STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE (20th Century Fox) Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Ray Park, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, Ahmet Best. Screenplay: George Lucas. Producer: Rick McCallum. Director: George Lucas. MPAA Rating: PG (violence) Running Time: 131 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, The Force is not a mystical, all-encompassing power; it's what George Lucas must be feeling in the middle of his chest as he revives the STAR WARS saga after a 16-year hiatus. In one sense, of course, EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE is the ultimate can't-lose proposition. It's also the ultimate can't-win proposition, a monolith nearly impossible to separate from the ridiculous expectations. Curiously, critics face a similar predicament. A rave could be interpreted as succumbing to the hype, while a jeer could be viewed as anti-hype backlash. How do you talk about a film that virtually demands the creation of a new set of rules -- for the film-maker, for the media, for the audience?
I can only explain my reaction to THE PHANTOM MENACE this way: when John Williams' now-iconic fanfare burst forth over the sound system, I was 9 years old again, shivering with anticipation at being transported by Lucas' singular mythology. And transported I was...into a hard drive. There's no other way to explain the chilly experience of THE PHANTOM MENACE, which opens with Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) on a diplomatic mission to resolve a dispute between the Trade Federation and the planet Naboo. When it becomes clear that the Federation's trade blockade is part of a more sinister plan, the Jedis flee Naboo with the planet's Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) and amphibian Gungan Jar-Jar Binks (Ahmet Best). A repair stop on the planet Tatooine introduces us to young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a slave boy whom Qui-Gon believes is the Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force.
There are plenty of other plot fragments floating around in THE PHANTOM MENACE -- most of them involving political machinations -- but the ho-hum plotting may actually be the least of its flaws. Quite simply, this is a film devoid of personality, filled with characters who never inspire affection or close identification. STAR WARS, for all its dazzle, had three fundamentally solid characters at its core: conflicted hero-on-a-quest Luke; tough, no-nonsense Leia; and lovable rogue Han. THE PHANTOM MENACE counters with the stoic Qui-Gon, the slightly-less-stoic Obi-Wan, and the stoic-in-a-slightly-different-way Amidala. Meanwhile, young Jake Lloyd brings little gravity to the character which will become the crux of this universe, and Jar-Jar's brand of comic relief is intensely grating. It's almost funny to hear Qui-Gon described as rebellious, since he seems about as capable of a rash act as he is of cracking a smile. There may be heroes in THE PHANTOM MENACE, but there's really no one to like.
And, for that matter, there's really no one to hate. Darth Sidious, the Sith who will be Emperor, is the primary villain of the piece, yet he only appears in the form of a jittery transmission, hardly the stuff of genuine menace. Darth Maul, meanwhile -- he of the marketing-friendly Day-Glo visage -- is effective considering his limited screen time, yet he's really a glorified henchman for all his double-bladed lightsaber tricks. THE PHANTOM MENACE is missing that unifying, ultimately hissable bad guy that makes for great archetypal conflict.
What we do have is a triumph of art direction and technology which creates alien worlds like no film ever has before. The streets of a Tatooine town bustle with creatures both familiar and unfamiliar; the megalopolis of Coruscant, capital of the Republic, features eye-popping architecture and the kind of traffic flow of which civil engineering legends are made. Though the pacing of the opening hour is on the pokey side -- which places it in good company with the first STAR WARS -- Lucas eventually produces a few dynamic set pieces like the desert pod race. When THE PHANTOM MENACE goes for pure visual satisfaction, it usually delivers.
Ultimately, though, there's a more basic satisfaction the film lacks. Its structure and imagery are reminiscent both of STAR WARS and RETURN OF THE JEDI -- particularly the latter in its three-ring climax -- but it doesn't even achieve JEDI's level of old-fashioned fantasy fulfillment. When Gungans and battle droids clash on the fields of Naboo, every last figure a digital concoction, you begin to sense the absence of a primally appealing human story in this blockbuster. It may be true that it will feel more complete a few years hence when its backstory has turned into relationships between Obi-Wan and Anakin, between Anakin and Amidala. For now, all that remains is spectacle without resonance, without magic, without even all that much fun if you happen to be over the age of 10. In this era of computer wizardry, Lucas has sapped his story of the thing that made it a phenomenon in the first place. The result is an adventure that feels...well, Forced.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 manic episodes: 5.
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