

STAR WARS: EPISODE ONE (The Phantom Menace)
by Stacey Oziel

You've heard all the hype. You've seen all their faces -
Natalie Portman (The Professional) as Queen Amidala,
Liam Neeson (Schindler's List) as Qui-Gon Jinn, Ewan
McGregor (Trainspotting) as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jake
Lloyd (Jingle all the Way) as young Anakin Skywalker.

If you've read any reviews, you've also probably heard
that this movie fails to live up to the magic and humanity
of the first trilogy. You also may have heard that this
one's too kiddie-friendly, and doesn't have enough content
for adults.

Believe the hype.

The effects are stunning, the digitalized creatures are
amazingly realistic, the lightsaber duels are amazing,
and Queen Amidala's sumptuous robes are fit to be
worn by Queen Elizabeth.

But there's something missing here, and it isn't budget
or effects - it's everything money *can't* buy.

The actors struggle as best they can to flesh out
broad-stroked and flat characters. The most successful
at this is Liam Neeson who, as Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi
master to young Obi-Wan Kenobi, has quiet dignity
and a wise, commanding presence. He is the anchor
to this movie, as he is the one character who George
Lucas apparently spent some time fleshing out.

Portman's Queen Amidala and McGregor's Obi-Wan
Kenobi don't fare nearly so well. Amidala, the future
mother of Luke and Leia and the queen of a peaceful
planet being invaded by the Trade Federation (?!?),
comes off as stoic, stilted and caricatured (it appears
as though she was a Vulcan Geisha in a former life).
And Obi-Wan, although McGregor makes him very
endearing, has so little screen time that he's nothing
but a Robin to Qui-Gon Jinn's Batman.

However, McGregor does struggle manfully to infuse this
surprisingly small supporting role with a spark of genuine
insight and humanity, and he does a good job. He also
absolutely NAILS Alec Guiness' (Obi-Wan in Episode
4 - 6) Scottish accent, and that really makes his presence
in the film more profound than it might have been
otherwise.

In fact, Lucas seems to bank on that preexisting
knowledge quite a bit, and that's one of the problems
with this film. I would never call myself a "Star Wars"
fan - especially not considering what it means to be
a fanatic these days - but I've always enjoyed the films
along with everyone else in America. However, if you
are the one person in America who *hasn't* seen the
films at all or even recently, or who doesn't bother
to brush-up on the names of obscure characters, you
may be hopelessly lost.

For example, one of the film's main (nefarious) characters
is Senator Palpatine. For those of you not recently steeped
in "Star Wars" trivia, Emperor Palpatine is that scary hooded
apparition who was Darth Vader's master in "Return of the Jedi"
and "Empire Strikes Back." So, obviously, his appearance in
"Phantom Menace" is meant to stir some echoes of his later
role in the series, thus making his role here more meaningful.

A lot of the movie is like that. R2-D2 and C-3PO make token
appearances, and it's obvious that Lucas is banking on the
audience's pre-existing fondness for them... because he
doesn't do much to add to it in any way. Same goes for
Jabba the Hutt, who doesn't look as much mean here
as he does corpulent and lazy. Even *planets* make
foreshadowing guest appearances in this film - Tatooine
(the desert world where Luke grew up), Coruscant (the
cloud city from "Empire Strikes Back"), and Alderaan
(Leia's home planet - which we never actually see -
that gets blown up in "Star Wars") show up or are
mentioned briefly in passing.

What's the result of tying so many plot points and
characters to future films? The answer is that this one
seems surprisingly empty. There's no meat - no substance -
that makes you want to love the characters as they are,
not as they will be.

Another problem is that there are actually *too many*
alien characters in the film. I was distracted by the
fact that two of the main evil characters - strange
looking aliens who looked like Gila monsters -
had mouths that barely moved, making them
look more like Muppets than actual characters.
And Jar Jar Binks, a silly Roger Rabbitish amphibious
character, is intended as comic relief, but what he
really becomes is annoying - and fast. Unlike
Chewbacca and C-3PO, who got their humanity
(if you'll pardon the expression) from their interactions
with the human characters, Jar Jar is often left to
interact mostly with others of his kind, at times
making the movie seem like nothing more than
a very expensive "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Furthermore, the dialogue is often stilted and corny,
and sometimes downright infantile, thereby rendering
some characters into nothing more than bystanders
to the plot. Oddly, this isn't just *my* judgment -
Lucas has said that he designed this film for kids.
Well, he's done a good job.

The hero of this film, of course, is young Anakin,
but it was very hard for me to feel any kinship or
identify with an eight-year-old boy. That's not
Jake Lloyd's fault, though - he does a good job
of being a cute kid, which is apparently all Lucas
asked of him. That's another mistake, of course,
because the cute tyke becomes Darth Vader.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!!!!

In my opinion, there was not nearly enough
foreshadowing of Anakin's future evil in the film.
The boy is all blond flowing hair and rosy cheeks,
and there's nothing more than a spark of aggression
in him throughout the entire movie. He has a doting
mother (Pernilla August, making her first English-
language film) and is a slave to a gross flying gnome
on Tatooine. But the only indication the audience
gets that this kid isn't all hearts and roses is Yoda's
hesitation in allowing him to train as a Jedi under
Qui-Gon Jinn. His explanation? "His future is clouded."

(Warning: MAJOR spoiler ahead. Enter at your own risk.)

Of course, the noble Qui-Gon dies at the hand of
Darth Maul, a scary-looking Sith lord who excels
at the Jedi arts, but has turned to the Dark Side.
This dude has maybe two lines in the entire movie,
but he establishes his presence through his amazing
moves with his double-sided lightsaber, and his
scary facial makeup.

Because Qui-Gon never gets a chance to train the
young Anakin in the ways of the Force, Obi-Wan,
Qui-Gon's young Padawan apprentice (one level
below Knightdom), must take over the training
himself.

So, at the end of the movie, we end where the saga
actually begins - with Obi-Wan Kenobi and his young
apprentice, Anakin "Darth Vader" Skywalker.

Did this story need to be told? I would say no. But
is it a worthwhile movie to see? Absolutely. If you
don't enter the theater with Jedi-size expectations,
and you simply want to be treated to an enjoyable
visual spectacle, then this is your movie.

The Tatooine pod races are a triumph of effects
and computer animation. The digitalized backgrounds
on some of the planets are an astonishing sight.
And Yoda and young Obi-Wan are worth seeing
for their origins in a simpler, happier time.

Above all, this is a fun movie. Not deep, not
meaningful, and not profound. But fun.

Maybe next time, Lucas will hire Lawrence
Kasdan to co-write the script, and the guy
who directed "Empire" will direct. Because
if Lucas does the next one himself, it will
be lacking the one thing it needs the
most - potential. :)

My Grade: B.

Stacey Oziel

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