For the primary time in 5 years, there’s a Star Wars film in theaters.
It’s not a brand new one, although. This 12 months, Disney and Lucasfilm used Could the 4th to have a good time the twenty fifth anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the primary Star Wars prequel. (Sure, The Phantom Menace is older immediately than the primary Star Wars was when The Phantom Menace opened in theaters. 1999 itself is now a very long time in the past in a galaxy far, far-off.)
To name The Phantom Menace’s legacy difficult is an understatement. It arrived in theaters with extra hype and anticipation that possibly another film in historical past. It made tons of of tens of millions of {dollars}, however inside a number of years fan sentiment turned towards it and the opposite prequels, and even towards George Lucas himself, the person who had created all of Star Wars within the first place.
By the 2010s there have been documentaries about Star Wars fandom and their hatred of Lucas; folks (it feels bizarre to name them “followers” on this context) wrote songs about how a lot they despised what Star Wars had turn out to be and blamed Lucas for ruining their childhoods. (Additionally they used a a lot much less good phrase than ruined that I can’t repeat right here.) As onerous because it is perhaps to consider immediately, when Lucas offered his firm to Disney and so they introduced they have been reviving the franchise with out his inventive oversight, the response amongst followers was principally elation.
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Then Disney’s Star Wars movies got here out, and the pendulum started to swing again within the different course. Now many followers blame Disney for “ruining” the franchise, whereas Lucas’ prequels are seen as misunderstand by many youthful followers who grew up watching them endlessly. Ewan McGregor not too long ago reprised his function because the prequels’ younger Obi-Wan Kenobi in a tv sequence; Hayden Christen appeared as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader on that present, then made an much more positively acquired look on Star Wars: Ahsoka.
In different phrases, nostalgia for The Phantom Menace has by no means been greater, which made this a great second for Disney to re-release it in theaters and for followers to reassess the film with recent eyes. How does it look separated from all that hype and all these large expectations? Is it actually a misunderstood gem?
I don’t suppose so. Whereas I did get pleasure from attending to see it on the large display screen for the primary time in a long time, except Disney decides to re-release The Phantom Menace for its thirtieth anniversary, it may very well be a really very long time earlier than I watch it once more.
Definitely, The Phantom Menace has some standout sequences, all of that are enhanced in a theatrical setting. Even Phantom Menace haters concede the “Duel of the Fates” finale involving a three-way lightsaber battle between McGregor’s Obi-Wan, Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn, and Ray Park’s Darth Maul is particular. On the large display screen, it’s spectacular. The identical goes for the lengthy podracing sequence the place younger Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) competes in alien NASCAR with the intention to win the elements Qui-Gon must restore his starship and assist embattled planetary chief Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman).
From a narrative perspective, the podrace is means too lengthy; the entire movie stops for almost ten minutes whereas Lucas unfurls this race in actual time, lap by lap and switch by flip. From a spectacle perspective, the podrace is exactly what Star Wars wants: Pure pleasure with unimaginable visuals, dynamic modifying, and unimaginable sound design — the latter of which is especially enhanced in a well-equipped fashionable theater. When Anakin’s rival Sebulba roared by the digicam in his pod, the complete auditorium shook with each distinctive buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh rumble of his large engines.
The podrace and “Duel of the Fates” are each The Phantom Menace standouts for one more cause: They’re largely wordless beats in a movie the place so many traces are incomprehensible, cringe-inducing, or each. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are each nice (and Neeson and McGregor are each sturdy presences who hold a straight face even when surrounded by absolute schlock) however they hold choosing up cutesy comedy reduction sidekicks like child Anakin (who likes to pepper his dialogue with yelps of “Yippee!”) and, after all, the eternally exasperating Jar Jar Binks. The movie retains bouncing between genuinely cool characters and moments (like Darth Maul who, not coincidentally, barely speaks) and literal poop and fart jokes.
The Phantom Menace is filled with dichotomies like that. Lucas’ protection for Jar Jar and “Little Ani” and all of Phantom Menace’s countless comedian reduction has at all times been that it was supposed as a film for youths, and children love that type of stuff. He’s not fallacious about that, both. But when that was Lucas’ objective, why did he make a film for youths with a plot so labyrinthian and inscrutable that even their mother and father can’t clarify it? I’ve in all probability seen The Phantom Menace a half dozen instances, and each time that opening textual content crawl opens with “the taxation of commerce routes” my eyes glaze over.
The broad outlines of the story contain a scheme by a sinister Sith Lord named Darth Sidious (a holographic Ian McDiarmid) to achieve management of the Galactic Senate by engineering a disaster on the planet of Naboo. He convinces the Commerce Federation to blockade the planet, and within the ensuing chaos, Sidious (in his alter ego as benevolent Senator Palpatine) seizes dictatorial energy.
That side is fairly trenchant about politics, each when The Phantom Menace was made and 25 years later. And but each single particular of Palpatine’s plot past the broad strokes is illogical, complicated, or downright dumb. (The entire Sith plan was clearly conceived subtext first, with the precise plot mechanics thought-about a lot later, if in any respect.)
Naboo, for instance, is introduced as a verdant alien utopia teeming with magnificent buildings, lush forests, and all kinds of life kinds. The Commerce Federation (a federation of merchants, I suppose, that additionally inexplicably instructions a large military of 1000’s of droids) blocks commerce to Naboo, and it’s immediately on the verge of complete collapse. In the meantime, Tattooine, the desert house of Luke Skywalker within the unique Star Wars (and Anakin Skywalker on this one), nonetheless appears to be getting by simply nice though the place has no water and no apparent meals sources with out a large area blockade. What does Naboo not have that’s so important for his or her survival that they so desperately want?
Individually, these parts may qualify as nitpicks. However there are such a lot of nits to choose on this story. Listed below are a pair extra.
- Qui-Gon is fixated on Anakin being educated as a Jedi as a result of he believes he’s a prophesied “chosen one” who will carry “steadiness to the Drive.” However as The Phantom Menace begins the Drive is ok. The Jedi don’t even understand the Sith have returned till very late within the movie. So why does it must be in steadiness? How is it unbalanced? What might Anakin presumably do to assist issues?
- Amidala is known as the “queen” of Naboo, however she’s really elected for that place. However she’s solely 14! Do the folks on Naboo solely dwell to 25? Who elects a 14 12 months previous to run a whole planet? No surprise the place is in a lot hassle!
- Amidala makes use of a decoy to guard herself from spies and saboteurs. (Famously, a younger Keira Knightley performs Portman’s regal physique double.) However in a single very bizarre scene Knightley’s decoy orders Portman‘s precise queen (disguised as certainly one of her handmaidens) to wash a filthy R2-D2 for no different cause than I suppose a need to screw together with her boss at a time when she will be able to’t do something about it or threat blowing her personal cowl?
Collectively, all these little points they add as much as an enormously unusual movie, crammed with nice pleasure and nice boredom, supposedly designed for youngsters and but so unbelievably convoluted that no grownup can presumably make sense of it.
The Phantom Menace by no means ruined Star Wars, however that doesn’t imply it’s some ignored masterpiece. It has moments of surprise and grandeur, and it does play higher in a theater than at house. However I’m additionally pretty sure that if this had actually been Episode I of this story — if the 1977 Star Wars had not been made and The Phantom Menace was the way in which audiences skilled this property for the primary time — there by no means would have been an Episode II.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is now enjoying in theaters. It is usually out there for streaming on Disney+ — enroll right here.
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