Yeah, some friends and I are thinking of trying that out. The suggestion has been made to drop Episode I altogether. Personally, I think Darth Maul almost makes the whole thing worth it.
I thought that Darth Maul was terrible. Not the way he fought or how the actor played him. He was used poorly in the story.
He drew more excitement in the trailers than he did in the movie, which might have been his role all along. In the movie, he's this mysterious figure. Who is he? How did he become a Sith? What does he do when he's not Palpatine's errand boy? These pressing questions—and many more—will not be answered in this movie. Up yours, viewer.
The most personality we see from him is when he's pacing like a cat during the force field sequence. The pacing was great, but that was it. Then there's more fighting. He does something stupid. He gets killed.
Just like the rest of Phantom Menace, Darth Maul had potential that was pissed away.
