The Phantom Menance Review: A story full of heart but not enough of everything else
The boring beginning of one of the greatest stories ever told
The Phantom Menace is the prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy. With these types of films,it was usually made for the sake of profits and milking the franchise even deeper. Admittedly this was George Lucas’ idea of telling the story of the prequels and at the very least there was some thought and heart which went into it. Lucas is trying to tell a story but this was barely a story he knows more than the audience does. This was a planning stage which somehow got made into a film for the sake of building it up on its sequel. I am grateful for the passion and ambition of George Lucas and it is something which is hardly seen in an age where movies are profit driven instead of story driven. Despite all that, could this film be redeemed by its heart?
George Lucas undeniably put a lot of thought into the expansion of this universe but the ideas were there yet the expansion wasn’t. Every new element or concept introduced was never developed in a meaningful way. The film just brushes through it and expects us to love it. At best the whole film’s concept revolves around fan service.
R2D2 saves the plane because it needs to show how R2 is there. The planet which the Trade Federation took over is a random planet we barely spent time on to be emotionally invested in saving it. The pod race seems cool but there was nothing too interesting after the first minute. The addition of the force in a person’s blood which determines if a person is a jedi or not is absurd and useless. The Jedi Council was there because of fan service. They never even did anything except disagreeing on stuff.
The concept is like Rebel Moon where there were ideas but none of it was twisted in a new way nor was it developed.
Then the whole plot of this film is just incredibly boring and underdeveloped. The plot is about these two Jedi who need to save this planet which had been taken over by the Trade Federation. They went to Tatooine to retrieve parts and met Anakin as a child and brought him to be trained.
The first issue comes in terms of how the film utilises the stakes. We never cared about this planet the Jedis have to protect. We don’t care if these two Jedis succeed or fail. We don’t care if Anakin is freed from slavery. We simply don’t care about any of it. This could all be due to the stakes of the story not being personal. A planet that has no connection to the Jedis. Jedis whom we had little development on. A kid who we have never met.
Then the other problem would just be characters being pushed by the plot. Anakin somehow knows how to race so well despite never finishing in the past may just be the most ludicrous example. Qui Gon betting on Anakin winning for the part of his plane instead of just going somewhere else on the planet to find it is odd. A lot of the things here feel like it was done because the script says so. This ultimately makes the whole plotline fall into boredom as if we were taking a sleeping pill.
When the climax finally came, all the problems of the film were just laid out. Padme and her soldiers saved a planet we never cared for. Anakin being a static character as everything was done for him. The Dual of the Fates is the most iconic part here due to how we finally see the sacrifice and emotional decisions of Qui Gon which I will get more into later on. If the entire plot is built on stuff we and the characters don’t care about and characters being moved by the plot instead of being active then it ultimately makes up for a boring experience.
Finally there are the characters. Somehow characters that have traits and unique personalities were made into bland and empty pieces of action figures.
Qui Gon is the master of Obi Wan. From him, Obi Wan was supposed to gain his optimism and risk free nature. Unfortunately these traits were barely shown except from a few lines of dialogue. Admittedly it is interesting to see how a master could influence his apprentice but he was never developed as much as the film tries which leaves him as a bland and boring figure with no personality except those few lines of dialogue.
Obi Wan is supposed to be the apprentice who learns from his master. He is somewhat developed but we never knew much about him except for some dialogue. He is just bland and boring as there is no action which shows who he is.
Anakin was semi-compelling with his kind heart to work and even risk his life for his mother. His interest in pod racing is clearly seen but the film then forces him to be the Chosen One. A character has to earn his title,not just get it from his genes. The film does try to have him earn it but the mess of the plot has covered up the potential it had. Jar Jar Binks is not unlikable but he just feels excess. He never really does anything except well…talk.
The villain Darth Maul had potential but he appeared once or twice and the climax then he was killed off. There wasn’t any kind of development from him until the Clone Wars.
The only compelling character which the film tried would be Padme. The queen herself who cares about her people is fine but the twist came when the handmaiden was actually the real queen. It was a nice twist which showcases her character really well.
Visually at least it was pleasing enough to look at. Somehow a 1999 film looks better than movies in 2023 so there is praise for that. The various designs on the creatures like the Trade Federation were unique and had been thought out. The choreography, especially in the end, was a masterpiece.
In conclusion The Phantom Menace may have nice visuals and a strong passion but the film never had a story to tell nor characters to be emotionally invested in as if a drawing that was not coloured nor outlined.
The Phantom Menace is now streaming on Disney Plus
