Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

A lot of people hate this movie. It's seen as the major step down in quality and the selfish money-making venture for George Lucas (the original creator of Star Wars). Characters like Jar-Jar (who's pretty annoying) and the young Anakin Skywalker seemed silly to people. So, I approached this movie not really expecting much. I thought about how I had really enjoyed it as a kid, but then again, perhaps I had only liked it because my standards weren't very high. And when I was a kid, I was very interested in Star Wars and could tell you the name of every alien in the Cantina scene. However, I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by the visual mastery and fun of Phantom Menace. I very much enjoyed Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon-Jinn and I thought Ewan McGregor was very good as Obi-Wan. I did admitedly dislike the limited acting talents of the kids who plays Anakin Skywalker and I thought Jar-Jar was a pretty stupid addition to the storyline, but the entire movie is really fun. The battle sequences are great, the technology is cool, and the background made me really start to enjoy Star Wars again. It's a visual acheivment and as entertaining as any of the old Star Wars (although not as finely polished).
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: ★★★1/2