When the Force Fell Asleep

Rating: 2/10 (8 January 2016)

Star Wars, the Phantom Menace had to be THE biggest let-down of the 1990's, if not the whole decade. For years, many Star Wars fans, like myself, awaited with baited breath for the return of the Force so we could learn what led to the demise of Anakin Skywalker and how he became Darth Vader. It starts with the Trade Federation placing an embargo on the planet, Naboo. Sent to negotiate are two Jedi Knights, Qui Gon Jin (Liam Neeson), and and young Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan MacGregor). The Trade Federation tries to kill them and they flee to the planet Naboo. There, they meet Jar Jar Binks who leads them to Princess Amidalla (Natalie Portman). They flee in her spaceship which is damaged and forced to land on a desert world, Tatooine. There, they meet a young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) who is a slave and a great pod racer. After making a few bets, Qui Gon Jinn befriends the would- be Sith Lord and gets back to the capital world, Coruscant. He takes the boy because he has strong proclivities to the Force. There, the boys meets a CGI Yoda along with Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), and a rising political figure, Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmind). He convinces Amidalla to propose a vote of no-confidence in the Chancellor so he can use political clout to help them. Once that is done, Amidalla, Qui Gon, Obi Wan, Anakin and an annoying Jar-Jar return to Naboo for a full conflict. This movie goes from bad to worse, to more worse, to even more worse, and even more worse. The movie suffers from poor characters, weak story, poor conflict, and uneven direction. First are the characters. There is no-one for movie audiences to identify with. The Jedi are larger than life and epic, having little to no faults. There is no doubt, no longing for adventure, no fear, and no personality. Jar Jar Binks is the only one with personality, but it is annoying, ripping off all the cheesy lines from Full House while sounding like Roger Rabbit. Jake Lloyd as a young Anakin has no doubt, no fear, and actually flies a fighter in a battle. The poor dialog adds to this malaise. The story, too, is weak. At age 10, I found it easy to track the story of A New Hope, but will kids track this one? I doubt it. A bigger drawback is that special effects take precedence over the story. Lucas, now with the help of computers, places so much into the scene it takes the focus off the characters and what they are doing (or talking). And within this story there is no conflict because not only can you not identify with any of the characters, but also you don't find any hatred for the bad guys. In fact, the Battle Droids are just as cheesy and comical as Jar Jar. Finally, there is uneven direction. Lucas is not a master director. As a story board artists, and as executive producer, he shines through. This is prevalent at the climatic battle when three stories are going on and it is hard to follow. The only thing I liked was the Jedi battle with the Sith, Darth Maul, who wields a double-edged light saber. That was cool, and fun to watch. The only problems, it last about five minutes in a movie that is 130 minutes. I made a point to see the movie again, thinking I had become too cynical. No. After that, I was convinced this was the misfire of a man who used to be able to tell a simple story.