Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

1999

2/4 Stars

When "The Phantom Menace" first hit theaters, Star Wars fans went crazy. For the first time in sixteen years, Star Wars was back on the big screen. Initial reactions were mixed, and after the initial wave of enjoyment at seeing lightsabers again passed, reactions were decidedly negative. Marred by bad dialogue, a convoluted plot, bad acting, and especially a wacky Gungan named Jar Jar, many SW purists turned on the movie with a vengeance.

Now, almost ten years after its release, I decided to give this movie another try. The main impression I had after viewing it was that it was really intended for children. The color palette is bright and varied and the wide array of computer generated characters, as illustrated in scenes like the pod-race, seem very much out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Jar Jar, while still annoying, is aimed squarely at amusing kids with his "clumsy" slapstick humor.

The movie is bolstered by good, fast paced action sequences. The climax of the film, underscored by John Williams' "Duel of the Fates", is a high point in the action. The use of CGI, while overdone, works well in the light-saber duels as well as in the battles in outerspace. After almost ten years, these effects hold.

This said, I must now make it clear that this is by no means a good film. In many regards, it takes one twist too many and should not run 133 minutes. This is epitomized in the "adventure through the planet core" sequence where Jar Jar guides Obi Wan and Qui Gon in a submersible paddle boat through a sea of monsters. At one point, a fish bites the paddle boat, but before he can eat it, another fish eats him. "Always a bigger fish..." remarks Qui Gon. Less than 2 minutes later, another fish bites the boat, but before it can consume the boat, it gets eaten by a bigger fish. Qui Gon doesn't say anything this time, but he might as well have. It is one of the dumbest scenes I have seen in a long time that does nothing to advance the plot and seems to just be an excuse for Lucas to spend a few more thousand dollars on pumping more CGI scenes into an already bloated CGI movie.

There are also cringe inducing acting moments, particularly coming from the oft criticized young Anikin Skywalker, Jake Lloyd. There are too many examples to count here, but at least he is not alone. The clunky dialogue hurts all the acting talent here.

In the end however, when viewed through the lens of a children's adventure story, it is a profoundly mediocre movie, landing it a perfectly mediocre rating of 2/4 stars.