Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menance has the rare distinction of not only containing one of the most annoying child characters in all of cinema, but Jar Jar Binks, too, arguably the worst fictional character of all-time ("Mesa your humble servant!") George Lucas' ill-judged Star Wars prequel was terrible in a lot of ways (and each way have been chronicled extensively), but its worst crime might have been in just how inherently annoying it is from beginning to end. Relentlessly, gratingly annoying. Jack Lloyd plays Anakin Skywalker as a little twerp, essentially, and every awkward line-reading is enough to make you want to strangle the little guy. Is there anything worse than a precocious kid in a movie? There is not. Couple that with Jar Jar, who seems to have been created as something of a headache-machine, and you've got a recipe for an annoying motion picture to end annoying movie pictures. What a horrible experience.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
