Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 136 minutes Rated PG (sci-fi-action violence) Director: George Lucas Screenplay: George Lucas Music: John Williams Cinematography: David Tattersall Release date: May 19, 1999 (US) Cast: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August, Ahmed Best, Ray Park, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz (voice), Samuel L. Jackson, Terence Stamp, Silas Carson, Brian Blessed (voice), Keira Knightley. Box Office: $474.5 million (US)/$1.02 billion (World)
Rating: ***
I NEVER go back and re-review films that I’ve already written up, but I decided to make an exception for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I reviewed it two years ago when it was re-released to theaters in 3D, a bad move on franchise creator George Lucas’ part. To recap what I said, he’s a shrewd businessman and has done exceedingly well with the Star Wars movies, but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! It was bad enough that he felt the need to remaster the original trilogy; there’s no earthly reason to convert any of them to 3D. It adds nothing to the experience. Thankfully, the plan to release the rest of the Star Wars in 3D was postponed indefinitely after Disney bought Lucasfilm.
I rewatched The Phantom Menace in its original form this past week and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Is it as awesome as of the original Star Wars flicks? No, not at all! Was it worth the 16-year wait since Return of the Jedi? In some ways, yes. But you have to remember that expectations were very high among fans that had been anticipating the long-awaited return to a galaxy far, far away. It’s only natural that such a movie won’t live up to such high hopes. On that night in May ’99, I went into the theater expecting a pretty good movie and that’s exactly what I got. The Phantom Menace has its share of flaws like its convoluted set-up and weak acting, but it’s still a fun and enjoyable movie.
As I’m sure you know, The Phantom Menace is the first installment in the trilogy of prequels to the original Star Wars movies. This is the movie where we first meet Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight who would grow up to become Darth Vader. If this was a Rob Reiner movie, it would be called When Obi-Wan Met Anakin. That’s really the main point of Episode I, but there’s a lot more to the movie than that.
The opening titles inform us that the Trade Federation has set up a blockade around the planet Naboo in response to taxation on trade routes. Okay, whatever. Two Jedi Knights, Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Neeson, Taken) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor, Moulin Rouge), have been dispatched to the planet to negotiate a treaty with the Trade Federation viceroy, Nute Gunray (Carson). Unbeknownst to them (but knownst to us), Sith Lord Darth Sidious has ordered the viceroy to kill the Jedis and invade Naboo with a droid army. A huge fight ensues and Queen Amidala (Portman, Leon the Professional) is captured by the enemy. The Jedis escape with the help of Jar Jar Binks (Best), a clumsy Gungan that has been exiled from the underwater city he calls home.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan manage to rescue the queen and must land on the desert planet of Tatooine to repair their damaged spacecraft. That’s where they meet a young slave boy named Anakin Skywalker (Lloyd, Jingle All the Way), a gifted engineer currently building his own protocol droid (that would be C-3PO). It doesn’t take Qui-Gon long to see that the Force is strong with the boy. He’s convinced that he’s “The Chosen One”, the one who will bring balance to the Force. He wants to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council is against it as they fear (as it turns out, rightfully so) that he’s extremely vulnerable to the Dark Side. While all of this is going on, Darth Maul (Park, X-Men) pursues our heroes across the galaxy on the orders of his master Sidious (whoever that might be).
Well, I think I’ve told you enough about the plot of The Phantom Menace. There’s a lot of political stuff about the Trade Federation and the Galactic Senate. It’s sort of interesting, but not what the fans want. Young children will be especially confused.
When it comes to action and excitement, The Phantom Menace delivers the goods. There’s a thrilling pod race that owes a huge debt to the classic chariot race scene in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur. The climactic battle sequence between the Gungans and the droids looks like something out of Braveheart. The special effects are very good, even the CGI doesn’t look too bad.
The acting is serviceable at best. Jake Lloyd is very annoying as young Anakin. Since when does somebody from another galaxy say “Yippee!” (it happens twice). Jar Jar needs to go, plain and simple! Rarely have I seen such an obvious racial stereotype as this clumsy, incompetent alien being who sounds like a cross between Stepin Fetchit and a Rastafarian pot dealer. The viceroy and his assistant are obviously supposed to represent Asians. Anakin’s owner, a flying bug-like creature, sounds like a Middle Eastern pawn shop proprietor. I can see why some fans have labeled The Phantom Menace as racist.
All flaws aside, The Phantom Menace is a reasonably entertaining movie. It doesn’t measure up to the original Star Wars movies, but we all knew this would be the case, didn’t we? It’s a solid three-star movie.
