Review of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) by Harold S — 29 Jan 2016

"Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" (1999) is the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and his struggle to come into his own as a Jedi in the Jedi Order, which fights for the safety of the Galactic Republic. His master is Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), who, we learn, is not as shape as we would like him to be.

Nor is the rest of the Jedi Order. The Dark Side of the Force is awakening in the galaxy, and yet all of the Jedi Masters seem to be oblivious to it. We, the audience, however, can already see the machinations. Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is the real Secret (Not-So-Secret) Big Bad and he is succeeding on two fronts. On the one hand, he is using his Sith (read: evil) powers to create a new hidden order through his agent Darth Maul (Ray Park). On the other hand, he is using a trade embargo to push through more executive power for himself in the Galactic Senate. As soon as he gets elected chancellor, he knows he can use his political cunning to reshape the Galactic Republic into a dictatorship at his command.

Again, the Jedi Knights seem to be totally oblivious to what is really happening, which is why the world we are introduced to in this film seems to be out of sorts from the jump. The Galactic Republic, for example, has no control over parts of the galaxy in the outer realm and furthermore their politicians and warriors do not even sense evil when it is right in front of their faces.

This is, to be sure, the worst of the Star Wars films but it is by no means a bad movie. Compared to other Sci-Fi Adventure films, this is a perfectly adequate enjoyable film, and everyone needs to see it.