

There's a famous story director Alfred Hitchcock once told about
working with Ingrid Bergman in the 1940s. Bergman, Hitchcock said,
wanted only to appear in masterpieces and feared starring in a film
that wouldn't live up to her lofty standards.  Hitchcock couldn't
understand why she spent so much time fretting over every single
aspect of her work.

"Ingrid," he told her, "it's only a movie."

Those words could also apply to the fanatics who have camped out in
theater parking lots, traded bits of trivia on the Internet and
counted down the days until the opening of "Star Wars: Episode I - The
Phantom Menace," the first of writer-director George Lucas' "Star
Wars" prequels.

It turns out it is, after all, only a movie, and nothing ever
committed to celluloid could possibly live up to the astonishing
amount of hype surrounding this one.  "Episode I" doesn't even come
close. It's merely a two-hour parade of mesmerizing images, set to a
stirring John Williams score and featuring an assortment of faces old
and new.

Is it fun? For the most part, yes. Is it a life-changing experience?
Only if you reach puberty, give birth or die while watching it. Set
alongside the previous installments, "Episode I" has considerably
fewer cliffhangers than "Star Wars" and none of the complexity or
terror of "The Empire Strikes Back," and shares with "Return of the
Jedi" a fondness for the kinds of cuddly creatures only a toy vendor
could love.

What makes the movie a worthy addition to the series is its visual
sense. Practically every frame of the film is drenched in bold colors
and even the backdrops - such as an underwater city made of shining
golden bubbles, or a planet entirely consumed by urban sprawl - are
fascinating to study. Those who see "Episode I" more than once will
want to take a closer look at the extraordinary details packed
intoevery scene.

Several of those scenes are exceptionally fine.  "Episode I" kicks off
with an exciting escape, follows that up with a dazzling invasion
sequence then moves on to a nail-biting episode involving fish
monsters and gigantic mutant eels. A "pod race" on the desert planet
Tattooine is also smashingly well-crafted and a climactic, multi-level
battle between Jedi Knights and a bloodthirsty Sith Lord provides a
much-needed kick to the story's third act.

"Episode I" introduces some memorable characters, a few of whom will
figure prominently in the next two chapters: Amidala (Natalie
Portman), the youthful queen who dresses like a supergeisha and fights
like Princess Leia; Qui-Gon (a suitably heroic Liam Neeson), the
stalwart Jedi mentor of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor, who does a
perfect vocal imitation of the young Alec Guinness); and Darth Maul
(Ray Park), a merciless assassin in Kabuki makeup who brandishes a
lethal double light saber and whose head is crowned by a ring of
horns.

Unfortunately for those over the age of 10, "Episode I" also brings in
an asinine amphibian named Jar Jar Binks who speaks in mock
Rastafarian tones and appears to have been inserted in the story by
the merchandising arm of Lucasfilms. He's irritating from the moment
he first appears and goes a long way toward bogging down the action.

The movie further caters to the kiddie audience by casting the
button-nosed Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker, the fledgling warrior
whowill someday grow up to be Darth Vader. Cute he may be, but an
actor he is not.

Then again, many of the performances here seem underdirected, even
that of the generally on-target Portman, who has some initial
difficulty bringing Amidala to life. A similar problem keeps Pernilla
August from making Anakin's mom into anything but a smiling
cipher. The movie's dramatic sequences are frequently tepid and
overlong, perfectly designed for trips to the concession stand.

They're also indicative of the film's greatest failing, its inability
to exert any sort of emotional power whatsoever. This might be
partially due to the nature of the material itself; after all, this is
basically a lengthy backstory for the intrigue and romance yet to
come.

But as a director, Lucas seems more caught up in dishing out digital
magic than in working with flesh and blood. "Episode I" routinely
dazzles the eye without ever engaging the other senses.

Those expecting to stand up and cheer at regular intervals might be
taken aback by the movie's almost weird restraint. Imagine taking a
roller coaster ride after swallowing a handful of Valium and you get
some idea of the tone.

Awash in state-of-the-art sound and fury and devoid of feeling,
"Episode I" is a technical triumph that seems untouched by human
hands. In manufacturing, that's a plus. In filmmaking, however, that's
not a good thing.  James Sanford