Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3D (Smaltz Review)

Dir: George Lucas
Starring: Iam Leeson, You and Macgregory, Natalia Portmaninovski

Guess who’s back? Back again. Smaltzy's back. Back in cahoots with Narry B once again, looking at what the world of cinema has to offer. Have you missed me, baby?

We’ll start with an oldie. Or at least it’s an oldie where I come from.

Being unbiased as I am…

This is a slightly odd opening chapter that seems to lack any real purpose.  This isn’t helped by the fact that several of the principal cast members are also seemingly unsure about their purpose, Liam Neeson and Ian McDiarmid aside. The pacing does dip quite often and the dialogue is sometimes very, very poor.

“We know all this, Smaltz!” says you. So, on to the new…

I’m yet to be sold on cinema’s second attempt at 3d but I thought if anything is going to do it, it’ll be
Star Wars. It didn’t.

It's not that bad., but we still haven’t got Back to the Future II’s Jaws XIV technology, and until we do, I think 3D will always be disappointing. To its credit it made the pod race very immersive and is probably the first time 3D has improved a scene, in Smaltz opinion.

So, to conclude, it’s a very enjoyable introduction to Star Wars story before it really kicks off. Liam Neeson, like the force itself, binds the whole thing together very well. The spectacle fizzes every time a lightsaber is ignited and the villains are very memorable...

Everyone’s biased.

Rating: Good!