, and even more talking. Then we have one final battle, and the movie’s over. That’s pretty much it.

This movie has so much wasted potential. The plot in and of itself is excellent, but it’s dragged down by mediocre performances, pointless dialogue, and endless political debate. When I say the dialogue is pointless, I mean it. In some places it’s just painful. But oh, it gets so much worse in Attack of the Clones. SO. MUCH. WORSE. So, just enjoy it being bad rather than atrocious. Some of the performances are just bad in places. I don’t want to single out Jake Lloyd as he was just a kid after all, but yeah… His performance is pretty darn bad. Even Ewan McGregor’s acting is horrendous in places. However, Liam Neeson is excellent as always, and Natalie Portman is decent, if a bit over the top. John Williams’ score is excellent. And the final duel in the movie is possibly the best of the series. But in all honesty, when compared to the original trilogy, this movie is vastly inferior. Still though, if it’s a rainy Saturday afternoon and you have nothing to do, watching The Phantom Menace isn’t the worst idea you could have. You’ll probably have a fun time. 3.5/5 stars.

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