51
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- It's up to snuff. It sustains the gee-whiz spirit of the series.
- 75USA TodaySusan WloszczynaUSA TodaySusan WloszczynaLet the killjoys squawk. Lucas has proved he has the Naboos to pull it off again. And again. And again.
- 63The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenIt does the job just fine. That job, as director George Lucas freely admits, is quite simply to thrill the beating hearts and the inquiring minds of 12-year-old boys.
- 63Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrGood enough, but only just. It's got the hardware, but neither the characters, the imagination, nor the resonance one had hoped for.
- 60TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghIt's a kiddie movie rejiggered for childish grown-ups, of whom there are enough to make it a hit. How such childishness has become a virtual secular religion is hard to imagine.
- 50Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovThe entire film is curiously soulless, with major characters making their entrances and exits (some of which are unexpectedly final) as if they were breezing in from some other screening next door.
- 50SalonCharles TaylorSalonCharles Taylor"Star Wars" fans deserve better.
- 30Film.comTom KeoghFilm.comTom KeoghIt's a complete drag.
- 30Film.comRobert HortonFilm.comRobert HortonComputer technology may be the actual phantom menace, after all.
- 20SlateDavid EdelsteinSlateDavid EdelsteinGeorge Lucas does it his way in the pallid Phantom Menace. Even cultists will wish he'd hired a director and some writers.