CCC Reviews
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Reviewed by: JenT99
On a scale of 1-5, 1 being "totally awesome" and 5 being "a total
failure," I'd give "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace" a 3, meaning
"pretty good, but not exceptionally good."
The cinematography/animation was great. I especially liked the
scenes on planet Naboo. Jar-Jar's animation was pretty cool too, although I
did have a bit of a problem with Jar-Jar's character... but more on that
later.
The acting was okay... (I'd say the casting was pretty good.) My
only acting gripe is that there was no character development. The actors did
an okay job, but I felt they relied too much on stereotypes. Qui-Gon Jinn
was the cliched "master" -- older, wiser and "more-patient-than-his-student"
(think Karate Kid or the last Star Wars Trilogy). Likewise, the young
Obi-Wan was portrayed as the cliched "student" or "apprentice" -- young,
headstrong, stubborn and too-eager-to-please. Queen Amidala was a little more creative, but once more, there just wasn't
quite enough. She was portrayed as an Asian-esque queen with the kimono-type
gowns and ornamental hair, which put an interesting twist on things.... and I
must admit, Natalie Portman is pretty. The problem with the queen was that
her character was just too damn confusing! I STILL don't understand how that
whole handmaid-in-disguise-as-the-queen thing works, because the movie
simply doesn't offer any explanation. As for Anakin... what can I say? That
kid's ADORABLE! But once more, he had the cliched "child prodigy"
personality -- cute, honest, kid who has a mysterious aura about him (think
Bobby Fisher). On to Jar-Jar... I have to admit that at times, he was funny
(you can't beat that whole tongue thing), but overall, if you're a star wars
freak (and if you're reading this, than you are) Jar-Jar is annoying because
he gets in the way. He gets in the way of our heroes, he causes extra
problems, and more technically speaking, his "comic relief" gets in the way
of the story's plot. As for all the other characters, they had so little
development that they basically became insignificant except for the symbol
they represented (ie, Darth Maul = evil).
The plot itself left much to be desired. It mimicked the original
trilogy far too much. I mean come on, we didn't pay 7 bucks just to see a
re-make of the movie we have at home. I felt the writers definitely could
have used more creativity. Except for the one twist about the queen, the
plot was ENTIRELY predictable. I suppose I understand the writers' efforts
to make the two trilogies connect, but I don't see why that means things have
to work out exactly the same. (A master dying in battle before the eyes of
his apprentice? A Skywalker destroying the enemy's "death star-like" ship?)
I'm hoping the next two movies will have a little more to offer.
Overall however, the movie was pretty good... just not spectacular.
My main problems were with the plot itself, everything else about the movie
was done as best it could be (given that the storyline sucked). The best
part about this movie is that it offers a sort "hope" for the forthcoming
(and hopefully more creative) Star Wars movies.
Scores for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
JenT99 -- 
-- "Pretty good, just not spectacular."
RyoKazama534 -- -- "A bit predictable, but really fun to watch."
-=gonzales11=- -- -- "Good guys had too much luck on their side."
Ash_Blaze -- -- "I guess a four."
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