SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: Approx. 136 Min.
Released in 1999, this prequel (written, produced, & directed by George Lucas) is set approximately 30-35 years before A New Hope.
Amidst wide-reaching trade negotiations, intergalactic turmoil is brewing, despite the best efforts of the mystical Jedi. Among them are Qui-Gon Jinn and his protégé, Obi-Wan Kenobi. In protecting influential young senator and Queen of planet Naboo, Padmé Amidala, the trio encounters an extraordinary child, Anakin Skywalker, during their brief stay on Tatooine. The Sith’s rising dark forces send its most formidable assassin, Darth Maul, to eliminate them. Ultimately, the epic Battle of Naboo determines whether or Padmé’s peaceful world falls to hostile invasion.
The primary cast is:
Qui-Gon Jinn: Liam Neeson
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Ewan McGregor
Queen Padmé Amidala: Natalie Portman
Anakin Skywalker: Jake Lloyd
C-3PO: Anthony Daniels
R2-D2: Kenny Baker
Yoda: Frank Oz
Jar Binks: Ahmed Best
Senator Palpatine: Ian McDiarmid
Finis Valorum: Terence Stamp
Sabé: Keira Knightley
Darth Maul: Ray Park
Mace Windu: Samuel L. Jackson
Shmi Skywalker: Pernilla August
REVIEW:
Make no mistake: the prequel trilogy isn’t meant for the casual viewer. To put this into proper perspective, Qui-Gon Jinn [Liam Neeson], who leads the film with 35 minutes and 30 seconds of screen time, has his name first brought up around the 45-minute mark. To be fair, the movie benefited from a lot of pre-release hype re: the prequel’s general arc. Yet, for anyone not grasping Lucas’ new approach to Star Wars in 1999, the convoluted Phantom Menace is sure to leave them in the dust.
Another aspect of the film’s poor direction is evident re: the time frame for which it is set to take place. After a fair amount of guesswork, this movie takes place thirty-plus years before the last time Star Wars fans had been sent into a galaxy far, far, away. This necessitates the plot occurring roughly a decade before Attack of the Clones, making it something of an anomaly within the Star Wars timeline.
Without any prior movies or TV shows set in this timeline, fans are now discovering Padmé Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, and Darth Maul for the first time (per Lucas’ grand intent). Yet, none of these main characters have any prior backstory, leaving casual fans wondering who exactly they all are. To many, they could well assume that Ewan McGregor’s athletic Obi-Wan Kenobi is more like a young Anakin Skywalker – or that maybe Jinn is Luke & Leia’s grandfather.
With that aside, other parts of the film seem rushed. Considering how many plot holes this movie creates, the phrase “What exactly is the story again?” should almost be plastered as an advisory prior to viewing. The Jedi are supposed to protect trade talks, but what for? How exactly is a nine-year old kid constructing his own protocol droids, let alone an instant starship pilot? Many things about Menace are a stretch, but just like everything Star Wars, it becomes natural after a while. There are way too many unanswered questions to make this this film enjoyable without prior research.
The effects aren’t spectacular-looking now, but that could be more a case of ironic timing. Let’s keep in mind that Lucas chose to wait until modern SFX made his preferred vision of Star Wars possible – hence, his late 90’s re-release of the original (and supposedly improved) trilogy before producing Menace.
Looking at Menace’s SFX through the lenses of 1999, they are actually phenomenal — even with some modernization by Lucas. If judging the film purely on look, it’s state-of-the-art. While the excessive CGI may get old after a while, it’s still great to see a stellar lightsaber duel and many new alien species being introduced into the Star Wars universe. In that sense, however, Menace is too visually ambitious. Far too much attention fixates on the film’s glossy look vs. making the actual storyline compelling.
The dialogue isn’t as bad as others might complain, but Lucas doesn’t convey any sense of actual direction to his cast. In other words, the dialogue resembles more a stilted school play than a Hollywood blockbuster. Worse yet, there isn’t a Harrison Ford or Alec Guinness hiding the reality that Lucas deems the actors as more SFX instead of live human beings. Evidently, no one improvised or bothered to deviate from Lucas’ muddled script.
To the more avid Star Wars audience, Phantom Menace is a stepping stone to the other two prequels, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith instead of a key piece to the franchise. For anyone opting to watch each Star Wars film in order, Episode I: The Phantom Menace shouldn’t be a priority.
BONUS FEATURES:
None.
ROSCOE’S ODD MOON RATING: 3 Stars
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