"Films that didn’t really need to exist" seems to be a recurring theme this time around and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is no exception. Star Wars fans had long wondered just how Anakin Skywalker wandered down the path to the dark side and became the evil Darth Vader. What we got was something no one had expected.
George Lucas essentially retcons a good bit of what the expanded universe of Star Wars lore told us about Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. (for those unfamiliar with the term, to retcon means to add new historical material that is now supposed to be accepted as fact, despite any incongruities or contradictions with information that has already been provided; anything you thought you know is now wrong, unless it agrees with the new history) So Lucas is presenting us with a history of one of the most legendary sagas of all time that is substantially different in places.
Perhaps the most significant problem with Phantom Menace can be summed up in three words: Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar Binks is an alien creature who speaks and walks like a stereotypical Jamaican black man. It is offensive and insulting, but he’s popular with the kids! He provides the comic relief in the film, although his bumbling antics and sheer dumb luck are only humorous to 5-year-olds who can’t yet grasp the depth of the story.
I will admit, the acting wasn’t spectacular in the original Star Wars, but at least there was substance to it. Instead of a mysterious energy force, The Force is now scientifically explainable (science kills faith); instead of meeting a talented young pilot, Obi Wan Kenobi meets a little kid with Force-like reflexes that help him “pilot” a pod racer; instead of using the Force to get out of a jam, things happen by accident (Anakin flies straight into the mother ship’s hanger, stalls out and starts randomly pushing buttons and accidentally blows up the ship’s main reactor, which happens to be left exposed inside a hanger bay). Yeah, it’s that pathetic.
But if you ignore all the chance and dumb luck pervading most of the battle sequences, there’s still the hard-to-believe premise that Anakin had no father, but was conceived by these organisms that scientifically explain the Force. That’s right, I, a self-professed Star Wars geek, have a hard time believing something in Star Wars. Then there’s also spaceships and technology that are ages more advanced than anything in the original trilogy, some rather fake looking special effects, and the woefully inept script that forces the film’s otherwise decent cast to exude less personality than a box of Lincoln Logs.
So nnow you’re thinking this movie is doomed, right? Well, not quite. The story has a chance, just not in the hands of George Lucas. The pod racing scene really is pretty awesome (and a clever way to chew up ten or so minutes of film time) and Darth Maul and his double-sided lightsaber are badass. The music is also pretty good, featuring some choral work included in the main fight theme, which plays during one of the best lightsaber battles in all of Star Wars.
These pros help to at least lighten the disappointment brought on by all the cons, making The Phantom Menace an almost decent movie, but by no means up to par with the original trilogy.
RATING: 2.25 out of 5
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