SECOND HELPINGS: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Given the colossal expectations and hype leading up to this film’s release, is it any wonder that it rocked the box office but flopped in the eyes of millions, if not billions, of Star Wars fans? The original Star Wars came at just the right time to achieve such a dominant following. Home video devices were in their infancy, allowing one generation to share the joy of watching (and some could argue over-watching) Star Wars and its two sequels with younger siblings, cousins, children, and now even grandchildren. The magic of the original trilogy is practically ingrained in our cultural psyche, so how could George Lucas possibly make anything capable of satisfying legions of fans expecting greatness?

There are a lot of things that are wrong with The Phantom Menace and I think that the number of problems is why so many people think it is the worst of the prequels. I maintain that Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the worst but please don’t think I am sticking up for this film. It is certainly flawed and deserving of much of the criticism hurled at it.

First we tackle the filmmaking basics- Phantom Menace has poor writing and some terrible acting. While I appreciate George Lucas’s utilization of modern makeup and visual effects to incorporate more non-human species as main and supporting characters, some of these characters come across as half-baked and others just look like they are there to showcase cool effects. It had to be tricky to create characters for this trilogy because we already know who is in the original trilogy. Creating a set of dynamic and engrossing characters would be tough because audiences would have to deal with their deaths during this trilogy or we would feel gypped if they just disappeared after Episode III.

Unfortunately, we got the exact opposite of this problem. Ewan McGregor does fine as young Obi-Wan Kenobi, here finishing up his training to become a Jedi and not yet a master but we’re never concerned about him because he obviously needs to survive the new trilogy to be part of A New Hope. Jar Jar Binks seems positioned to be the prequels’ version of Chewbacca but he was so obnoxious that Lucas largely wrote him out of the next two to appease the fans. Natalie Portman’s Queen Amidala is stiff and keeps mostly to the sidelines. The only new character of any quality here is Darth Maul and he gets chopped in half at the end.

The whole point of the prequel trilogy is to provide the backstory of how Anakin Skywalker transitions from pilot to Jedi to Darth Vader. With the main character being Anakin, audiences were understandably disappointed by Lucas’s decision to have Anakin be a child in the first film. God bless Jake Lloyd but his character comes across as whiny rather than streetwise thanks to a terrible script that holds back every member of the cast.

Then there are the finer details that drive nit-picky people like me crazy. Why is the technology in this film, only some 30 years before A New Hope, so much more advanced than what we saw in the original trilogy? Lucas was obviously held back by the technology of the late 70s and early 80s but there is a huge rift in consistency that breaks the suspension of disbelief. I just cannot believe that in 19 years from the end of Episode III to the start of A New Hope that technology across the galaxy, even that used by the Empire, would regress to the state it is in during the original films.

Some fans got really bent out of shape over Anakin being the builder of C-3PO. It does not make much sense to me either but you had to expect to see the droids in the prequels somehow. This brings to the fore the reality that was probably the hardest to accept with this film. Despite what people came to believe over the years about events in the Star Wars universe both before and after the original trilogy, Star Wars belongs to George Lucas(until Disney’s recent acquisition anyway) and whatever he says goes.

The Phantom Menace’s status as the ‘worst of the prequels’ is largely due to fan reaction to all the ways Lucas mucked up their understanding of the Star Wars universe. Maybe they wanted Anakin to be a Force-sensitive version of Han Solo, or they didn’t need the Force to be explained away by science, or they just really hated Jar Jar Binks. That doesn’t mean the entire film is bad.

I see a lot of potential in The Phantom Menace. Its script is underwritten and the CGI effects are far too numerous. It opens a huge can of worms with all the minor details, plot points, and retcons, all of which are easy to get caught up in complaining about. But there is some good stuff here too. I liked the podrace sequence, even if it was a ploy to sell a videogame, and Darth Maul makes for some intense lightsaber dueling.

Start with Anakin as an adult with a chip on his shoulder, maybe secretly running supplies past the blockade of Naboo, and you’re already halfway to a decent movie. I’ve got plenty of other suggestions but that’s all beside the point. What The Phantom Menace really shows is that, while George Lucas may be a really good idea guy, his early writing and directing success was either a fluke or he lost his touch pretty quickly. He should have listened to some of the criticism and brought in people to help make the next one better. He didn’t though, setting up the prequel trilogy to disappoint fans further.

ORIGINAL RATING: 2.25 out of 5

NEW RATING: 2.25 out of 5

SECOND HELPINGS: Batman Begins (2005)

Like a fair number of people, I went nuts for this movie when it first came out. Here was a Batman that is at least somewhat plausible, unlike the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher films of the 80s and 90s. The characters have depth and struggle with heavy-hitting themes without being paraded around as pure spectacle and an excuse for overacting supporting characters. I watched this film again before seeing The Dark Knight Rises and some of its flaws became more apparent.

Maybe it is a direct result of seeing its successors so soon after taking this film in, but Batman Begins feels the most out of place of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy. It feels the most like a comic book movie of the three and the layout, look, and feel of parts of Gotham City give off a slight comic book vibe. The other two do not. Gotham feels more like a real city. I don’t want to let a criticism of continuity for the whole trilogy affect my rating for this film, so I am hoping that my initial enthusiasm was a matter of me being dazzled by the breath of fresh air that was Batman Begins.

I am fine with the League of Shadows. In fact, it makes for a very worthy foe. Batman is forced to go head to head with the forces that trained him. Their motive for destroying Gotham is fascinating but their intended means of accomplishing their goal lacks some believability. The water-vaporizing weapon goes just a little far out there, considering how realistic much of the rest of the film is.

Batman Begins marked an exciting new direction for not only Batman but for superhero movies in general. It showed that you can tone down the flamboyant elements of the comic book genre and still create something exciting. To make it a powerful emotional and intellectual draw is an added bonus. The framework of these pros can easily be attributed to the X-Men franchise but Batman Begins benefits from a better balance of flair and fun, while also focusing on far fewer characters. For this, I still hold it to be an excellent film but I feel I have to drop it ever so slightly from the ranks ‘great’ films.

Original Rating: 4 out of 5 (Click here for the original review)

New Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

"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

Schindler's List** (1993)

Don’t tell Hollywood that I didn’t give Schindler’s List my highest possible rating. I understand the power of the film and the drama that unfolds but the truth is that I feel that I’ve seen better and more heart-wrenching depictions of the Holocaust than what’s presented here.

That’s not to say List is without merit. It certainly is. The black and white cinematography works to its advantage when showing blood, and it allows for some very artistic and powerful use of light/dark contrast. The fact that the story is true also adds weight to the story, knowing that you’re witnessing an artistic depiction of reality.

Everyone can get something out of this film. We are all flesh and blood and we are all repulsed by the atrocities committed during one of the most senseless violations of human rights and of the human spirit in our history. There is a sticking point though. Schindler’s List will mean more to some than others.

Yes, it’s tragic and uplifting. Yes, it displays some of the horrors human beings had to go through at the hands of their fellow man. But, there is a very slight disconnect with the film, I think, if you aren’t Jewish. Jews will take more out of this film than non-Jews, because Jews are able to connect with this movie on a level no one else can understand. This is all our history, but it is a deeper part of their history than anything else.

Perhaps that explains the rating. I don’t know. It’s excellent and worth watching, but I’ll warn you- it is very, very long and may not be suitable for very sensitive people.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Batman Begins (2005)

Easily the best Batman film made to date, Batman Begins almost reaches the level of greatness achieved by Superman: The Movie. Christian Bale delivers a knock-out blow as Bruce Wayne along his journey to becoming Batman.

This film is an origin story, so it goes back to square one, essentially erasing Tim Burton’s inspired original and mediocre follow-up, as well as Joel Schumacher’s miserable offerings. Director Christopher Nolan (Memento) really did his homework and rightfully took all the flash and glam out of Batman. Gotham City looks real and almost everything in the film seems possible.

While some of Batman’s gadgets are clearly fictional, the film makes them seem plausible. The assurance from the characters regarding such gizmos helps make them all the more believable. While I was opposed to the Batmobile after seeing pictures of it online, I came to accept it, as the explanation for all of Bruce Wayne’s toys makes sense. The film makes it seem possible for a billionaire like Wayne to easily become a crime fighting hero, as it seems he only had to spend around $6 million for the Bat-gear. The Bat Cave will be costly, but certain happenings in the film will allow the cost to be covered quite easily.

But overall, I think the best part about Batman Begins is that it shows Batman with bruises. Think about it- when have we ever seen Bruce Wayne covered in bruises? Never, and that’s why this film blew me away. They made Batman human again, and his humanity is a driving force behind the success of the film. When common folk can readily identify with the super-heroes we look up to, we can relate to them and we love them more because of it.

RATING: 4 out of 5