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Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
**
Cinema
Releases - July 16, 1999
Rated on a 4-star
scale. USA. Written and directed by George Lucas. Starring Liam Neeson, Ewan
McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Pernilla August, Ian McDiarmid, Oliver
Ford Davies, Hugh Quarshie, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Park, Ralph Brown, Terence
Stamp; with the voices of Frank Oz, Ahmed Best, Peter
Serafinowicz.
We already understand, with the exception of
meaningless details, what went before the events of the "Star Wars" series.
The stories told in their dialogue gives us a good sense of the back-story,
and the omission of the details somehow makes them greater -- it bases the
saga in legend and mystery, and these become its most powerful
elements.
For this reason, I've long been opposed to the
concept of "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", or
for that matter, filmed realisations of episodes II and III. To make prequels,
to fill in the details, to take away the mystery, to make "Star Wars" a series
of meaningless events... it's a ghastly idea. Darth Vader gives one amazing
pause in "Return of the Jedi" that's the haunting meditation of an ashamed
soul. If we don't have to think and wonder about what's in his head, that
tragic pause becomes a mere lapse in a sword-fighting scene.
My view is shared by some, but not most, and "The
Phantom Menace" is the most eagerly anticipated film of the year. For the
sake of others, then, I've tried to view it with some open-mindedness, but
even so, it's a mediocre piece of sci-fi action, not a true "Star Wars"
movie.
The film opens with the classic "Star Wars" logo
and crawl of text informing us of the set-up. This time, it seems that the
Trade Federation has blockaded and invaded several planets under Queen Amidala
(Natalie Portman), who won't stand for it, and calls in the help of Jedi
knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).
Negotiations turn to fighting, and soon the two Jedi are on the run, trying
to take Queen Amidala to safety, and still sort out the problem with the
Trade Federation.
Along the way, the gang enlist the help of Jar
Jar Binks, a digitally-animated creature who can survive in both water and
land, as well as that of young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), the sharp little
boy who will one day become Darth Vader.
The film's structure is a lot like that of "Star
Wars", as well as the climax of "Return of the Jedi", but unlike those films,
not a lot happens. When writer-director George Lucas made the original, he
had no idea if there would be follow-ups, and so included as many ideas as
possible. Here, he has the luxury of guaranteed success, and so his picture
can simply do the 'setting-up' of the other inevitable
prequels.
To be fair, there are some incredible set-pieces.
The Pod Race, for example, is an exhilarating stretch, and the light-saber
duels actually benefit from the lack of story -- with no commitment to the
dramatic intensity, the action can get as fast and farfetched as the audience
can take. The look of the film is as wonderful as we could expect, and while
the press-hyped Darth Maul (Ray Park) is not a great villain, he is a satisfying
one.
But look at all the flaws! The droids that take
the place of storm-troopers look like piles of welded-together dust-busters.
Jar Jar Binks, while a technological breakthrough, is excruciatingly annoying,
with drunken movements and a voice that combines Jamaican pidgin English
with Adam Sandler's screech from "The Waterboy". Liam Neeson, as Qui-Gon,
looks like he's lost the cup in his hand. Ewan McGregor, as Obi-Wan, tries
to emulate the wise pacing of Alec Guiness's speech, but comes across as
wooden and false. The kid, Jake Lloyd, is too bland to be a powerful child
actor, and thanks to his cheesy blue-eyed boy looks, the phrase 'Sunny
De-light-saber' did occur to me at one point. Natalie Portman grates, with
her stuck-up droning voice, horrible make-up and semi-lisp. Samuel L. Jackson
seems to be reading for a part, rather than giving a performance. Yoda's
sweetly odd vernacular has turned into nonsensical jumbled-up half-sentences.
Hugh Quarshie's Captain Panaka seems to have come from a "Star Trek" movie,
and looks out of place. And the film really tested my patience with its story
of how Anakin was the result of immaculate conception.
I suppose that after three films of consummate
perfection, this had to happen. "The Phantom Menace" is the first "Star Wars"
instalment I don't rate as a masterpiece, and in fact, I'm not even recommending
it. It's wholesome and enjoyable entertainment for kids, rather than the
slap in the face a truly bad movie would have been, but the fans deserve
more. And we haven't been given it.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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