Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace

The first movie of the prequel trilogy finally arrived in 1999, 16 years after the release of Return of the Jedi. Expectations were high but reviews were mixed. Certainly compared to the original trilogy the visual effects are stunning. And with Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman there are excellent actors in the leading roles. The only exception is Jake Lloyd who plays the young Anakin Skywalker. Certainly compared with the others his acting isn’t excellent. Luckily there is the silly Jar Jar Binks character that draws all negative attention towards him. I watched the movie again a while ago as I thought it would be nice to watch all 11 Star Wars movies after each other. Besides Jar Jar I feel there is a lot to like about the movie. The leading star actors and visual effects I already mentioned. There are more star quality actors in the movie such as Terence stamp, Samuel L. Jackson and even Keira Knightley. The story also has more than only action with political circumstances leading to the rise of the Republic being explained. And there is the constant ominous suspense in the background related to watching the genesis of Darth Vader. All in all quite enjoyable and more mature than the first trilogy. From the first trilogy only The Empire Strikes Back has really withstood the test of time in my opinion.