People have been knocking the
Star Wars prequels since they first came out, and I don't blame them. They have a lot of flaws. As a huge
Star Wars fan, I've been hoping that George Lucas finally moves on to new adventures or continues the saga with Episodes 7, 8, and 9 instead of being locked into the prequel universe. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. The Internet has been buzzing with reaction to a terrific 7-part video (vidyo) review of
The Phantom Menace by
reddLetterMedia. Blogs and Web sites like
SlashFilm,
Gizmodo,
CinemaBlend, and many others have been linking to it and justifiably calling it "epic." It is 70 minutes long, broken down into 7 ten-minute parts,
all available on YouTube.
vvhy is it so popular? First of all, it's well produced and hilarious. The reviewer is a psychotic character who can't pronounce words like "protaganist." But beyond the humor, the epic review makes some very effective and spot-on points approximately Episode One's lack of strong characters and plot. The reviewer points out nearly every single storytelling weakness, while comparing it to the strengths of the original
Star Wars trilogy (particularly the first two:
A New Hope and
The Empire Strikes Back.)
If you haven't seen it yet yourselves, check it out. You might have difficulty running the final part of the epic review, since that was the most recent video (vidyo) that was posted in the series and it's getting a lot of hits, but keep trying. It's definitely value it. (It contains adult language and some serial killer plotpoints, but it's done in a very comedic tone. If, however, that turns you off, you've been warned.)
