At least three North American newspapers, plus Newsweek, Rolling Stone and assorted broadcasters, have jumped the gun with their critics' takes on Episode I: The Phantom Menace--more than a full week before the mega-hyped George Lucas saga opens in theaters.
And maybe since none of the reviews is a rave, distributor 20th Century Fox is not amused. "Devious," is what Tom Sherak, chairman of Fox's film group, calls the publications' actions.
As far as blurbable pull-quotes go, "devious" may work better than some of the other stuff movie scribes are saying about Phantom Menace.
"...A disappointment. A big one."--David Ansen, Newsweek
"...Neither captivating nor transporting."--Todd McCarthy, Daily Variety
"Two-and-a-half-stars."--Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
And finally:
"The actors are wallpaper, the jokes are juvenile, there's no romance, and the dialogue lands with the thud of a computer-instruction manual."--Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.
The Daily News, the Los Angeles Daily News, and Canada's Toronto Star were among the papers to publish reviews Sunday. Variety's hits newsstands today, as does Ansen's Newsweek article. Rolling Stone took pride in posting its review all the way back on Friday night.
The first screenings for newspaper critics were held over the weekend. The buzz was--as reflected in the reviews--blah, ranging from "It's great" to "It's a glorified Muppet movie."
George Lucas seemed to sense what was coming, trying to convince reporters at a Sunday press conference in New York that his films, including the Oscar-nominated American Graffiti and original Star Wars, rarely get good reviews.
Of Phantom Menace, Lucas said, "I never have expected good critical response."
In that case, the director won't be let down by McCarthy of Variety, who echoed the concerns of Netizen reviewers, writing that the film aims at a "new crop of children," even if adult fans are the ones who waited 16 blinkin' years for a new installment.
Similarly, Matthews of the New York Daily News, found, "Children under 12 will love it." (For the record, he also said adults will "embrace it.")
Bob Strauss of the Los Angeles Daily News was the most enthusiastic, awarding Phantom Menace three-and-a-half stars and declaring it "pretty good" and "outstanding in many parts."
Even Travers, after torching the flick in his Rolling Stone lead, allows the film is "loaded with cool stuff."
Fox's Sherak, meanwhile, told Reuters that the studio is considering socking it to the papers that broke the usual day-of-release embargo on reviews--maybe even barring them from future screenings. ("I don't know what we're going to do," he said. "If we can't trust them, we'll have to do something.")
Sherak said he's not upset at the tone of the early reviews--just that they're early.
"It has nothing to do with whether it's a good or bad review," he told the wire service. "They're being devious. There are rules and they decided they didn't want to follow the rules."
"It's not fair for the movie to be reviewed until everyone has a chance to review it together," he said.