Expectations for The Phantom Menace were so high it would have been hard not to have been disappointed, but the sad truth is there's more then one menace in this movie and none of them are phantoms. Bad acting, predictability, uninteresting characters and a boring plotline not only menace this film they almost destroy it.Most people know George Lucas released the second Star Wars trilogy; beginning with A New Hope, first because he believed it, of the three trilogies he'd outlined for the series, was the most marketable. Durned if he wasn't right. If The Phantom Menace had been the first Star Wars movie released I don't believe there would have been a second or a third. Of course, it's hard to be certain since The Phantom Menace is being held to a standard that didn't exist when A New Hope was filmed. Prior to A New Hope's debut no one had risked filming a space opera on such a dazzling scale and we�ve since been spoiled by the many other science fiction movies done in a similar grand style. So if The Phantom Menace had been first audiences might have been impressed enough that the series would have continued, but I have my doubts. The Phantom Menace is simply not as much fun as A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back or The Return of the Jedi. It could have been, with a little effort, but its not.
First, the acting in The Phantom Menace is its weakest point. There are times in Menace when the actors honestly sound as if they're reading their lines from a tele-prompter. Every major player involved in the movie was guilty of this, at one point or another, but the actors playing Queen Amidala and Anakin were especially bad. Given that these two were playing characters in both a modern legend and one of the most anticipated movies in history it would have been nice if they'd bothered to wake up while giving their lines. R2-D2 put more passion into his role then most of the human characters involved.
Second, there's almost no suspense in Menace. In large part, having seen Chapter's Four, Five and Six of the series before Chapter One, this was unavoidable since we know too much of the future for many of Menace's characters. How can we be concerned about the fate of Obi-Wan, R2-D2, C3P0, Anakin (Darth Vader) Skywalker or Yoda when we know they're going to be alive and well for the following movies? And the characters we're not familiar with aren't interesting enough for us to care about. Compare Darth Maul to Darth Vader and you get an idea of how The Phantom Menace compares to A New Hope. Darth Maul isn't menacing, in fact, with his over painted face he came off to me as more comical then threatening. I don't hate Jar Jar Binks as much as some fans seem to; nor do I believe the ludicrous claims that he is a racial stereotype, but he's just too silly to enjoy. Obi-Wan's mentor, Qui-Gon Jinn, was interesting, but he never lived up to his potential as a near rebel Jedi. Also, knowing what was to come, it was pretty easy to guess his eventual fate.
Third, there are enough plot holes in The Phantom Menace to walk a herd of Bantha through with room to spare. R2-D2 saves Obi-Wan's life, along with everyone else, by repairing damage to Obi-Wan's ship, but Obi-Wan claims not to know him in A New Hope? Qui-Jon Jinn prejudges Jar Jar Binks (Yeah, I know, I'm guilty of that too, but then I'm not a Jedi.) even though such prejudgement flies in the face of everything the Force stands for. With the power of the Force behind him Qui-Jon can't find a better way to get the parts he needs for his ship then to bet on a child, even a force powered child, taking part in a race he's *never* won before. Two Jedi's in concert couldn't defeat Darth Maul, but the most inexperienced one acting alone could? And, while we're on the subject, is there any doubt that when Obi-Wan defeated Darth Maul that revenge was definitely on his mind? Even though "Revenge is not the way of a Jedi?" The Force is supposed to have created, a la a virgin birth, what will be one of the most powerful Jedi�s to ever live even though this being will eventually become a threat to everything the Force is suppose to be. Why would it do that? And for something that is suppose to bind all living things into a unity there certainly seemed to be a lot of disagreement, dissension and politics in the Force�s most powerful allies; the Jedi Knights. Finally, when things look their worse, Anakin saves the day! By accident. If they�d made it clear the Force was guiding his actions that might have been different, but having the boy appear to stumble into saving the adults during the climax was ridiculous.
Finally, the plotline is boring. Darth Maul's fight scenes; pitting his Light Staff against Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan's Light Sabers, were the best part of the film, but they weren't enough to save it. The Phantom Menace's other fight scenes weren�t bad either, but while well filmed they were somehow never really exciting. A New Hope begins with a superbly filmed, especially for its time, battle in space between an intergalactic dictatorship and a small rebel alliance and grows more exhilarating from there. During the course of A New Hope a planet is blown up, a beautiful princess is rescued and a major space battle culminates in the destruction of a moon sized space station. In contrast; The Phantom Menace begins with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon arriving on a planet to arbitrate what is basically a trade agreement. Wow, how thrilling.
I saw the other Star Wars movies probably four or five times each, and I'll continue to go, at least once, to any new ones that come out, but the only way I'd go to see The Phantom Menace a second time would be if I were under the influence of Jedi mind tricks.
By the way, just for the fun of it, having seen Parts One, Four, Five and Six of the series, here are my predictions (most of which are pretty obvious) for Chapters Two and Three:
1. Vader will return to Tatooine, as he promised his Mom he would, to free the slaves. In the process; R2D2 and C3P0 will be reunited and Vader's mother will be killed if she's not already dead by the time he gets there.
2. His Mother's death will start Anakin down the road to the dark side.
3. Anakin will be reunited with Queen Amidala, they'll fall in love and, when he falls to the dark side, she will abandon him without telling him she's pregnant.
4. One movie, probably the third, will almost exclusively involve Vader hunting down and killing all the Jedi's but Yoda and Obi-Wan (Yep, sad to say, but Mace Windu is toast).
5. In the process of destroying the Jedi Knights all the remaining Sith Lords, except the Emperor and Vader will be killed or will be later killed by the Emperor and Vader.
Finally, during a battle with Obi-Wan, Vader will be badly injured, requiring him to wear the life support suit in which he appears in A New Hope. Vader will also be convinced that Obi-Wan was killed in this battle.
Average Grade: C-
