The Beginning Of The End

For any established film-franchise that has exhibited features of intrigue and critical acclaim, one aspect that these blockbuster series have to attain to is audience expectation and hype. It’s this very anticipation that can often be seen as a double-edged sword. As much as the marketing of a box-office hitter may say all that right things on their impactful posters and employ hyperbole tactics within their revealing theatrical trailers, it’s this very distribution tool which can sometimes become a deterrence and rather alter cinema-goers’ perception of a release long-after watching. It’s not hard to fathom and perceive just how many heavily marketed films have been hyped-up only to fail spectacularly in their attempts to match the euphoria of the advertising; think of Zak Snyder’s Batman V Superman that failed to live-up to its hype in rivalling the success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe due to its myriad of cinematic problems or even something like Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger that tried replicate its success in relation to Pirates of the Caribbean, but ultimately flopped. However, the most infamous example of a film deterring its audience through opaque marketing and inherent hype is George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, a sci-fi epic that, at the time of its release, was the single biggest event in cinematic history since it saw the return of Star Wars from a different contextual perspective and naturally had fans and critics alike licking their lips at the prospect in seeing lightsaber’s and space-battles again. What followed from before the films opening to the aftermath was a mixed-consensus. While fans adhered to the films better aspects, critics were hasty in calling it a missed-opportunity (which is an opinion that many share about the feature today). However, having viewed Lucas’ film recently in ‘preparation’ for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX late this year, is it wholly justifiable to state that The Phantom Menace is a complete cinematic flop?…

As imminent conflict brews between the evil Trade Federation and the peaceful planet of Naboo, Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to negotiate the blockade and warn the Queen Amidala of Naboo of a potential galactic fallout. After being attacked by droids and other enemies alike, the two Jedi’s are forced to evacuate the planet with the Queen and her court back to Coruscant where they hope to resolve the trade dispute issue at hand. However, having sustained damage to their ship, they are all soon forced to land on Tatooine where they fortuitously meet a slave-boy named Anakin Skywalker who happens to evidently close with the Force. Qui-Gon Jinn enlists Anakin for his help in winning the ship parts he needs but is soon faced in dealing with Darth Maul, a Sith who threatens to kill the two Jedi along with Queen Amidala. Are the Sith really extinct? Will Queen Amidala be able to convince the politicians to release her planet from the Trade Federation? Why does Anakin appear to be more in-tune with the Force compared to other Jedi?

“Is it in their nature to wait this long?…” This is one of the first lines of dialogue spoken in the film by Obi-Wan Kenobi and while you’re understandably confused as to why I’ve started my discussion/analysis of The Phantom Menace in a different manner compared to my usual way of reviewing, it’s a quotation that is ironically pertinent to the said films overwhelming list of cinematic problems. Upon reflection of past entries, one of the aspects that makes most great Star Wars films so memorable is how they open their story; how the opening scenes plunges our viewing perspective into a realm that’s filled with a rush of science-fiction adrenaline. Whether it’s within A New Hope when a rebel ship is trying to escape from The Empire’s Star Destroyer or in Empire Strikes Back when the Rebels are fending off against The Empire on the snowy planet of Hoth, it’s these particular openings and others within this beloved franchise that initiates a context which is engaging and expected of; considering it’s own nature to showcase futuristic ship and sword fights. As much as The Phantom Menace does uphold an opening sequence which see’s the likes of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi defending themselves against the Trade Federation’s droid army and fleeing to Naboo to rescue Queen Amidala, much of this energy is quickly dissipated thanks to needless exposition of characters and settings that don’t necessarily surmount to the central conflict and dialogue that is ultimately stale. Indeed, it doesn’t take until thirty-minutes of the run-time for the film to properly tells its own story since there are excessive moments of exposition which don’t amount to anything significant. This in turn leads towards a plethora of sequences that are undoubtedly inconsequential and rather tedious considering that director Lucas could and should have easily constructed a more streamlined story that doesn’t involve a deluge of sequences where characters are moaning about signing treaties and making political deals. It’s baffling to comprehend considering how the Star Wars films that came before rightly never troubled themselves with such boring story-telling and exposition. While the central conflict was simply a Rebel army trying to defeat the Empire, it was a simplistic contextual design that was engaging thanks to the way in which the world building enveloped along with the plot and how the characters had their own lovably distinctive personalities; from Luke Skywalker becoming a Jedi or Han Solo adding a sarcastic comment to a towards a tense situation. In the case of The Phantom Menace, it’s hard to perceive with any degree who the real central character amongst everyone else. There’s never a personality that you really empathise with or have in relation to whatsoever. It just doesn’t help the fact that not one character stands out from the rest a part from, perhaps, Darth Maul; which is ironic considering he’s a compelling villain that has literally three lines of dialogue. How much better would it have been if Darth Maul was more interlinked with Naboo or Queen Amidala?! The only real levity to become ‘enthralled’ by long after watching the film, despite it’s twenty-year age, is some of its inclusions of Podracing and the Jedi order. But even these contextual devices are never elaborated on unlike the Gungan race and Jar Jar Binks who, frankly, outstays his welcome from the first minute he appears. What’s more bugging is the constant foreshadowing of occurrences that we know are going to happen. It’s frankly unnecessary given that these hints of future outcomes are bound to happen; especially in the case of Anakin.     

Alongside the films begrudging way of gratuitously showcasing scenes and story-outcomes that don’t really add any great depth to the central contextual conflict, what’s also hard to comprehend – considering how engaging the characterisation was perceived in the original trilogy of Star Wars features – is how stagnant each and every one of protagonists are and how the delivery of the acting at times feels uninspired and lazy. As highlighted before, I think one of the reasons as to why the cast of characters seem to be so stale is down to the fact that there really isn’t anyone as an audience member who you can sincerely attach yourself too, Of course, you’re following along the journey of both Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi who get wrapped-up saving Queen Amidala, finding Anakin Skywalker who’s naturally gifted with the Force and duelling Darth Maul who’s a franchise fan favourite, but there’s never an instant where you’re candidly identifying with any individuals problems, successes or funny moments. While you could argue that the emphasis is solely placed on Liam Neeson’s Jedi character of Qui-Gon, it’s hard non-the-less to personally grasp who he is since there’s never any background detail or development from the character as their should have been. What made Luke Skywalker in A New Hope so fascinating to comprehend was his development; how he was started as someone who dreamed of traversing the stars fighting against the Empire and finished by the end of the film as a hero who destroyed the Death Star. There is very little of this in The Phantom Menace which is rather damning. Even through looking at Anakin Skywalker in this feature, which is pretty much the origin of how he becomes a Jedi and later Darth Vader, there’s never any attachment since the dialogue that Lucas employs for the character is campy to put it simply. Lines like, “are you an angel?” just seem awkwardly random upon re-watching the film and as much as it’s clear that Lucas wants to make it clear what the characters are feeling through dialogue, it’s baffling that he doesn’t convey these emotions through basic techniques of body/facial expressions. Instead, we’re presented with characters that have to say how they’re feeling in every instance. Then we have the likes of Watto and Jar Jar Binks who….well, speak for themselves really. As much as Binks presents himself to be the comic-relief of the feature, his outlandish presence can be rather off-putting (and that’s putting it kindly…). 

As much as Star Wars has always been adhered for its lightsaber battles, the space-battles and the wholehearted charm that’s seen through its many character interactions, one underrated aspect of the franchise that never fails to disappointment in its delivery is the series’ formalities; whether it’s the wondrous orchestral soundtrack that John Williams has produced with excellence or the combination of practical and CGI effects itself. Ever since A New Hope, Star Wars has always been a cinematic innovator in bringing forth interesting worlds and situations that fully exploit the height of computer technology and while there are inklings of CG fatigue within The Phantom Menace, it’s a mighty feat really when you think about how many different pieces and artistic designs go into a sequence or even one camera frame. The orchestral soundtrack more specifically is something which is sumptuous to just appreciate since it ultimately incites the actions that are taking place on screen. A perfect example of this shown is when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan face-off against Darth Maul and we hear John Williams’ ‘Duel of the Fates’ which poetically heightens the severity of the situation and naturally makes the lightsaber duelling seem that more grandiose. What conclusively hinders the films formal approach is Lucas’ over-reliance on CGI effects and how establishing shots of droids going to war with made-up alien races in the Gungan’s feel considerably un-engaging and dated, which is a shame. Another negligence would be the impotent editing techniques as well since there are inconsistencies when one frame transitions to another. While the balancing of events in the climactic third-act of the film feels appropriately executed, with Anakin helping to destroy the Trade Federation ships, Queen Amidala re-claiming the Naboo palace and the two Jedi’s fighting Darth Maul, it can’t be helped to mention that there’s laziness in relation to the showcasing of quick-actions. By this I mean the Podracing sequence. As much as the race itself is a cool way to break away from the conflictions of the central story, it’s a scene which doesn’t do itself justice in relation to the editing. There are far too many times within this scene where not only does the camera fixate right-hand side of the pods themselves and, not once, do we see a different camera perspective, but how the frame always pans from left to right…It’s as if the film-makers didn’t know that other camera shots existed to them! 

Indeed, I’d imagine many of you reading this review of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace would expect to see me ranting about how George Lucas’ film still stands today as one of cinema’s greatest flops, and you would be half-wrong…Sort of! Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to objectively look at this Star Wars entry and say that it rivals any of the original trilogy since it possesses drastic problems in its wayward pacing and plethora of sequences that see characters talk about negligible trade negotiations. However, despite my qualms and being hesitant in re-watching said film for this review/series, I can’t shy away from the fact that I also enjoyed the experience being that it has been a long time since I’ve seen the film and how certain little aspects captured my. Its never going to be as good as other Star Wars films, of which we’ll get to throughout this year. However, The Phantom Menace certainly has its moments that are memorable like the Podracing, Darth Maul and John Williams’ ‘Duel of the Fates’ orchestral score. Certainly, it’ll be interesting to see how much Attack of the Clones also fair’s since it’s perhaps my least favourite of the franchise…Going off my memory of course!…

And on that note, it’s time for me to end this week’s Retro Film Review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest Film Review of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and if anyone happens to have an opinion on either the film or the review, you’re more than welcome to share your thoughts down below. For next week, I’ll bring you a new Film Review of Alita: Battle Angel. With that said, thank you once again for reading my latest Blog entry I hope you all have a nice start to your weeks! Adieu! 😃👽⚔💥

★★☆☆☆ – Alex Rabbitte