Trade negotiations. Midi-chlorians. 'Little Annie' Skywalker. Taking all these things into account, you could just go ahead and dismiss The Phantom Menace as flat-out dull, as many do. But the truth is more nuanced than that. Yes, The Phantom Menace starts slow and some stretches aren't exactly pulse-quickening, but no film that features a pod race, three simultaneous final battles and undoubtedly the best lightsaber battle in all of Star Wars can be completely written off as boring. Composer John Williams, too, seems enlivened by a return to the Star Wars universe for the first time in over 15 years, delivering a score up there with his finest work. The Phantom Menace is also the best-looking film in the prequel trilogy, with a mixture of CGI and practical effects that Lucas would almost completely forego in favour of copious weightless CGI by the second and third movies. The story may sometimes be flat, but Phantom always looks a million bucks.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
