Vladimir Rakhmanin
Staff Writer
When the Phantom Menace was first launched in 1999, it was met with an outcry of pure rage from one of the most dedicated fanbases in the world. Star Wars enthusiasts criticized everything about the film, from plot and characterization to acting and dialogue. Nevertheless, it was a smash hit at the box office, allowing Lucas to complete his prequel trilogy with the similarly successful Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. 13 years since its original release, Lucas has decided to double-dip by re-releasing the saga in the ever-so-popular 3D format. So is the force strong with this one, or is the midi-chlorian count dangerously low?
In short, when viewed with an open mind, Phantom Menace is a great sci-fi blockbuster, and an above-average Star Wars film (certainly not the worst – that honour goes to Attack of the Clones, but that’s a story for another day). It does, however, have a fair share of problems, but brilliant set pieces such as the podrace and the stunning climax will make you quickly forget about them.
The most important thing to understand when watching Phantom Menace is that no matter how brilliant and realistic the original trilogy may seem to you in your head, it is mostly likely the nostalgia talking. Star Wars is not, nor has it ever been, about the dialogue or the acting. If you don’t believe me, then, please, re-watch A New Hope. Lines like “only a master of evil, Darth!” aren’t exactly Shakespeare. Keeping this in mind, it is much easier to forgive Natalie Portman for her robotic acting, or Jake Lloyd for his overly keen portrayal of the young version of everyone’s favourite baddie with a throat problem. Once this is dealt with, we can appreciate the spectacle that Phantom Menace provides us with.
And what a spectacle this is. While there are not as many set-pieces here as in some of the later prequels, the ones that are present are mind-blowing. The podrace, which appears half-way through the film is like a sci-fi version of Ben-Hur; watching in this in the cinema with surround sound and 3D makes you wince at every turn of the space chariot. The same goes for the ending, consisting of inter-cut shots of the Naboo invasion, Anakin’s trip in the Starfighter and the Duel of the Fates, one of the best lightsaber battles in the franchise against Darth Maul, one of the best designed villains in sci-fi period. Double-bladed lightsabers. Nothing can top that.
I mentioned bad acting previously. This is true for most of the actors (even Samuel L Jackson, shockingly enough) except for Liam Neeson. Even though his portrayal of Qui-Gon Jin bears many similarities to Alec Guiness’ portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars (1977), the way with which he delivers this tender father figure is extremely impressive, and makes the film almost worthy of standing alongside its magnificent predecessors – but only almost.
Phantom Menace falls short in different areas – the pacing is quite uneven, for example. Political intrigue is a brilliant theme, one not touched upon in previous instalments, but certain scenes on Coruscant could have been cut short. The opening scenes also drag on a little. These scenes also introduce one of the most controversial characters since Return of the Jedi’s Ewoks – Jar Jar Binks. The lanky gungan may be a hit with small children, but his consistent appearance in comic relief moments makes him a little annoying, to put it mildly. This adds to the already child-friendly feel of the film, something that fans of the originals were not happy with. Personally, I think this works well to counter-balance the darker tone of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
This knowledge of things to come is an interesting mechanic in Menace, such as Chancellor Palpatine’s remarks to the young Anakin about “watching his career with great interest”. Being aware of the events in Return of the Jedi, these words take on a double meaning.
Finally, the midi-chlorians. If you’re not a hardcore Star Wars fan, skip to the next paragraph. For me, this is the biggest flaw in Menace. It reduced the philosophy of the Force to some kind of viral infection – all the mystery is now gone. What was once an almost Buddhist religion has now become a science. It is, however, interesting to see how the Jedi Order functioned before the rise of the Empire – something we had hints at during Empire but never actually got to see. I did, however, have some issues with the sets used during the scenes about the Jedi Council (I felt they weren’t detailed enough), but that’s just a personal quibble.
Overall, Phantom Menace succeeds as a fun, if slightly flawed blockbuster. It has great set-pieces, a fantastic villain, incredible sound effects, and an excellent score by John Williams, who is quite possibly the Bernard Hermann of our time. If you love the original trilogy, you’ll probably like this a little less – it’s still enjoyable, though, once you get over the fact that it’s no Empire Strikes Back.
