An okay film...not great, though...

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2001)

I went to see The Phantom Menace on the second day it was released, with my whole family. I was on holiday before hand, and although I enjoyed it, my mind was really on going home, and seeing The Phantom Menace. The cinema was pretty packed, and I think we managed to avoid all the trailers, so we were just sitting down when the Fox fanfare started. I was sitting next to my sister, who's a big Star Wars fan too, and we were almost pinching each other when the words: Episode I The Phantom Menace appeared on the screen. I quickly got into my film analysing mood, and just sat back at watched it. Although the opening battle with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was all terribly exciting, I found myself thinking, "Come on, get to the plot!". When Jar Jar arrived on the screen, instead of sighing deeply like the rest of the audience, I actually found him quite funny (he does make me laugh occasionally even now), especially the scenes inside the Bongo. And although I was enjoying it, and on the edge of my seat during most of it, I found myself thinking that when Obi-Wan is hanging onto the edge of the pit during the lightsaber duel, I didn't care particularly if he got his lightsaber or not. I know that sounds like a dreadful thing to say, but if it wasn't for the fact that I liked Obi-Wan in the Classic Trilogy, and liked Ewan McGregor, I wouldn't have cared about the character at all. And I didn't mind Anakin. I thought he's youthfullness fit in exactly with how Luke Skywalker acts in the Classic Trilogy, so he had all the Skywalker traits, although I would have liked it if some of his darker side was shown during the film. Infact, I got a bit fed up with the whole, "He gives without any thought of reward," thingy...it seemed a bit...well, unrealistic...which is a dodgy word to say when you're dealing with Star Wars. Also, I felt a distinct lack of empathy towards Amidaala. She seemed a bit arrogant, frankly. I think her impassive tones got on my nerves after awhile, partly because it sounded like a very rubbish attempt to do a posh English accent. When Padme appeared, I did connect with her more, but she still carried that slightly arrogant streak from before. Qui-Gon's slight sense of detachment was good, too, but after watching it later, it seemed as if Liam Neeson was bored. I thought the whole Darth Sidious/Palpatine was terribly clever, and his honesty towards Amidaala was almost believable...almost. Infact my Dad, who doesn't know much about Star Wars, did manage to work out that Palpatine was up to something, but he didn't realise that Palpatine was Darth Sidious. My Mum, who isn't a big fan of science fiction (she's more into the Psycho/The Mosquito Coast/Chicken Run style of film), but I think she got quickly absorbed into the plot. In fact, she even shed a little tear when Anakin left his mother. My sister didn't like Jar Jar at all, but she found the Nemodians' accent terribly funny, for some reason (well, I did, too).
One thing which I felt was missing from The Phantom Menace, was the dry wit of the Classic Trilogy. I actually bought the screenplay before hand, and I skimmed through it, and notice that Obi-Wan had a really cool line in the opening sequence, which was something like, "Off hand, I'd say this mission is part the negoations stage," which is a pretty cool thing to say in the middle of a fight, but sadly....it wasn't there. Why George didn't keep that line in, I have no idea. Another thing which really didn't gel with me was the Gungan/Battle droid fight sequence. Now, I'm all for slapstick (I love Tom and Jerry, and Harpo Marx, and they're pretty much built on slapstick humour), but the whole thing of Jar Jar acting like an idiot, while everyone around him was getting killed I really didn't like. Maybe it's because as I grow up with Doctor Who, I have a strong anti-war feeling, and the whole idea of playing a battle sequence for laughs is just disgusting. Sure, it's great to have a silly bit in a battle sequence, like in Return of the Jedi, but when it's all silly, it get's a bit sickening. Also, I felt the whole space battle sequence was over far too quickly. In the Classic Trilogy, the battle sequence play an important part in all three films. Sure, I wasn't expecting something on the level of excitment as the Battle of Yavin, or the Battle of Endor, but something along the lines of the Asterdroid field chase in Empire Strikes Back would have been great. Instead, it's only given a few moments of screen-time, and is over all pretty quickly. The opening bit on Naboo was so boring, too. The camera moves so slowly from Panaka to Amidaala, then to Bibble, it looks as if someone who knew nothing about film directed the thing. The lightsaber battle was something that I really enjoyed, but the lack of a conversation between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul was something that I didn't like, either. Now, when I say conversation, I don't mean discussing the weather, I mean sinister stuff. In fact, I was pretty disapointed that Darth Maul only spoke about two times. Not really fair, is it? I also felt the Tatooine stuff went on for far too long. We've seen Tatooine before, and now it's not an alien environment. It's not interesting. It just seems like being in your mate's back gardern. Not really exciting, if you see what I mean.
What I did like was the senate stuff. The funny thing about The Phantom Menace is that there are some bits which are totally uninteresting, flat scenes, and other bits where you can tell that George has woken up, or is getting used to directing again. The senate scene is just like this. So are all the bits with the Jedi, and Darth Sidious. Also, many people said that what The Phantom Menace needed was a cool, Han Solo character. Well, we've got him, and it's Qui-Gon. If Han had become a Jedi, he'd probably end up being like Han Solo. Also, although I'm a basher, I actually liked the whole midichlorian thing. I thought a scientific explanation for the Force was quite cool, and fitting into the idea that the Republic was more advanced than the Empire.
One problem was that after seeing the film, my family did the usual thing of discussing the plot, and we happened to be standing next to the poster for Episode I, with Anakin casting the shadow of Darth Vader. My Dad, who's a very Anyway, this is probably the longest thing I've ever posted on here, so just to finish, when me, my Dad, my Mum, sister and brother came out of the cinema, we did the usual thing of discussing the film, and we happened to be standing by the teaser poster of Anakin with Darth Vader's shadow, and my Dad said, who's a very intelligent bloke, "Oh, so that little boy becomes Darth Vader, does he?" Now, at the time I felt that was the most embarrassing thing my father has ever done in public, but when I think about it, really The Phantom Menace was just for fans, and didn't make all that many allowances to the casual film goer