By Marc S. Sanders
22 years after the first Star Wars film made a ginormous cultural impact on the world, George Lucas finally returned to the franchise to make the first film of a new prequel trilogy with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It was hyped beyond measure, and it sold gazillions in ticket sales but was nevertheless a letdown for diehard fans and pretty much everyone else. I don’t think it’s a terrible movie. I just don’t understand how necessary the film is.
There’s a lot of irrelevant moments here. Early on two Jedi step off a ship, and a droid introduces herself to them and says “this way please,” and the three figures literally walk out of frame. This takes up time that I don’t understand. Why couldn’t the three just end up in the room they were supposed to be in? There are a lot of “so what?” moments in The Phantom Menace, and it all weighs the film down, hindering a story.
Listening to an audio commentary a number of years ago, one of the visual effects makers pats himself on the back of a shot midway through the film that consists primarily of CGI characters and sets. That was when I realized the conception of The Phantom Menace was completed with a short-sighted intent. Sure the scene might have been a technical breakthrough in 1999, but where’s the story? Fact is, there is no story and little regard for the celebrated franchise in Episode I. Lucas and his team were more concerned with shooting new CGI discoveries blended with human interaction. They offered next to no regard for intelligent plot and storytelling. The film suffers because of Lucasfilm’s hubris.
Consider the pod race. There’s a moment where young Anakin’s (Jake Lloyd) racer falls apart at high speed and he’s gotta get it back together. He uses a magnetic tool to get a cable plugged back in. If this child is “the chosen one” and potentially “dangerous,” why not show the child potentially use the force to bring the cable back in place? Why not show moments where unexplainable power emits from Anakin, to what would imply the inevitablity we are aware will eventually happen?
Lucas is also all over the place in his storytelling and characters. From the Shakespearean manipulator, Senator Palpatine, to the immature cartoon like Jar Jar Binks. I think they all serve a purpose to entertain. Yet while adults and die hard fans will relish the return of Ian McDiarmid (a terrific actor) they’ll be bored to death with actor Ahmed Best in the Jar Jar role. This I expect happens in vice versa with 8 year olds seeing their toy figures come to life. There is a silly charm to Jar Jar, but what 8 year old wants to pay attention or even comprehend debates among galactic senators over taxation and trade? It’s as if Bugs Bunny entered the halls of Congress, or Othello walked in on a pie throwing melee among the Three Stooges. At almost every point in The Phantom Menace something doesn’t belong or seems out of place.
The film moves far away from the tradition of the original trilogy. For the first time the human characters are enormously flat. Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor…all flat, all bland. There’s no snarkiness to them. No sarcasm. Before The Phantom Menace when was it ever said that the Jedi order was so formal in their ways? It doesn’t feel very fun to be a Jedi, like it did for Alec Guinness and Mark Hamill before.
The two redeeming qualities of this film belong to the pod race which is thrillingly edited in sound and visuals. There’s some fun shots of each racer, the pit droids, the crowds in the stands and even Jabba The Hutt. The film really comes alive here much like the memorable cantina scene from the original Star Wars. The other best feature is the villain, the apprentice to the phantom menace, the red and black tattooed Darth Maul played by the agile martial artist Ray Park.
Lucas didn’t use Park enough in the film. With his double bladed lightsaber, the two on one dual Park has with the Jedi characters towards the end is one of the greatest sword fights in film. I would’ve welcomed an additional five minutes of this scene. Shamefully, this would be Ray Park’s only appearance in the film franchise, as well as Darth Maul. This was a great blend of actor and character. Lucas abandoned a good thing too soon.
Yes! I have much to complain about The Phantom Menace. Yet it is not all bad as a whole. I love the political trickery that McDiarmid displays and the senate meeting among the delegates is a nice foreshadowing for what we know will come of it. Visually, it’s a treat as well. (Again, though, what kids are going to be entertained by all of that?) The pod race and lightsaber dueling are masterful as well. There’s some good material here. There just could’ve been a whole lot more….and a whole lot less overall.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 
I think that the biggest mistake was in not having Agen Kolar training Anakin Skywalker. Here is the conversation as I see it: Ki-Adi-Mundi: “The Force is strong with him.” Qui-Gon Jinn: “He is to be trained then”? Mace Windu: “No. He will not be trained. He is too old.” Yoda, Clouded this boy’s future is.” Agen Kolar: “I will train the boy.” The rest of the Jedi Council: “You? Do you think that you can handle the boy”? Agen Kolar: “Yes, I do. He needs someone with experience and a personality that he can relate to.” The rest of the Council: “It is settled then.”
The confrontation on Tatooine with Darth Maul would have had Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi confronting him and had he managed to escape have Mace Windu, Yoda and Count Dooku dueling him. That would have been epic.
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I can’t deny your colorful imagination. The thing about “Star Wars” is that the imagination literally stretches across an entire galaxy. So many possibilities could have worked.
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Marc Sanders, if not Qui-Gon Jinn or Obi-Wan Kenobi, who do you think would have been best suited to the task?
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I think that the biggest mistake was in not having Agen Kolar training Anakin Skywalker. Here is the conversation as I see it: Ki-Adi-Mundi: “The Force is strong with him.” Qui-Gon Jinn: “He is to be trained then”? Mace Windu: “No. He will not be trained. He is too old.” Yoda: Clouded this boy’s future is.” Agen Kolar: “I will train the boy.” The rest of the Jedi Council: “You? Do you think that you can handle the boy”? Agen Kolar: “Yes, I do. He needs someone with experience and a personality that he can relate to.” The rest of the Council: “It is settled then.”
The confrontation on Tatooine with Darth Maul would have had Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi confronting him and had he managed to escape have Mace Windu, Yoda and Count Dooku dueling him. That would have been epic. 3 Jedi would have been better than 2 in the case of dealing with Darth Maul.
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“If this child is “the chosen one” and potentially “dangerous,” why not show the child potentially use the force to bring the cable back in place?”
I might disagree there. It was sort of established that the Force cannot be manipulated like that very easily without training. However, Anakin is powerful. It’s established he is the only human who can race in something like that—and he’s nine. Qui-Gon points out he must have Jedi reflexes. Growing up, I rather liked Anakin in that movie. Especially when I was that age, I found him pretty relatable. Even now, I can feel his pain when he says farewell to his mother.
I didn’t really mind Jar Jar. He feels like a similar archetype to Threepio, only with more of a character arc. I understand how some people feel about some of his over-the-top comic relief bits, but I can’t help but think that in Jar Jar’s place, we would often react mostly the same way, being overwhelmed by great events surrounding us. Yet eventually, Jar Jar becomes “bombad general”, after unifying the Gungan and Naboo people—playing a role somewhat similar to Tolkien’s hobbits in the massive world of Middle-Earth.
For instance, in Jar Jar’s place, tell me you wouldn’t have a reaction like this: “Monsters out there! Leaking in here, all sinking, and no power! You nutsen! When yousa think wesa in trouble?”
I have the feeling if it weren’t for the negative backlash to the character, he would have received more satisfying character development moving forward. My point is, I think there’s actually a lot more potential surrounding Jar Jar’s character than most people realize, even if I wish the movies had payed it off more. I think there’s a reason Lucas said Jar Jar was his favorite.
That said, I get your complaints, especially about many of the characters being bland. I think Qui-Gon receives far too much time for a mentor character who dies and we might have been better off focussing more on Obi-wan. I did find Anakin fairly interesting in that movie—how he left his mother and wanted to return as a Jedi, a great way, in my mind, to set up his arc moving forward. Jar Jar also had interesting quirks, even if they could have been executed better.
As a whole, I liked the movie and I think the CGI was a bold move for the time. Still, you have fair criticisms.
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Thanks for the commentary. You seem to echo what I said as you appreciated the young boy Anakin while growing up. There are two demographics that this film appeals to: preteens and adults. The preteens appreciate the Anakin and Jar Jar elements. The adults can only accept some of what is centered around Anakin, along with the political manipulations taking place in the background.
Ahead of this film, “the force” seemed to be this mysterious, mystical element of the story as a whole. I just think there could have been some eye-opening opportunities had this sweet, playful kid suddenly act upon what the force is capable of, with these two Jedi knights in surprise of what they are witnessing. Look at the original “Superman” film. When the toddler boy Kal-El is discovered by Ma and Pa Kent, he literally lifts a pick up truck. They are fascinated and shocked. So are we as the viewers. A parallel moment like this could have only enhanced the potential of this young boy and what we already know he’ll become.
Thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading. Check out my other “Star Wars” film reviews and feel free to explore the rest of the site. 🙂
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Thank you for your response! Yes, fair points. I first watched this movie as a preteen, I admit. I don’t know how I would feel about it now (although, from what I’ve seen, Jar Jar is better in some of the episodes in the Clone Wars tv show).
But yes, you have fair points. Obviously, this sort of criticism is somewhat subjective, but I wouldn’t mind it that much—just I would prefer for him not to be as powerful as, say, Rey was without any training.
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