Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Not a masterpiece, but it's an example of how imagination, craftsmanship, and technological bravura can fashion superior entertainment out of something that is far from flawless.

An astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking.

An astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking.

It's up to snuff. It sustains the gee-whiz spirit of the series.

It's up to snuff. It sustains the gee-whiz spirit of the series.

Let the killjoys squawk. Lucas has proved he has the Naboos to pull it off again. And again. And again.

Let the killjoys squawk. Lucas has proved he has the Naboos to pull it off again. And again. And again.

Fails to recapture the elemental magic of Star Wars, and that, ironically, is because it represents the coarse culmination of the original film's adrenaline aesthetic.

Fails to recapture the elemental magic of Star Wars, and that, ironically, is because it represents the coarse culmination of the original film's adrenaline aesthetic.

In the end, Phantom needed more human and less digital scale. The magic of "Star Wars" lay in Lucas' ability to play the human comedy in a fantastic future. With Phantom, he has brought the series to the brink of total artificiality, the future as a video game.