Movie Review: Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: A few great sequences and some interesting backstory

Cons: Too much dead time; dated effects; Jake Lloyd's acting

The Bottom Line:

A saga begins

With some interesting bits

And some boring parts

Just Because There is a Back Story Doesn't Mean I Need to See It

When Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace hit theaters, my roommate was a giant Star Wars fan.  Naturally, I saw it in the theaters a couple of times and again on VHS when it hit home theater (those were the days before DVD really started to take off).  It's been years since I'd seen any of the films, so when some friends decided to watch them all again, I was gamed.  I think it will be an interesting journey.

This is the beginning of the story that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.  We begin with two Jedi knights.  Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) have traveled to a distant planet to help end a trade embargo.  Unfortunately, their meeting is really a trap, and they have to escape.  That leads them across the path of Jar Jar Binks (voiced by Ahmed Best) and eventually Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman).  The queen requests that the Jedi take her to the Republic counsel to plead the case for her planet.

But the journey doesn't go quite as planned, and the ship makes a landing on the planet of Tatooine to make repairs.  It's there they meet a young child named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd).  Qui-Gon immediately recognizes that The Force is strong in this child.  Will they be able to take him with them?  Will Queen Amidala find help for her planet?

Now, when this movie first came out, I remember being impressed by it.  I thought the story moved along well and the special effects were amazing.  Yes, I found a few slower parts with the plot, but overall, it was good.

Time has not been kind to this film.

Almost as soon as it had started, my friends and I commented on how the effects have not aged well.  What was cutting edge in 1999 looks painfully dated today.  Oh, they are still watchable.  But you can tell what is real and what is an effect.

Unfortunately, one of the big calling cards for the movie was the special effects.  The story leaves a lot to be desired.  I often complain about a book that does a background dump to tell us how the characters came to be where they are.  Essentially, that's what this movie does.  True, it's not as bad as the later prequels, but much of the suspense has been taken out of the film since we know what happens.  There are some cool moments when we first meet characters or see certain things fall into place, but they are few and far between.  And the politics of the piece doesn't completely help since that is part of what slows things down.  Honestly, I bet half an hour could be cut and it would help the movie.

Now there are some cool sequences in the film.  I love the pod race, for example.  And the light saber fight at the end is very well done.  Although here again we run into poor story telling since there is a plot complication that makes no logical sense at all.

The acting is mostly okay.  There's nothing here that is going to win awards, but there is very little here that will take you out of the film.  The exception to that is Jake Lloyd.  He's a cute boy, but he really can't act.  Plus there's the fact that he looks way too young to be developing a romantic relationship with Natalie Portman's Amidala.  That relationship just has the ick factor to me.

And I haven't even commented on Jar Jar Binks.  He seems to have pretty much universal hatred coming his way.  This alien creature was supposed to provide the comic relief, but his awkward dialect and clumsiness can get annoying.  I seem to be one of the few who can tolerate him, but I know many who find him annoying.

Unfortunately, Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace is the best of the prequels, and it's only average.  I'm looking forward to getting to the original trilogy where George Lucas actually had a compelling story to tell.