I have decided to take a look back at the 'Star Wars' saga from its very low to its highest highs. These reviews will include the seven main films in the series, as well as some spin-off films. It's easy to put down 1999's 'The Phantom Menace' nowadays, with its many flaws and cringe worthy moments put into the spotlight when brought into discussions. But I think most will admit that during those months leading up to its release, it was as big of a deal as 2015's 'Force Awakens'. Think about it for a moment: 'Episode I' would be the first new film in the beloved series since 1983 and those had just been re-released in theaters a few years earlier. So thinking back, I and everyone else were pretty damn excited to see this flick and when it opened that May it was huge! It was one of the largest films of that decade, grossing around $150 million just during its opening weekend and many fans flocked to the cinema and took in multiple viewings, myself included.
And then the nostalgia and the charm began to fade. The repeated viewings began to dwindle and the film's critical response (55% on Rotten Tomatoes based upon reviews at the time) began to sink in and it was becoming rather difficult to ignore. Now, I am not going to go on the usual tangent here and I want to be upfront here right away and say that I really don't hate this film as much as others out there. However, I will not allow nostalgia and my love of the series to blind me to its many flaws so now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's go on. The first thing I'll go over is the bad things starting with the film's script. While the story of 'Phantom Menace' is good on paper, I feel it ventures off far too often from the main course. One minute the film will have the action and mystic fantasy elements we know and love about 'Star Wars' but then it has long discussions about politics and even to this day I don't understand some of it. George Lucas has stated multiple times that he felt these films were always aimed at children so why would he write about such a boring subject as politics? Yes, I know it is necessary for the whole story to fall into place in the end but there are better ways to work around those slower moments and pacing them better.
Then there are the elements deliberately aimed at the younger audience which is fine when done correctly. Lucas, to put it bluntly tried way too hard like someone making a simple jump then collapsing over a mountain. Jar Jar Binks to this day is still what many consider the worst aspect of the entire 'Star Wars' franchise and I gotta jump on the bandwagon with this one. As proven with a fan edit roaming around the internet, Jar Jar is very unnecessary and contributes little to no progressive aspects of the narrative apart from him linking together the film's climatic battle. If this was all that was used of him I don't think he would have been nearly as hated, but still likely easy to dismiss as a random misfire on Lucas' part.
On the good side, despite the iffy dialogue and hit or miss script, the actors do what is asked of them and give better than average performances particularly Liam Neeson. The young Jake Lloyd has sadly become the lightning rod of bullying and harassment following his mediocre performance of young Anakin Skywalker and this is where I draw the line. Just a slight rant here but folks, it is just a fictional piece of cinema and no one involved especially a 9 year old child who just did what was asked of him deserves what that young boy got. Anyway back to the positives such as the actual environments and sets used in 'Episode I'. It's easy to forget that this prequel entry actually didn't used complete green screen and CGI for all of its setpieces or effects and even during its original release still had practical puppetry with Yoda and several other creatures. For the prequel trilogy being so known with being CGI effects heavy it's pretty surprising going back and seeing how little it was used in this first entry. Finally I'll say that the film still has some famous cinematic moments despite its mixed reviews. Composer John Williams still brings his A game here composing a score just as entertaining to listen to as the other films and one of his most popular themes 'Dual of the Fates' is featured here for the first time. And regardless of what you feel about the film's story, scenes such as the Podrace and the fight with Darth Maul are still entertaining to watch to this day.
There's no denying that 'The Phantom Menace' is quite a mess and can be considered a rocky entry in the series, but it's far from terrible. Don't get me wrong it's not a film I go back to that often but popular culture and exaggerated fan rage has given the film a reputation that I don't feel is completely justified. It's flawed sure, but if you've seen films such as 'Sharknado' for a living then you can't really put 'Episode I' that low on a list.
6/10
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