THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Star Wars was bound to have a prequel as many questions were asked during the OG trilogy such as how did Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader and become seduced to the dark side by The Emperor? The first step to that eventual answer is through this first entry of the prequel trilogy that is dubbed as Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
PLOT
The film takes place 32 years before the defeat of the original Death Star. It follows The Trade Federation creating turmoil within the Galactic Republic by blockading Planet Naboo in protest of recent legislation taxing major galactic trade routes. Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum (Terrence Stamp) dispatches Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi to negotiate with Viceroy Nute Gunray. Due to Darth Sidious being the secret benefactor to the Federation, he orders Viceroy to execute the Jedi. He quickly fails as both flee to Naboo. During their time there, they rescue a Gungan outcast named Jar Jar Binks who takes them to the underwater city Otoh Gunga. They fail to convince Gungan leader Boss Nass to help the surface dwellers, but allows Jar Jar to guide them to the surface’s capital city, Theed. There, they rescue Queen Padmé Amidala and make haste towards a Royal starship, hoping to reach the Republic’s Capital planet of Coruscant. Despite passing through the blockade, their ship is damaged in the crossfire, causing the hyperdrive to malfunction. This leads to them landing near the desert planet of Tatooine to purchase new parts needed for a hyperdrive. Padmé goes in disguise of a handmaiden, with the company of Qui Gonn, Kenobi and the astromech droid R2-D2 (Kenny Baker). There they meet Anakin and his mother Shmi (Pernilla August) who are slaves to the Toydarian junk dealer Watto. The boy is shown to be a gifted engineer, which is proven due to building his own protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). Qui Gon strongly senses the Force in him, believing that he could be the prophesied chosen one to restore balance. So he makes a bet with Watto that if Anakin wins a podrace with his own pod racer, he will get the needed parts and the boy will be freed. Despite not having the best of luck before, he ultimately wins for the first time and earns his freedom. When he leaves with Qui Gon and company, they are briefly attacked by the Sith apprentice Darth Maul. When finally arriving to Coruscant, Padmé pleads her case to the Galactic Senate and Qui Gonn requests the Jedi council to allow Anakin to be trained as a Jedi, volunteering to train him, while also sharing his encounter with the sith who were thought to be extinct for over a millennium. The council turn him down as they fear the boy to be vulnerable to the dark side. Persuaded by Naboo’s Senator Sheev Palpatine, Padmé calls for a vote of no confidence in Valorum and to elect a more capable leader. Despite success, the queen’s dislike of corruption within the senate encourages her to return to Naboo. With Qui Gon, Kenobi, Jar Jar and Anakin accompanying her, she convinces the Gungans to help against the Trade Federation, resulting in Jar Jar being promoted as a general to fight the droid army. When Padmé apprehends Viecroy Gunray, Qui Gon and Kenobi duel against Maul. Maul is able to kill the Jedi master, but the apprentice avenges him by slicing him in half. Anakin originally hid in a star fighter during the conflict, but accidentally triggers its autopilot that takes him to space. This becomes a blessing in disguise because with the help of R2-D2, he aids other Naboo pilots to destroy the Federation’s control ship, deactivating every droid in Naboo simultaneously. Following this victory, Master Yoda (Frank Oz) promotes Kenobi as Jedi knight and accepts Anakin as his apprentice. After the funeral of Qui Gon, the film ends with a celebratory parade on Naboo, where peace becomes established between the Gungans and Queen Amidala.
THOUGHTS
The best way to talk about this film is through Pros and Cons.
PROS: Due to loving the original trilogy, it was easy for me to onboard for what would come next, making me easily invested with the idea of a prequel trilogy. While this film has its issues, which I'll get to later, I see what George Lucas was trying to do. When you look past the improving score by John Williams, solid visual effects that are at best use on Tatooine & Coruscant, and impressive choreographed action sequences, the core of this film is a stepping stone of how important family is in all forms: a healthy dynamic can bring greatness & strength for individuals, whereas only isolation can bring the dark path. With that being said, I think that was carefully explored through the perspective of a solid cast. Liam Neeson is easily the best thing about this movie as Qui Gon for making him the most venerable, in comparison to the whole Council. He is someone stands out from his superiors because he thinks outside the box and does a better execution of teaching by example. Due to how he doesn't always follow rules, he was able to accomplish important goals for the greater good of the Jedi Order. Aside from sensing the Force, he quickly took a liking for Anakin because they both valued living in the present. And off of that, he knew what a humble Jedi he could have been. It sucked to see him die because it would've been possible for training the youngling to be smoother had he survived in physical form. On the other hand, he still had a good master who did his best before the rest became history. Enter Ewan McGregor who fills in big shoes and exceeds Alec Guiness by showing off the same willfulness he was previously known for when playing Kenobi. He always went along with his master's tactics because that is him learning to be thoughtful on trying different things, despite preferring traditions. He still went along with training Ani because even he knew he had potential to be a great Jedi. I might as well be the elephant in the room when I say I do not hate Jake Lloyd as the young character. He may have had a chip on his shoulder due to his given circumstances, but in between all of that, he left a good impression for still having a good heart and being idealistic, the latter of which is a given trait as a Jedi. Although things didn't go swell when he got older, you can't help but admire the compassion he had during a rocky start of his life. Natalie Portman caught my eye when playing Padmé because like her future daughter Leia, she's brave enough to join the fight and is willing to be explorative in places that are new to her. She obviously doesn't make a move on Anakin because of the age gap, but she clearly gives him a chance later on because even she saw the good in him. Also, I am impressed how even when wearing makeup, Keira Knightley's Sabé looks just like her. There may not be much to say of Captain Panaka, but Hugh Quarshie still left a good impression for making him a pessimistic figure who tends to be as cautious as possible. Thanks to having a great queen, he is willing to see things in different perspectives. Since this is a stepping stone of a hero's downfall, it made sense to see the rise of a villain. It was satisfying to see the return of Ian McDiarmid return to the series and be what is arguably his most chameleonic performance. While we see him appear thoughtful as Palpatine, we see right through him and quickly become aware that he is the vile Sidious. Since Sith always come in two according to Yoda, it made sense to see an apprentice he had before eventually having Vader. Maul easily leaves a big mark thanks to stand in Ray Park and voice actor Peter Serafinowicz making him as cruel and frenzied you can expect from a disciple. And plus, you can't deny how cool it looked to see his double bladed lightsaber. It was disappointing to see him killed by Kenobi because it felt like he wasn't formidable enough. Luckily, that opinion changed when seeing him return in The Clone Wars and get a proper send off in Rebels.
CONS: Despite finding good things, there are outweighed by a whole bunch of bad. To get it out of the way, I think Jar Jar is the worst character to ever exist in this franchise. He sucks because Ahmed Best makes him so god damn annoying and he always puts himself in trouble, not deserving any sympathy that the protagonists give him. Him going to Tatooine did nothing because he did not help Ani do anything, nor did he convince Qui Gon to free the boy. He was there for cheap jokes that weren't funny. Because of him, it doesn't make the introduction to Ani feel organic but forced. It doesn't feel out of need when Luke & Kenobi met Han Solo & Chewbacca. His clumsiness should not have made them so stealth. I can handle Boss Nass because Brian Blessed portrays him as a proud and confident ruler who deserves to not put with Binks. I was even reaching boredom by the time we get to Watto because Andy Secombe just simply makes him typecast greedy and doesn't bring any complexity. Just because he is an obstacle for Ani does not the investment any further. And Viceroy Gunray was such a weak ass puppet. He thinks he is the most deceitful for setting up a blockade and cornering a queen when he's only doing this because the Emperor told him to. I can't believe he lasted the rest of the trilogy because it's hard to imagine him living after failing to kill two Jedi. I didn't even feel any kind of intimidation when it came to Sebulba (Lewis Macleod). From the first moment he has a tense convo with the kid, I knew he was gonna lose. You can't have a racing scene without defeating a cliched local bully and Sebulba was just that. I should be surprised of how Ani's pod racer starts malfunctioning near the end of the race but come on. Sebulba sabotaged it before it even started, so it should've been done for before he could've finished the first lap. I don't even understand why this film even needed a special edition because it came out when the original trilogy arguably needed it to avoid being outdated. It doesn't benefit the visual effects at all as they're the most outdated of the bunch, particularly whenever the focus is on Naboo. And I don't think it was the point to be that way. I know CGI Yoda made things flexible for the follow ups, but replacing puppet Yoda for that in the SE was so unnecessary because it diminishes the nostalgia behind it, just like Return of the Jedi. Going into the story, it actually makes sense for Valorum to be removed from the role of Supreme Chancellor because sending Jedi to negotiate with Viceroy is like having soldiers negotiate with a mayor or a president, guaranteed problematic. And why did Sidious made Viceroy think it was easy to kill the Jedi? He's not a sith, so he should've sent Maul immediately if he wanted to lessen the obstacles. I'm even thrown off of how he didn't sense that Qui Gon & Kenobi survived when talking to Viceroy. If he was able to sense Luke in Empire, he should be sensing every living Jedi. While it is logical for the underwater Gungans and the surface dwellers of Naboo to be separate and do fine without one another, but it still doesn't add up because if both are fine, then there shouldn't be an issue for them to align immediately when they got not beef. Hell, I even respect the Gungans for having advanced tech in an underground civilization, but how do they not have scanners to detect underwater threats? They may not attack the city, but they clearly still attack when distant from that area, which is what happened to Qui Gon, Kenobi & Binks. I then lose my patience again when they have force fields to deflect cannon fire but not prevent other beings like droids passing through. The only thing that bothered me the most about Anakin was trying to figure out why he went to Naboo in the first place. He didn't need to be there and no one could've predicted how helpful he would luckily turn out to be. Getting him involved before making him an official apprentice was the most dangerous thing Qui Gon could've done and the boy should've stayed in the Jedi's quarters until things blew over.
In short, The Phantom Menace is a weak link for not yet answering the big questions, yet is interesting for still setting it up with cool action sequences in between. If you are a Star Wars fan that loves the original trilogy as well as I do, I wish you good luck getting through this one because it ain’t easy.
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