Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace (1999) (Movie Review)

     Of all the "Star Wars" movies I've grown-up with, I think I've had the most interesting relationship with 1999's “Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace”. I was just a young first-grader at the time, yet I still remember this movie feeling like an event for the ages. Audiences in general were hyped as hell to see a new Star Wars movie for a new generation. Marketing was everywhere you looked, I couldn't even walk into a local gas station without seeing some kind of advertisement or merchandise on display. Then after its big premier, the movie was met with a surprisingly mixed reception from critics, and for a while it generated a negative reception from fans. For the longest time, I couldn't find a list of worst movie sequels without "The Phantom Menace", but now days it's regarded as an underrated classic.  

However, I'm reviewing this film based on how I feel about it, not the mass population, and ... I think it's okay overall ... not one of my absolute favorites ... but certainly not terrible. Truthfully, I still have some nostalgic fondness reserved for this film, because back when I was a little kid, I loved this movie. Seriously, I watched it all the time, and even called it my favorite movie in the whole series for a short while. Unfortunately, it got less good for me over the years, but I don't recall ever hating it either. Dose it deserve a negative reputation, or can I possibly find some merit to "The Phantom Menace", ... maybe not enough to call it a great film, but perhaps enough to say ... I think it's okay, and certainly not a terrible sequel. 

    Our story begins on a planet called Naboo, which is apparently going through problems regarding taxation and trade disputes. As a result, there’s a fleet of ships orbiting the planet, which are supposedly there to help with taxes, and two Jedi knights named Qui Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent in to investigate. It’s soon revealed that the trade convoy is merely a disguise of sorts to mask a massive invasion army of battle droids that aim to capture the planets queen and take over the system, or something like that. Our hero’s soon rescue the queen and race across the galaxy to the capital planet of the galaxy to seek aid in the crises. 

Along the journey, our hero’s meet some new allies, including comedic side characters, some familiar faces from the original films, and a young boy named Anakin Skywalker, who’s the proclaimed chosen one that will bring peace to the galaxy. Meanwhile, a mysterious adversary is lurking in the shadows, and may represent a far greater threat looming on the horizon. I have to say, of all the Episode branded "Star Wars" movies, "The Phantom Menace" always felt the most self contained, almost like a stand-alone film, and not the beginning of a trilogy. The film establishes it's own conflict, has it's own three act structure, and then everything gets neatly wrapped up in one big finale at the end, followed by a triumphant celebration. Even though this would be the launching pad for the Prequel trilogy, I always separated this film from the ladder two. Where the original trilogy was the story of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, the Prequels tell the story of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, both of whom are in the shadow of Qui-Gon Jinn for this fist movie. On that note, this film has it's own lead protagonist and antagonist, who both parish by the end, and for that, I've never been able to call this the opening chapter of a set-trilogy ... but a decent stand-alone experience.    

    Another thing to note about this movies structure is that all three acts of this film could have been individual movies in of themselves. The first act plays-out like a traditional Sci-Fi adventure film, then the second act switches into an inspirational sports drama, then the third act transitions into a slow-building political thriller, and finally as we approach the climax, it becomes an all out war movie. I think any one of those could have made for great films in of themselves, but cramming them all together just doesn't flow very smoothly. I genuinely love the set-up for this story, as I actually like the idea of following a small group of people who escaped from a planet that’s under invasion, and are forced to go traveling across the galaxy. 

    Unfortunately, while the concept has great potential, a good half of it just feels slow, tired, and surprisingly lifeless. Their space-ship for example never feels like a home the same way the Millennium Falcon did, and our group of hero's never really feel like a family. There’s also a missed opportunity for some heavy emotional stakes. Case in point, we’re constantly being told that the civilians on this invaded planet are suffering and dying, but we never even see a glimpse of the supposed hardships this planet is going through. It’s hard to get emotionally attached to this world without seeing any of the hardships the civilians are going through. While I'm consistently engaged by the different set-pieces, locations, giant monsters and action scenes that take shape through this journey, I just never feel as invested in the story, and that's something that the best "Star Wars" films always got right. 

    Easily my favorite character of the movie is Jedi master Qui Gon Jinn himself. Despite stealing the spot-light from both Obi-Wan and Anakin, he's they guy who always cares me through the film. 

This is the role that introduced me to Liam Neeson, and it wouldn’t take long for me to become a fan of his in following movies. He is just spot on in the role of Qui Gon, making the Jedi master come off as one of the most passionate, and humble of all the hero’s in the series. The young Obi-Wan Kenobi is played well by Ewan Mcgregor, but he's mostly stuck on the sidelines, and wouldn't really leave an impression until the next movie. I also enjoy some of the new side-characters, like Captain Panaka is cool, and Boss Nass is voiced by Brian Blessed, which is always welcome. I have mixed feelings about the returning original trilogy characters, as I feel both Yoda and The Emperor have their place in the story, while C-3PO, Jabba the Hutt, and R2-D2 could have been substituted for more original characters. With that said, I do genuinely love when C-3PO meets R2-D2 for the first time. That in my opinion was one of the films most delightful and satisfying moments.

   The villain of the movie is Darth Maul, who has a great design, coming off like something that belongs in your nightmares, and of course he has that awesome double bladed light-saber. Unfortunately, this guy is supposed to be like the next Darth Vader, but he’s more like the next Boba Fett, because all this guy dose in the film is look cool while standing in the background, with little to say or do. In fact, I actually think that Boba Fett had more lines of dialogue then him. What's worse is that the movie spends far more time with the boring trade federation bad guys than our lead villain, which just makes Maul feel like wasted potential. With all that said, he's still an exciting presence in the film, and certainly shines in the action. His legacy has also grown in the expanded Star Wars universe, so he's at least shined as a noteworthy Star Wars villain in other mediums. Truthfully, while this movie doesn't do him any favors, he's still one of my favorite villains from the franchise. 

    Now, let’s talk about the little boy hero named Anakin Skywalker. One of the chief complaints from fans is Jake Lloyd’s annoying performance in the role, but personally, I don’t mind him. Sure he’s a little silly, but I was just like that when I was seven. Besides, this version of Anakin is actually a good guy, or good kid anyway. 

He’s selfless, thinking of others before himself, and he does help our hero’s in more ways then one. So, I’d much rather watch this silly little kid instead of the whinny, brooding, emotionless, self-centered Anakin we'd get in the next film. Honestly, I was even a little moved by Jake Lloyd's performance when he has to leave his mother. On a side note, the good by scene is my favorite moment of the film, as it's the only time I felt any real humanity in these characters. It wasn't overly dramatic, and it was an important benchmark in Anakin's story. No ... Jake Lloyd isn’t an issue. The real problem is that this character dose absolutely nothing related to the force throughout the whole movie. How ironic is that, the characters refer to him as a proclaimed chosen one that will bring the force back into balance ... but we never once see him do anything with the force. He wins a race, but that was mostly on skill. He destroys an enemy battleship, but that was just dumb luck. It wasn’t like the force guided him the same way it guided Luke when he destroyed the death star.

   Also, I hate that Anakin’s officially labeled “The Chosen One”. I’m so sick of every lead character being part of a great prophesy. Why not just have a normal guy be a great hero, that’s what they did with both Luke in the originals, and even to an extent with Rey in the squeals. In my review of the original Star Wars, I praised it for subtly incorporating deep biblical references into its story telling, but this movie on the other hand is anything but subtle ... more like a jack hammer to the skull. To further emphasize that Anakin is “The Chosen One”, he was born while his mother was still a virgin, in other words ... she's this films “Immaculate Conception”. No joke, the mother states that she got pregnant and gave birth while still a virgin, and never once had a husband. This just feels uncomfortably out of place by “Star Wars” standards, and may even offend Catholic or Christian viewers. After all, Anakin will go on to slaughter children, blow-up planets, and I don't think that's the kind of guy to tie in with a virgin birth. 

           

    I almost forgot to talk about the Queen character named Padme Amidala, and this is yet another issue I have with the film. However, this is a strange anomaly of a problem because it’s so different from the others. Basically, I feel that this character has absolutely no identity to speak of in this first movie. Half the time she’s played by Keira Knightley of “Pirates of the Carrabin” fame, while in the other half she’s played by Natalie Portman. You see, there’s a twist reveal at the end of the film that the queen was a fake decoy queen the whole time, and the real queen was under the guise of a hand madden, which just doesn’t work at all. 

First off, why didn’t she drop the act earlier when she was clearly out of danger and among allies? Second, the decoy queen is the one played by Keira Knightley, and she seems to do some BIG things that the real queen should be doing. This includes putting in a vote to dethrone a chancellor during a court session, and declaring a privet war to win back her planet. Lastly, it’s really hard to tell when it’s the real queen or the fake one, and that makes it almost impossible to care for this character on any level. There’s an easy way they could have fixed this ... why not have Padme be the queens little sister in disguise as a hand madden, that would have at least made more sense, would have given her a little more of an identity, and it would be a nice change-up to have both a Queen and Princess as main players in a "Star Wars" film. 

    One thing that dose not get enough credit ... I think this movie looks terrific, if fact, it’s the best looking of the three prequel films by far, with some real locations, and some hand-built sets, as opposed to entirely blue screen locations like in the latter films. I also like all the different worlds, and how diverse they are. There’s a planet that looks like one big futuristic city, and then by contrast, there’s a planet that looks more like a medieval Kingdome, with big castles and renaissance style clothing. I especially love the design of the underwater city. I swear, that has to be one of the coolest locations in all of Star Wars, right up there with cloud city.    

    My least favorite addition to the movie by far is the pod race ... which goes on for way too long. I'm actually open to the concept of sporting events in the "Star Wars" universe, but I don't think this is the way to do it. In comparison to the Quidditch matches from the Harry Potter films, those were pleasant little diversions, as well as colorful, exciting, they never overstayed their welcome, and they even helped progress the story a little. This pod race on the other hand is long, repetitive, and waists precious time that could have been given to developing the characters. Worst of all, it's set in this ugly, dull-looking desert, which has to be the most boring place you could possibly set a race like this. In the plus column, I do at least like how the scene pays homage to the chariot race from "Ben-Hur", as paying tribute to the classics has always been a staple of the franchise. 

   At last, for all the movies faults, it's highs and lows, I have to be completely honest, and confess ... the four-way climax still ranks among my favorites of the franchise. It's a fun mish-mash of every possible final battle rolled into one, and I find it a lot of fun to watch. 

The Queen leads a small band of troops on a mission to retake the castle from the villains, there’s a battle waging in outer-space, as a fleet try to take down a supper battle ship, and there’s an army of battle droids waging war on an open field against another warrior breed of aliens who are trying to reclaim their home planet. Some may argue that there’s just too much going on, and that it’s too complicated to follow, which is understandable, but speaking personally, I feel it adds more fun to the experience. There’s a great verity of action on display, laser shoot-outs, colorful day-time battles in wide plains, and I’d much rather watch this then one single boring space battle ... like what we got at the end of the first "Star Wars" movie. Also, I've always loved the design of the Naboo fighter ships, as they stood apart from the classic X-Wings, and are some of my favorite space ship designs of the whole series. 

   Let’s cut to the chase, the best part of the whole movie is the final light saber duel between Darth Maul and our two Jedi hero’s. This is nothing short of ... AWESOME! From the swift sword fighting choreography, to the exhilarating music, to the awesome interior design where the fight is staged ... it’s just a thrilling finale, and one of the best light-saber-duels in Star Wars history. In fact, I’d put it among the top three best action scenes in the whole franchise. John William’s musical track called “The Dual of the Fates” is just fantastic, and really livens up the action. If I was to nit-pick at anything, it would be that silly hallway of shields randomly turning on and off. Seriously, why would they install that in the castle, and what purpose dose that serve?       

    

   So, how do I feel about this movie overall? Honestly, it may not rank among my absolute favorites, but I think it’s an enjoyable watch on it's own. Even if it ranks lower on the "Star Wars" totem pole, it's never without it's worthwhile highlights, or select memorable characters. Even when at their worst, I'll always find something of value or enjoyment from a "Star Wars" movie, and "The Phantom Menace" can certainly be enjoyed on some small level. Not a great movie, but by no means awful. At the very least, I don’t think it’s completely worthless. It’s just an average, yet enjoyable Sci-Fi adventure that may pail in comparison to its predecessors, but select highlights, and some genuine nostalgic ties are just enough to keep it alive and special to me.   

Thanks for reading my review of Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace ... and continue to enjoy the movies you love. 

To Be Continued...