Knowing the ending doesn't spoil "Menace"

Rating: 8/10 (25 May 1999)

I was there, in 1977, just a boy of 10yrs. I sat there in the darkened theatre countless times watching those images from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. It's been 22 yrs., and I can still see that screen. I'm a lot older and I've seen "Empire" and "Jedi" countless times as well. The other night, however, I was transported back into the body of that 10 year old boy as I sat in the same darkened theatre and let "The Phantom Menace" wash over me. I bought popcorn for the first time in what seems like ages, and in another comment about the older and changed man I had become, on either side of me were my wife and my little brother. I hadn't felt that right in a long time. That may sound a bit overwrought, and it may very well be, but being there with those who are important in my life now intermingling with the boy I had been before I knew either of them... It was indescribable. That, however, is the power that Mr. Lucas has. He can bring us together; old, young, male, female, and switch us around with each other and with our own memories. I thank him for that. The "Star Wars" saga is a simple story and "Phantom" doesn't change that. Good and Evil are clearly defined, even if the personification of evil on the screen is chillingly more interesting. This hasn't changed since the days of Darth Vader. We may want him to lose, but we LOVE having him up there on the screen. Darth Maul may not take up as much screen time as Vader did, but he makes the most of what he has. Also, the sight of real, live(?) Jedis up there on the screen was a dream come true for all of us who grew up on Episodes 4-6. We get a sense of why they do what they do and the sacrifice that being a Jedi entails. It is 180 degrees from the quick, not to mention mostly unseen rites of passage that Luke went through. Liam Neeson, Qui Gon Jinn is serious and quiet teacher, with a large dose of rebel thrown in for good measure. Ewan McGregor, as Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead-on. He portrays the old man we know just as we liked to think of him as being before we got to know him. He is a faithful apprentice with the courage to disagree with his master's more adventurous spirit. Once his disagreement is answered, however, he is right by his master's side in every way. "Phantom" is not "Citizen Kane", but neither was "Star Wars". This movie is exactly what it is supposed to and more. Always remember that "star Wars" was made to be a stand-alone movie because no one believed it would succeed. It did, and this will as well. There are many questions left at the end, but that has always been part of the fun. We know what will happen later and we now know what happened first. I, for one, cannot wait to find out what happens in between.