Review: Star Wars: Episode I --The Phantom Menace (1999)
Rating: 3 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: George Lucas
Written by: George Lucas
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Natalie Portman
Synopsis: In Phantom Menace the galaxy is divided into power groups whose interests will inevitably collide in later sequels. There is an overarching galactic United Nations-type organization called the Senate presided by a weak Chancellor. Within the senate two camps are at odds: a bickering, isolationist alliance called the Republic and their aggressive rival the Trade Federation. Preserving law and order are a council of Jedi Knights who are meanwhile searching for a prophesied chosen one of virgin birth. Manipulating events behind the scenes is a dangerous, reemerging clan called the Dark Lords of Sith, so shadowy and secretive that they comprise a "phantom" menace.
Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) witness an invasion of teenage Queen Amidala's home planet Naboo and befriend a Gungan named Jar Jar (Ahmed Best). On the desert planet of Tatooine the two Jedi, Jar Jar, and Amidala (Natalie Portman) attend a lengthy drag race involving the young boy Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). The five protagonists try to solicit help for freeing Naboo by visiting the city planet of Coruscant where a lot of debate and political maneuvering takes place. Can they free Amidala's helpless planet?
Opinion: On TV last night I watched young, wannabe celebs pay $400 a ticket and come running out of theaters to bask in front of news cameras, gushing with testimonials of The Phantom Menace's greatness in exchange for a few seconds of being on national television. Given this kind of media mania I wondered if Phantom Menace, the most anticipated movie of 1999, could possibly live up to the extraordinary hype that preceded it. Does Phantom Menace match the exaggerated hype? Director George Lucas answers, "It's only a movie."
To me, any movie with Russian-sounding accents for bad guys, Jamaican accents for good guys, and Middle Eastern-sounding accents for seedy gamblers accents can be expected to be more tongue in cheek than profound.
Visually, Star Wars: Episode I --The Phantom Menace (1999) is a kid show where parents can take their young ones to marvel at child-friendly CGI characters and wondrous backdrops even if the character dialogue (mostly geopolitics) is beyond the level of children. It is left to parents to patiently explain the conversation: droid origins, family lineage, the definitions of terms like blockade, appeasement, federation, alliance, symbiosis, satellite-controlled robots et cetera. At least this much is clear: there's plenty of eye candy, and in the last few minutes it's good guys and Joe Camel lookalikes versus a caped, horned red devil character and his mechanical hordes.
Weaknesses: Weaknesses lie in the writing and in the performance. At first it seems like the film is to be an invasion story, but then Phantom takes an hour-long detour to cover one chariot race before returning to the invasion theme. This dilutes the central story. Additionally, smaller scenes seem written self consciously, as if they were added more to fill us in on extraneous background information for other movies rather than form an integral part of the present movie. Veteran actors Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor noticeably outperform the other acting leads. Better ensemble chemistry between the five leads and background information that is central to a tight story line could have made have given Phantom stronger performances and storytelling punch.
Strengths: On the bright side Phantom Menace as a big-budget production is far ahead of the competition in terms of making whimsical creatures, worlds and vehicles appear real. The film boasts sophisticated, top-of-the-line visuals and quality exotic costumes, a musical score entertaining enough to stand alone, and three worthwhile sequences in the second half.
Bottom line? Seeing the film is entertaining and informative, like a visual theme park with Star Wars filler information serving as dialogue between impressive money shots. We are bound to be completely inundated by Star Wars publicity, music and tie-ins for the next few months.
Reviewed by David Sunga May 19, 1999
Copyright © 1999 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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