Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Although it may find you falling directly into George Lucas's trap, it must be said that "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" is a film which begs to be seen at least twice.

The blame for this may be laid essentially on the media. Although Lucas may be reaping more than his fair share of profits from the licensing of the film and its characters, 'twas the media's ceaseless hype of its impending release that made "The Phantom Menace" into less a movie than an intergalactic event of unparalleled proportions.

As such, it is therefore virtually impossible to see the film and not feel that, on some level, it isn't as good as it should've been. How can such a hugely-hyped film ever live up to everyone's expectations, especially when it's regularly discussed in articles bearing the headline, "Will It Live Up To Everyone's Expectations?"

As a critic, I feel as though I should be…well, critical. But as a fan, I want the film to be as good as the "Star Wars" films of my youth.

As such, my initial viewing of "The Phantom Menace" was spent in a fairly stressed-out fashion. I caught the film at its 12:01 AM showing, thanks to my roommate Donnie being willing to stand in line from 4:00 AM to 3:00 PM in order to obtain tickets. There were naught but diehard fans in attendance, some sporting faux Jedi robes, a few wearing black and red make-up a la Darth Maul; the "Star Wars" t-shirts were too numerous to count.

Such an audience made for an extremely fun viewing experience.

There were cheers when the announcement of the feature presentation flashed on the screen…and when the THX sound was acknowledged…and when the 20th Century Fox logo appeared. Strong applause when the words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" emerged.

When the theme music erupted, though, that was all she wrote.

The simple purpose of "The Phantom Menace" is to begin to tell the tale of Anakin Skywalker (who will, as has been already been seen, grow up to become Darth Vader) and Obi-Wan Kenobi, to explain how they became the people they were in "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back," and "Return Of The Jedi." As "Menace" opens, Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) is a student of Qui-Gon Jinn (played by Liam Neeson), and the two are on a diplomatic mission to settle the matter of the Trade Federation's blockade of the Sovereign system of Naboo. When things goes awry (or possibly askew) and the Trade Federation begin an invasion of Naboo, the Jedi find themselves in a situation where they must rescue the planet's ruler, Queen Amidala (played by Natalie Portman).

It is on Naboo where we meet he who is destined to be the kids' favorite action figure: Jar Jar Binks; most adults, however, will instinctually cringe at his antics and want to throttle the life right out of him. Try to remember how old you were when you first saw the film, and, at that age, how much you would've loved the character…no matter how hard it will be to go against your adult instincts. Just keep telling yourself that he will grow less annoying as the film goes on, and you should be fine.
As the group leaves Naboo with the Queen, their ship is damaged, and they're forced to land on the desert planet of Tatooine. It is here where they encounter Anakin Skywalker, played by Jake Lloyd. Many have doubted if this 10-year-old actor could successfully pull off his part, but he performs admirably throughout the film; if Lucas's intention is to make us adore Anakin, then feel the agony when he eventually turns to the Dark Side, Lloyd helps him achieve it in spades.

The strings of the Trade Federation are being pulled by Darth Sidious, a Lord of the Sith. The Sith have been absent from the galaxy for a millenium, so the Jedi are understandably concerned when they encounter Darth Maul, apprentice to Sidious, on Tatooine. Darth Maul is clearly the coolest near-human in the film, but his menacing look is necessary to disconcert viewers, as his screen time probably tallies up to less than fifteen minutes (no matter how crucial those minutes may be), and no background is ever particularly presented for him.

The film's most successful moments are its action scenes. The pod race on the planet Tatooine, which reportedly borrows liberally from the chariot race in "Ben Hur," is as gripping a chase sequence (more or less) as is likely to witnessed on screen for quite some time. Equally, the last 20 minutes of the film are as memorable as anything in the Trilogy, featuring a light saber battle to rival the one between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in "The Empire Strikes Back."

"The Phantom Menace" does start slow, however. There is a need to build the characters and the background story, of course, but things definitely creep along for awhile; it isn't until the arrival on Tatooine that things begin to fully take off.

The special effects are the inevitable stars of the film, so let's not kid ourselves and pretend that anyone will be going to the theater in order to see outstanding acting performances. As it is, though, everyone performs extremely well. The aforementioned performance by Lloyd is a spotlight; he's no Mark Hamill, which is perhaps the greatest compliment the boy can be paid. Portman's performance as Queen Amidala makes the character appear older and wiser than her years. McGregor sounds as though he's been practicing his Alec Guinness impression for hours on end, and Neeson…well, he has the unenviable task of acting next to Jar Jar Binks in many scenes, but he does a fine job.

As far as the special effects go, the scenery is particularly breathtaking, from the various landscapes of Naboo to the planet of Coruscant, which is no less than one large city. (While on Coruscant, at the end of the scene where the Senate is in session, look at the bottom left hand corner for a cameo by E.T.!) There are androids and creatures added to virtually every scene; the subtleties are particularly impressive, with Lucas going so far as to make sure that the computer-generated battle droids have shadows!

Being of two distinct mindsets is no way to see a movie; it's extremely distracting, and it detracts from the appreciation of the film. Which is why "The Phantom Menace" should be seen twice: once to shrug off the hype and experience it for yourself, and once more to sit back and enjoy it for the 2+ hours of childhood fun revisited that it is.

***, first viewing; **** second viewing