Review of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) by Landon M — 08 Jan 2016

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first - the midi-chlorian thing was a weird way to explain the force. Star Wars was always more fantasy than sci-fi and that was ok. Still, it's a small enough part of the movie to not really care about it. Bad thing 2 - the Gungan's weapons were kind of odd, they just didn't seem very intimidating or effective. Yet, they were high tech-like because they seemed to be made of energy specifically designed to stop drones. They were supposed to be a less technologically advanced society, and many people criticized their representation as stereotypical.

While this is probably true and a very valid question, I think the creators of the Phantom Menace failed while trying to represent different languages, accents, and intergalactic culture in a way similar to the human experience on earth. The disappointing result looked something like: oppressive white people, greedy Asians (the trade federation), and lovable but less advanced indigenous peoples. In a fantasy movie about war, I can see the desire to simulate something like the experience of war on earth, but the closeness to racial stereotypes of actual humans was done pretty poorly. Third, the character of Jar Jar Binks was there to add low-brow or child-centered comic relief, often about bodily functions, and did little to advance the story or give any dignity to the Gungans. Next, many people complained about the child actor Jake Lloyd who played Anakin Skywalker. First of all, it's tough to act like a kid, especially when the kid is not just being a normal kid, and kids don't act or talk with the same mannerisms as adults. Some of his "woo hoo"s sounded awkward, but that's kind of what kids sound like growing up. Lastly, the film looks a lot like a cartoon in places, that's not as visually appealing as the models of the earlier installments, but it works, and it's pretty in its own right.

Now that I've cleared that air, what we have left is a story of the origin of Darth Vader and the Gallactic Empire. It includes some pretty great light saber battles, and decent character building. The real star of the movie is Darth Maul, and it's a shame that he didn't make it to the sequel. Getting ahead of myself, I think it would have been entirely plausible to keep him in place of Christopher Lee in the rest of the series.

At 2:16 minutes, The Phantom Menace doesn't really drag because the story is pretty complicated, including some political background of the Empire. It also offers the first glimpse at the Jedi council which lets viewers imagine future light saber battles in the coming episodes.

After a revisit, I found the Phantom Menace to be a fitting first installment to the prequels. It successfully portrayed the Emperor as a politician, showed the pedigree of Luke Skywalker as coming from Jedi and Royalty, introduced a slick looking city-planet Coruscant, and provided enough action and adventure to entertain for what it was.