Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd
The Nerds Can Finally Stop Waiting in Line... Until Episode II
This was unquestionable the most highly anticipated movie of 1999, and possibly the whole decade. The biggest question facing The Phatom Menace was whether or not it lives up to the ungodly amounts of hype it has received. And for those of you who were curious about the answer... It lives up to the hype, while at the same time it doesn't.
Liam Neeson as the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and (of course) R2-D2
After the obligatory rolling of the Prologue into the stars we learn that because of a taxation on trade routes something called the Federation has been pressring the planet Naboo and is planning to attack. Because of this the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic has sent two Jedi Knigths as ambassadors to the Federation to negotiate the situation. They are Qui-Gon Jinn [prounounced Kwai Gone Zjin] (Les Misérables and Shindler's List) and his young apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting). After they are ambushed they do some serious butt kicking (except they are doing it to droids which don't really have butts) so they escape to the planet surface (Naboo) and run into Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best, Motion Picture Debut) who is of the Gugan race (which looks kind of live a walking human sized dinosaur with long ears like a cocker spanial) and is the comic character of Episode I. Along with Jar Jar's help they reach the capital city of Naboo and rescue the young Queen, Amidala (Natalie Portman, Mars Attacks! and Heat) from the clutches of the Federation's goons. After they rescue the Queen they confiscated her Royal Cruiser and escaped to take her to the Republic's capital of Coruscant. While leaving Naboo the Queen's ship is damaged and they are forced to land on the desert planet of Tatooine (a.k.a. the home of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars) to make repairs. While on the planet Qui-Gon, along with the Queen's handmaiden Padme, meets a young slave boy named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd, Jingle all the Way) with remarkable mechanical abilities and piloting skills.
As he talks to Anakin more and more, Qui-Gon begins to realize that Anakin is incredibly strong with the Force. He even begins to believe that Anakin is "the Choosen One" who will bring balance to the Force. So Qui-Gon starts working out a deal (actually it is more of a wager) with Anakin's owner to set him free so Qui-Gon can train him to be a Jedi. The bet they work out revolves around a pod race that Anakin will be entered in with his new pod racer that he built. If Anakin wins he is free and Qui-Gon can take him and the owner must fix the Queen's ship for free, if he loses then the owner (a weird looking flying creature) gets the pod racer and the Queen's Ship. After a suspensful but visually stunning race Anakin wins in the last lap and Qui-Gon takes Anakin and the repaired ship to Coruscant. But before they can leave they run into Darth Maul (Ray Park, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation), a freaky looking Sith Lord (a fearful race with horns on their head)with a double bladed light sabre and Jedi training. After barely escaping Darth Maul they continue on to Coruscant so the Queen can plead her case to the Senate. After they realize the Senate will be no help they return to Naboo and enlist the help of Jar Jar's race to help fight the Federation's invasion of their planet. Can they remove this illegal occupation and stop Darth Maul from hunting them?
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul (Ray Park)
As expected The Phantom Menace was a technological marvel with incredible special effects and visual displays. Much of the movie is done with computer graphics including one of the major charaters. All of Jar Jar's facial features and expressions were computer generated (although it is Ahmed Best's body and voice). And of course all of the space scenes are CG. Although all of you people expecting the space fighting scenes will probably be disappointed since most of the plot involves foreshadowing to the Original Trilogy and the rest of the Prequels. This is great for you Star Wars nuts who want to know why certain things happened in the original, but for those of you who like the dogfigts between X-Wings and Tie Fighters might be dissapointed, although the effects are still excellent. This is definitely a movie worth seeing just for its visual splendor, so if you ask me it is well worth the price of the ticket.
