***SPOILER, THOUGH I DOUBT THERE'S ANYONE WHO HASN'T SEEN THIS ONE BY NOW ANYWAY***
This one got a pretty bad rep from a lot of filmgoers, but I, for one, really dug it. Was it a masterpiece? No. Was it as good as Empire? Of course not! But still, what we have here is a cool, entertaining little flick, which will hopefully provide a solid base for the trilogy. Strong Points: First of all, the effects where fantastic. Even with my undying hatred of CGI, I was completely blown away. Lots of good performances, Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman being the standouts of the cast. Lots of points to the truly badass Darth Maul, who's facepaint and dizzying acrobatic skills put him almost on par with Vader. Low Points: JAR JAR! AGH! Fortunatly, I found him easy to ignore. Not so easy to ignore, though, was that annoying little twirp Anakin! God, he blew! He was stiff, he was awkward, and he was saddled with incredibly some incredibly cheesy lines. And worst of all, I can't believe they killed Darth Maul! He could have been an amazing villain if they had kept him around and developed him more in episode 2! So what's the verdict? I'll give it a 7/10, with notes that I'm very much looking forward to the next two. The lasting legacy of Phantom Menace will most likely be the groundwork it lays for episodes 2 and 3. |