OK since the new Star Wars film is just round the corner now as The Force Awakens is released in two days time I thought I would revisit and expand one of my previous Star Wars posts again and this time I opted just for the fun of it to cover the worst of the lot: The Phantom Menace. Or is it??? Let's find out.....
And the usual applies here: SPOILER ALERT!!!
STORY
So the story kicks off with Jedi master, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) who are sent on a mission to negotiate to end a blockade set up by the trade federation around the planet Naboo. However the negotiations are ended when Nute Gunray, the trade federation Viceroy seeks the advice of a silent adviser, the Dark sith lord, Darth Sidius (Ian McDiarmid) who tells him to have the jedi killed and invader Naboo with army of battle droids. Qui-Gon and Obi-wan flee to Naboo where they meet up with a local, a gungan named Jar Jar Binks, who leads them to his people's underwater city. The Gungans however refuse to help the Jedi to fight the invasion on Naboo but they do allow them a way to access the surface. The ruler of Naboo, Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) is captured by the federation army but she is soon rescued by Qui-Gon and Obi-wan, and they flee Naboo using Amidala's personal spaceship which is damaged during their escape from the blockade. They then stop off on the planet Tatooine for repairs and they seek out a settlement where they go to a repair shop and meet with the owner, Watto who has a young slave named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) working for him. Qui-Gon senses a strong powerful sense of the "Force" within Anakin and he believes that Anakin could well be the chosen one who will bring balance to the force as prophesised by the Jedi.
Qui-gon then decides to wager with Watto, to grant Anakin's freedom if he wins in a podrace, as Anakin is a gifted podracer. Anakin as a result wins the race and is granted his freedom so Qui-Gon can take him to be trained as a jedi knight. However just before they are set to leave, Qui-Gon is attacked by Darth Maul (Ray Park) Darth Sidius's apprentice, but Maul quickly flees. Anakin is then taken to the Jedi council where Qui-Gon requests that he train Anakin, however the council headed by Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) and the Jedi Master, Mace Windu (Samuel L.Jackson) refuse to let him as they are concerned that Anakin is too vulnerable and could possibly succumb to the dark side of the force, however Qui-Gon promises to Anakin that he will train him himself. Meanwhile a Naboo Senator, Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) persuades Amidala to make a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum (Terence Stamp) to elect a more effective chancellor to resolve the crisis Naboo. Amidala who pushes for the vote however remains frustrated by the corruption in the senate and returns to Naboo.
On arriving in Naboo Padme reveals herself as being the real Queen Amidala and that the public figure they saw was a decoy. Padme pleads for the Gungans help against the trade federation to which they agree whch leads the Gungans to prepare for battle against the droid army. Padme meanwhile decides to go after Gunray in Theed (a palace city on Naboo) along with the help of Qui-Gon and Obi-wan who soon encounter Darth Maul once and they engage in a fierce lightsaber battle leading into the film's climax.......
THOUGHTS
As it was the first Star Wars film in over 15 years at that time, the Phantom Menace was hugely anticipated to be a great prequel that would begin to explain the origins of the Star Wars trilogy IV-VI. Unfortunately however it has to be said that the film itself falls way short of those expectations as George Lucas, who directed all three prequels doesn't really deliver the goods here and has created a very cheesy, poorly written and at times only barely competently acted film. But despite that the Phantom Menace still has its enjoyable moments and given the quality of the movies that preceded it was never going to be able to live up the expectation of the hype surrounding it.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE (OR UN-NOTEWORTHY!) SCENES
Performance wise Phantom Menace is certainly a very mixed bag but alot of it boils down to Lucas's direction (or mis-direction) as he clearly is trying to direct the actors as if they were appering in an old black and white space opera from the 1940s.
However its not all bad as for starters it has to be said that Liam Neeson actually manages to deliver a decent performance as Qui-Gon Jin, the maverick Jedi master. Neeson does have some good moments in the film, although he also has some appalling lines of dialogue (but then who doesn't in this film!) and the worst, but funniest being when Qui-Gon talks to Watto, a blue-skinned winged alien, the repair shop owner on Tatooine and he says to Watto at one point "patience, my blue friend!". I mean how do you even begin to pull that line off??!!! One of Neeson's slightly better lines is when he saves Jar Jar Binks when they first meet from being flattened by a federation tank, and he says to Jar Jar "What are you brainless??? You almost got us killed!" and Jar Jar says "I spake!" and Qui-gon says "The ability to speak does not make you intelligent!". Then in the same scene when Jar Jar fears going back to Otoh Gunga (the underwater city of the Gungans) as they will do "terrible tings to me!" if he goes back there. And Qui-Gon then says of the distant rumbling "Do you hear that? That is the sound of a thousand terrible tings headed this way!".
Another amusing scene from Neeson comes when Jar Jar uses his long tongue to snatch fruit and he does it once but when he tries again Qui-Gon catches Jar Jar's tongue and warns him "Don't do that again!". Then there is the moment where Qui-Gon says to Watto after he loses his bet in the pod race when Anakin wins it. And when Watto bitterly says "You cheated me!" Qui-Gon smiles saying "If you keep betting then one day you will lose" and Watto says "It was not a fair bet!" and Qui-Gon says "Perhaps you would like to take it up with the huts??" leaving Watto no choice but to give Anakin other. And lastly it was worth noting of course Neeson's fight scenes in the film are also very good and one of the film's best moments actually comes Qui-Gon's battle with Darth Maul and they fight in between force field barriers which shut off and on, and when they are separated by a barrier, Qui-Gon simply kneels and meditates, whilst Darth Maul menacingly paces around patiently.
Ewan McGregor does well also as the younger Obi-wan Kenobi, who at this time is Qui-Gon's padawan, who aides him in the battles against the trade federation. McGregor however does appear to be doing some kind of half-assed impression of Alec Guinness, but it doesn't really come off that well throughout, but he does do a decent enough job with the character himself. McGregor also has some cheesy dialogue but does have one or two decent lines such as after their negotiations with the trade federation fail, they are forced to fight their way out and Obi-wan says to Qui-gon "Well you were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short!". Also another amusing line is when Qui-Gon tests young Anakin for his midi-chlorian count (which in the film are microscopic body cells which in large numbers can have a strong sense of power with the "force") and he gives the reading quietly to Obi-wan who scans and says "This is incredible! Not even Master Yoda has a midi-chlorian count this high!". Then there is the moment after the Jedi council meeting with Anakin that Obi-wan privately tells Qui-Gon of his concerns over Anakin's vulnerability to being trained as a Jedi. And Obi-wan says to Qui-Gon "The boy is dangerous. They all sense it, why can't you?!". And last of all there is of course McGregor's worst line in the whole film where Obi-wan warns Jar Jar what the droid army will do if they find them "if they find us, they will crush us, grind us into tiny pieces and BLAST us into oblivion!". Ughhh.
Ian McDiarmid undoubtedly however gives the film its best performance in his dual role as the evil Darth Sidious and Chancellor Palpatine. As Darth Sidious, McDiarmid get's the film most memorable line (or as memorable as you can get for this film!) where he says to his apprentice Darth Maul "Wipe them out! All of them!". Another good moment in his performance is when Sidious speaks with the Viceroy, Nute Gunray who says it is impossible to track Amidala's ship and Sidious says "Not for a sith!" and on the hologram image we see Darth Maul emerge and Sidious says "This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship!". And later as Palplatine, McDiarmid has a good moment at the end of the film when he looks to young Anakin and says to him "And you, young Skywalker; we shall watch your career with great interest!".
Natalie Portman also provides the film one of its better performances in her dual role as Queen Amidala and the queen's handmaiden, Padme, who befriends the young Anakin. Although Portman's potrayal of Padme it has to be said is far better than her one-note potrayal of the Queen, who speaks like a posh robot (if that's possible!). Natalie also still has some decent moments here and there such as the scene where Padme expresses herself disapproval of Qui-Gon using Anakin for the pod race. And Padme says annoyed to Qui-Gon "Are you sure about this? Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know? The Queen will not approve!" and Qui-Gon says almost patronisingly "The queen doesn't need to know" and he walks off leaving Padme to say to herself "Well I don't approve!".
Ray Park is also quite effective in his physical role of Darth Maul, the menacing red-skinned Sith apprentice, who whirls and twirls his way around the screen like some vicious ballet dancer (OK that's even more strange!). In fact it makes you appreciate just how good a villain Darth Maul could have been and that he is somewhat drastically underused in the film. Park of course didn't voice the character as the voice of Darth Maul was provided by actor and comedian, Peter Serafanowicz who delivers Maul's most memorable line "At last we shall reveal ourselves to the Jedi, at last we shall have our revenge!".
As for Jake Lloyd... dear oh dear! What can we say??? I'm afraid I have to say Lloyd is by far the worst actor in the entire film and his cheesy, cocky and overly chirpy take on Anakin Skywalker, does not lend any weight to a young child who has so much responsibility weighted on his shoulders. Lloyd has some real naff moments such as the scene where Qui-Gon tells him that he is no longer Watto's slave and he is free and the boy simply goes "Yippee!" and runs off! Lloyd does have the odd noteworthy moment here and there and the one rare scene that provides us with a hint of something from him comes when Yoda meets with Anakin. And in the scene Yoda asks Anakin "How feel you?" and Anakin says "Cold, sir" and Yoda says "See through you we can" and one of the other Jedis says "Your thoughts dwell on your mother" and Anakin says "I miss her". And Yoda probes Anakin further saying "Afraid to lose her, I think, hmm?" and Anakin testily asks "What has that got to do with anything?" and Yoda says "Everything!".
But of course I can't but help mention one of Lloyd's worst lines in the film which is one of his first when Anakin first lays eyes on Padme and he asks her "Are you an angel?". And Padme asks "What?" and Anakin says " An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe". Ughhhhhh!!
But then I almost forgot (or rather wish I would have!) then we have Ahmed Best was given the worst part in the film to deal with as the hugely annoying Jar Jar Binks, the CGI based clumsy Gungan, who helps out the jedis and young Anakin. And Best's almost squeaky voice doesn't really lend well to help make the character that much more bearable as he says such lines as "Oh moy oh moy! I love you!" to Qui-Gon Jon when they meet after he saves the Gungan's life. And then there are lines such as "Mesa Jar Jar Binks! Mesa your humble servant!" or "Mesa gettin very very scared!". Achhhhhh just shuddddupppp!!
And lastly on a slightly more positive note Andy Secombe does a better job as the voice of Watto, the grumpy and cynical repair shop owner, who owns Anakin as a slave as well as his mother. Secombe does provide some good moments of amusement in the film such as in the scene where he meets with Qui-Gon who tries his Jedi mind trick on him but finds it doesn't work. And Watto testily says "You think you're some kind of Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money. No money, no parts, no deal!". And later Qui-Gon annoucnes his wager for the pod race and refers secretly to Anakin's pod racer as the "fastest in the galaxy" and Watto laughs saying "I hope you didn't kill anyone I know for it!".
THE DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the director and music paragraphs starting with the film's writer/producer and director George Lucas set himself a big big task here in trying to follow up the original trilogy and as a director he succeeds in some areas and fails miserably in others. Where Lucas does succeed is in the visual presentation of the film as the CGI effects are largely excellent and impressive, even if alot of the CGI characters such as Watto, Jar Jar Binks and Boss Nass (voiced by Brian Blessed) aren't that convincing looking as alien creatures. Lucas also handles the film's lightsaber fight scenes pretty well, especially in the big saber duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. But where Lucas really does fall down here is in his inability to direct actors, as a majority of the acting is more hammy than a butcher's shop after its just received a big load on a Monday morning!
On the plus side however the film does have an excellent score by John Williams which easily stands out as one of the film's most salvagable features and effortlessly fits into the Star Wars universe and has a great mix of atmosphere, drama and suspense. And the film's most memorable track is of course "Duel of the fates" which is great and John Williams conducted the track along with the London voices choir and the choir voices help make it a standout piece of music. But all in all its an excellent score and just a pity it didn't feature in a better film!
FLAWS
So getting onto the film's flaws..... the Phantom Menace.....let's face it has its fair share. To start with the plot is rather dull and while it sets up the basis of the whole franchise, one of the worst aspects of the story is the subplot of galactic trade disputes, which are hardly the stuff of gripping storytelling! And the film also has several scenes of the politicians just arguing back and forth either in person or via hologramatic projections of themselves! And there is no doubt that these scenes could have been edited out or at least trimmed down.
Then we have the droid army who aren't that effective as enemies and Qui-Gon could demolish the whole army almost by himself if he had to, as the droids are mostly wafer thin (well the troops are!) and they also have rather annoying American digitised voices as well. But it has to be said that use of accents for some of the characters are definitely questionable and pretty poor particularly the use of the Viceroy who sound bizzarely Asian, something of which saw some accusations of racism aimed at Lucas for his depiction of the characters.
It also has to be said that Anakin's character isn't really dealt with in a very convincing way and there is no real weight lended to the responsibility of Anakin either in the film, which let's face it isn't helped by the casting of the Jake Lloyd in the first place! And I also thought the way in which Anakin was depicted as an accidental hero at the end was really stupid, by jumping into a vacant starfighter onboard the droid army's control ship, and he accidentally fires a laser blast at the ship's reactor, which knocks out droid army and they are no longer operational as a result! Yep, real convincing one, George! Its the equivalent of the same silly idea he had in the original Star Wars where there is ONE vulnerable exhaust port in the Death Star which if a shot is fired into it will destroy the whole Death Star!
And of course one of the film's biggest problems is its most irritating character: Jar Jar Binks, who could be said to be the equivalent in terms of annoyance as the bloody infuriating frog ring tone that came out a few years back! And Jar Jar's running about bumping into things clumsily and saying "Mesa mesa!!" all the time get's tiring very quickly. The character was obviously designed to provide comic relief for the film but in the end it just makes the whole film look like a pantomine (in fact perhaps they should have renamed it The Pantomine Menace!). And the criticism of Jar Jar at the time of course was so harsh that Lucas even decided to largely sideline him from the following sequel, The Attack of the Clones, which shows he did make at least one or two sensible decisions while he directed the prequels.
Another thing is Lucas really does skimp on explaining just how and why Anakin has such a high medi-chlorain count, and also just what the hell are things anyway?! Particularly as there was no mention ever made of such things in the first three Star Wars films and if you look at it there is no mention of them in Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith! So its like it was a poor afterthought from George that he bunged in there to try and justify Anakin's unique nature.
It also begs the question how Anakin's mother Shmi, can't even remember how she concieved her son in the first place and she just sort of feebly says "There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can't explain what happened". So it just leaves you guess what happened and just maybe these medi-chlorains are like an invisible force that just happen to impregnate whoever they want on a given moment! Again its one of the main points of the film that doesn't make sense and isn't really referenced to again.
And lastly I have to ask what is it with the Jedi and burning their dead at funerals??? I mean is this the one way they prefer to hold a funeral for the fallen Jedi by burning them on an open bonfire??? There just seems to be something amiss with it as Luke is seen doing the same with Anakin in Return of the Jedi and obviously they followed suit here like it is a custom they Jedi are required to follow. And I just think well what is wrong with even putting them in a coffin and burying them, or even in a box and do a cremation that way rather than watch them burn and decompose on an open fire?!! Hmmm it just doesn't sit well with me is what I'm saying.
And that also brings up how Jedi die differently in the movies as both Obi-wan and Yoda disappear into thin air when they die so there IS no body to burn or destroy, it just seems weird that there is not much consistency in the method of their demise. And should that not be the case for Qui Gon here, why didn't his body just fade away or Anakin's for that matter? I might be a nitpicking but there is no consistency in place here for how the Jedi after death disappear into the night (literally or not!).
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
To sum up Episode I: The Phantom Menace is easily the worst of the first six films as it is poorly written and directed by George Lucas and it features some really lame performances from its cast with the exception of Neeson, McGregor and McDiarmid. On the plus side it is visually quite impressive (even if it does have too many CGI characters in it!) has an excellent score by John Williams and has some impressive fight scenes which help prop it up a little (and yep Darth Maul kicks ass and its a pity they didn't use him more!). But they still don't quite help save what is a turkey of a film which is largely pretty boring and lacking in just about every department.
Anyway so that's it for now and I will be back with another review soon and also I will get around to seeing The Force Awakens at some point and when I do I will be sure to do a review of it here too.
Until the next un, may the force....uhh I mean goodnight!
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