"There's always a bigger fish."

Rating: 6/10 (6 October 2019)

In 1999, George Lucas' STAR WARS: EPISODE I--THE PHANTOM MENACE was arguably the most widely anticipated movie of its year. Hot on the heels of the massively successful STAR WARS trilogy which began back in 1977 and wrapped up in 1983, the public was hungry for more adventures in that "galaxy far, far away" audiences fell in love with. So much so, that expectations were high - perhaps TOO high with some people. To the point that when the film finally debuted on May 19, audiences and critics were sharply divided with the results. Although there were audiences who were thrilled to have another STAR WARS adventure, many, many others were crushed with disappointment, to the point that THE PHANTOM MENACE, despite being a massive box office success, became not only one of the most widely maligned movies in the franchise, but one of the most hated films ever. Indeed, it was hard to encounter a genuine fan of the first entry in Lucas' prequel trilogy, if at all. Stripped of all the brouhaha that surrounded the movie and its reputation in a revered legacy, is THE PHANTOM MENACE really as wretched as made out to be? No. But neither does it live up to the famous trilogy that so many people gravitated towards. The faults many have found with it are a lot more glaringly obvious, especially in the light of the newer, arguably better produced STAR WARS movies in recent years.
Rather than serving as a proper introduction to the saga, THE PHANTOM MENACE plunges us into a conflict with characters rapidly introduced that we barely have time to connect with them. That they don't evolve into characters as compelling as the likes of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, or Leia is also problematic. Of them, only Obi-Wan Kenobi (played here by Ewan McGregor), Yoda (Frank Oz), and the man who will eventually become the Emperor, Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) are the ones who resonate the most with the viewers, but that is primarily because we know how they are going to tie into the original trilogy. More controversially, the prequels aims to tell the tale of the origins of Darth Vader, when he was first known as Anakin Skywalker. Conceptually, the idea is interesting and Lucas, to his credit, does make some effort in world-building in his prequels, but THE PHANTOM MENACE unfortunately falters in some of the more important areas.
For one thing, we are never really clear on who we are supposed to identify with as the main protagonist. Ideally, it should be Anakin, but he doesn't appear until a good 30 minutes into the picture. And when we meet him, he isn't at all who we would expect. Anakin, here, is portrayed as a surprisingly cherubic, baby-faced, high-pitched little boy, enslaved by a greedy alien. It's difficult to imagine seeing this boy growing up to become one of cinema's most iconic villains, least of all one who ends up saving the day by accident. In-between, we zigzag back and forth between the likes of Obi-Wan's counterpoint (master) Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), the regal and rather deadpan-sounding Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) as well as her servant Padme (Portman again). Neither come across as compelling or interesting.
Which brings us to Jar Jar Binks, an amphibian-like alien who has gone on to be one of the biggest turn-offs of the picture. Lucas conceived this character as the first to be created entirely by CG, and as a major role. In some ways Jar Jar is more interesting than his human counterparts; at the very least he has a personality and Ahmed Best does what he can to make inject life into this role. Unfortunately the character's primary function is comic relief more than anything else, and he's greatly overused, to the point where a lot of his clumsiness gets old fast.
In fact, this character's presence also contributes to one of the major drawbacks of THE PHANTOM MENACE. As opposed to the more gritty, all-ages appeal of the original trilogy, this episode suffers from an overdose of cartoonish goofiness which even the original trilogy's last entry Return of the Jedi just managed to avoid, even with its similarly controversial Ewoks. That there are two moments of scatological humor for no specific purpose is also a problem. Even the original STAR WARS trilogy's humorous bits weren't this childish.
The real issue with THE PHANTOM MENACE is the abundance of overlong, dull scenes and not enough momentum to the story. Most of these consist of characters delivering exposition and no major action. The most sluggish scenes involve the ones at the Supreme Council, which are mostly just political debates: nothing at all what viewers would come to expect from STAR WARS. The bits involving humor attempt to liven up the picture, but ultimately causes Episode I to be a rather schizophrenic and inconsistent entry to the franchise. Fans have also taken issue with the introduction of "midi-chlorians" which are supposedly intended to be the cause for the Force. This is also at odds with what the first STAR WARS movie lays out that concept as. Then there's the issue of the villainous Trade Federation aliens speaking with obvious Asian accents. It would have been preferable for Lucas to give these characters their own language, ala Jabba the Hutt (who incidentally makes a brief but very welcome cameo appearance during one scene).
Lucas has never considered himself a particularly great director, and some taken issue with his lack of communication to actors. He lucked out in the first STAR WARS movie because the ensemble had genuine enthusiasm with their roles, and made their characters into the iconic household names still remembered after all these years. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the prequels, least of all THE PHANTOM MENACE (or successor ATTACK OF THE CLONES). Neeson does what he can, but his role as Qui-Gon is underwritten and as such his performance is only adequate at best. McGregor, looking, at least at this point, nothing at all like what his character will eventually become in A NEW HOPE, at least deserves points for emulating the late Alec Guinness. Like Neeson, he only comes across as only decent, with the occasional genuinely believable moment.
Pernilla August, as Anakin's foster mother, provides a warm, vulnerable quality appropriate to her character, and Anthony Daniels continues to do a decent job as the bronze droid C-3PO (who bizarrely is revealed to be made by Anakin, and has only a cameo where he appears "skinless"). In addition to Daniels, everybody else in the cast is upstaged by both Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine and Oz's Yoda. Both are very charismatic characters, and it is gratifying to see these two continue to command the screen during each moment they're on.
As for the rest of the cast, young Lloyd is a rather odd choice for the role of young Skywalker, yet whatever shortcomings of his turn are not his fault at all, but with iffy direction and dialogue, (both of which Lucas takes a lot of flak for). The same is true with Portman, who comes across as negligible in both of her roles (particularly the deadpan-sounding Amidala), and Samuel Jackson doesn't get a whole lot to do as Jedi Master Mace Windu, who, like everyone else, is underdeveloped. Unfortunately, the rest of the performances are non-existent at best.
Lucas' major strengths have never been in dialogue or directing actors, but rather in fashioning worlds and bizarre creatures, and here THE PHANTOM MENACE at least delivers on several of these premises. The different planets in the galaxy exude with imagination and detail, and much of the credit goes to Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic. Even 20 years later, the sets still look quite impressive, even if some of them were obviously down through green-screen and computer technology. The visual effects, while in some ways the major attraction to THE PHANTOM MENACE, are also a bit of a double-edged sword. Stunning though they are at many places, there are moments where it seems as though Lucas was getting a bit carried away with pushing CG visuals, to the point where some of them look too obvious. It's particularly noticeable on some exaggerated looking characters. On the flipside, there are other characters, mostly the ones wearing masks, who do display the kind of quirky out-of-this-world quality that can be expected.
That said, THE PHANTOM MENACE still offers two major highlights that prevent it from being an altogether waste: an extensive Pod Race sequence straight out of Ben-Hur, and the climactic deal between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and the film's other solely compelling character, the evil Darth Maul. Maul, although underused, is a scary-looking character and while he doesn't say much, he's no less menacing for it. True, he does get bumped off rather fast (spoiler alert), but there is a reason why he has remained a fan favorite over the years. At any rate, that showdown, underscored to yet another powerful score from maestro John Williams, is the film's real tour de force.
If all the other elements in STAR WARS: EPISODE I--THE PHANTOM MENACE matched those moments, it could have at the very least been a decent enough new adventure. Unfortunately, its weaknesses do drag it down. In all fairness, though, this is by no means the worst STAR WARS movie (successor ATTACK OF THE CLONES qualifies), but nonetheless is toward the short end of the stick. Once the novelty and premise wears off, it's only mediocre.