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Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace


So I watched this film for the first time in a long time. I purposely avoided watching any of the Star Wars films for a long while just so I can approach the saga as fresh as possible. My intent is to take these films for what they are with as little bias as I can reasonably have. Away with the hype, the gushing, the negativity, the merchandising, and hysteria. It's just me and the films, baby. Thus, here is my reaction to The Phantom Menace, the first chapter in this six-episode saga.

The opening crawl speaks of trade routes and politics, not exactly the stuff of a grand adventure. The music is way more exciting than the text on the screen. Luckily, we are quickly introduced to our illustrious Jedi heroes: Qui-Gon Jinn, master Jedi, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, apprentice Jedi. They were sent to settle a dispute between the Trade Federation and the people of Naboo, who are currently being blockaded by the Neimoidians. The viceroy receives a communication from Darth Sidious to invade Naboo and kill the Jedi. Hey, this is exciting. Forget trade disputes and politics; here's some action! The Jedi sense the danger and make a quick escape to the planet below. Here they encounter a native Gungan, Jar Jar Binks, who is as clumsy as he is stupid. Jar Jar, I'm afraid to say, is by far the weakest link in this film. His antics would only entertain a 5 year old and I found him more distracting than endearing. To make things even worse, I couldn't understand half of what he was saying. Then again, maybe that was a good thing.

Jar Jar escorts the Jedi to the Queen's palace where they destroy some droids and rescue the princess, er, I mean Queen. In an effort to enlist the aid of the Republic Senate, they blast away in her ship and attempt to get past the Trade Federation's blockade. Their ship is damaged in the escape and they are forced to land on a remote desert planet, Tatooine. Here the movie slows down a bit as we are acquainted with a young slave boy Anakin and his efforts to aid these colorful strangers. Anakin is precocious to be sure. The scene where Anakin asks Padm if she's an angel is awkwardly acted and written. I suppose it's meant to serve as a meaningful cute-meet between these two future lovers, but at best it comes across as uncomfortable and at worst creepy. Luckily, we don't have to suffer too long before things get moving again. Of course I'm referring to the pod race which, while it takes up nearly 20 minutes of the movie, is quite an action set piece.

Anakin wins the race, the Queen fixes her ship, and Qui-Gon whisks the preternaturally gifted young boy away to train as a Jedi Knight. On Coruscant things get a bit talky as Amidala pleads with the Senate for help and Qui-Gon pleads with the Jedi Council for compassion for Anakin, whom he believes to be the prophecized Chosen One (funny that we never here this prophecy, only that the Chosen One supposedly brings balance to the Force, whatever that means). They are both refuted and sent away back to Naboo. The Queen decides to make a last stand and rise up against the Trade Federation. She enlists the help of her Jedi companions and the Gungans. Ladies and gentleman. It's showtime!

The Gungans fight valiantly against the droid army. The Queen and her cohorts fight against the palace guards. The Jedi fight against a Sith who really doesn't have much to do with anything. And Anakin saves the day by improbably flying into space and destroying the command ship. The intercutting of the action was quick and the battles were interesting to behold, but one is left wondering what most of it even meant in light of the results. Everyone could have waited for Anakin to destroy the command ship and easily taken back their city. I know, they didn't know he was flying around in space, but still. It's weird.

Naboo is free, Qui-Gon is dead, and Anakin gets a haircut. Obi-Wan vows to train him as a Jedi Knight, Amidala becomes a spokesperson for Maybelline, and the newly elected Chancellor Palpatine plans to watch Anakin's career with great interest. And they lived happily ever after!

Okay, so here's the deal. I had fun with this movie. Sure, it's not perfect, but it was fun despite some clunky dialogue and gratuitous action (this movie could have been about 15 minutes shorter easy). Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Ian McDiarmid all elevated their roles as written. Natalie Portman, Terence Stamp, Anthony Daniels, and Frank Oz were competent enough, but didn't add much dimension to their roles. I'm wary to criticize Jake Lloyd's performance because he was just a kid and not even a professional actor when this was cast. For the most part he gets by okay, but there are certain scenes that are cringe-worthy (the aforementioned "angel" scene and the "what's a midicholorian" scene (speaking of which, is it necessary to quantify the Force?)). If those were the best takes Lucas had to choose from, I'd hate to see what was rejected. Ahmed Best gave it a valiant effort, but Jar Jar was a big miscalculation. His speech impediment was annoying, not funny. His clumsiness was only good in small amounts and his stupidity was never good. His role should end here, but sadly, it doesn't. Will he be redeemed in the next film? Tune in to find out!

The visual effects were topnotch for the most part (there was some goofy cgi here and there towards the end with the Jedi stunt doubles). Many of the sets were grand in scale and detail and the location shots added realism to this otherwise fantastic world. The action was plentiful but bloodless, the scenes were well paced, and the subtext was there if you were paying attention. This movie will not leave you with deep thoughts or emotional, but it's Star Wars, not Casablanca, so that's okay. Devoid of all the prerelease hype and the nonsense of the aftermath, this film holds up well. It's a simple adventure story with a carefully crafted subtext that's sure to pay off in the later films. Mr. Lucas has set the stage. With Attack of the Clones he should start the story.

**** (out of a possible 5)