Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace came to theatres on May 19, 1999. It shows the future Darth Vader as a young boy and introduces Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Good
Darth Maul. For all of its faults, The Phantom Menace introduces Ray Park’s Darth Maul. A Sith in training, he has a double-sided lightsaber and uses martial arts in his fights.
The pod-racing is a surprise, but a welcome one. It’s used in the story for Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) to win what he needs from a dealer. More than that, it adds a fun action piece into an otherwise dull movie.
The third act battle pitting Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon against Darth Maul takes forever to get to but it’s worth it. The battle is the best thing about the movie and even though we lose Qui-Gon, we see the beginning of the Jedi we’ll come to know as Ben Kenobi.
The Bad
The movie relies too heavily on CGI and makes the movie look cheap and doesn’t age it well. The original trilogy ages better than The Phantom Menace since it relied on practical effects.
The character of Jar Jar Binks is a controversial one and it’s an unwelcome addition. This is in no part to the actor who did all he could with the character. Where Jar Jar could have been an interesting character, he was written to be a buffoon who only provided forced comedy. It’s a shame as he could have been written more as a pariah who longs to go home and is more serious.
The basic plot of The Phantom Menace revolves around a trade dispute. It bogs itself down in politics and with that loses the charm of the original trilogy. This plays into the pacing of the movie where it spends too much time on the disputes and the Senate.
