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Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/star_wars.html

A long time ago, in our own galaxy and on our own planet, three movies
became so popular that they created an intense amount of anticipation
and hype for what would come next.  The long wait is finally over with
the release of /Star Wars: The Phantom Menace/, the fourth installment released
by creator George Lucas but chronologically, it is the first episode
in the /Star Wars/ universe.

Could the movie live up to such hype? I wasn't sure but I didn't care.
I went into the movie with the greatest amount of anticipation and I
figured if George Lucas could live up to my high expectations, it
would make this movie an incredible experience for me (more so than if
I had gone in with lower expectations).  

I came away from the movie thinking it was perfect. That in and of
itself isn't so unusual (recently, I felt the same way about /The
Matrix/) but it is rare (many films in my mind have failed to live up
to hype, including the recent /Saving Private Ryan/).  What makes
/Star Wars: The Phantom Menace/ special is that I had to overcome my
bias against the hype to think it was perfect, since it was undergoing
a more critical initial viewing than most films do.

The plot is one of the most complex among the four movies, rivalling
the rich dialectic observed in /Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back/
and definitely superior to the first and third episodes.  Lucas takes
advantage of the fact that a lot of the famous characters, such as
Jabba the Hut, Yoda (voice by Frank Oz), R2-D2 (voice by Kenny Baker),
C-3PO (voice by Anthony Daniels), and the evil Emperor are already
familiar to us and narrates a story where these characters and the
ancestors of the primary protagonists in episodes IV-VI interact
together in an incredibly natural fashion.

In the film, we're introduced to Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a
slave boy who is freed by two Jed Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his
apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).  We're introduced to Queen
Amidala (Natalie Portman) who we later know marries Anakin and gives
birth to Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker.  We're also introduced to
Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), a Sith Lord, who later becomes the
evil Emperor (aka Darth Sidious), slowly consolidating his power. 

The film is primarily about Palpatine's first efforts to gain control
of the Galactic Republic (while remaining consistent with the first
three films and telling a self-contained story). In order to do this,
he pitches the Trade Federation against the planet Naboo (ruled by
Queen Amidala). When the planet is overrun by the Trade Federation
droids, Queen Amidala and the two Jedi Knights sent as ambassadors
feel but end up being briefly stranded on the desert planet of
Tatooine, where they run into Anakin. After freeing Anakin, they go
back to Coruscant to warn the Jedi council of Darth Maul (Ray Park/Peter
Serafinowicz), an apprentice of the Sith Lord trained in the ways of
the Jedi.  Qui-Gon also asks the permission of the council to train
Anakin.  The final confrontation features the Knights, the Queen and
her aides, and the Gungans, a group of amphibious creatures living on
the planet, together trying to re-take control of Naboo.

There have been several criticisms about the film but I find them
baseless.  The notion that this is a film for children for example
only serves to illustrate, as I have long believed, that most adults
are incapable of comprehending such subtle complexity.  The movie adds
just a bit more knowledge to our understanding of the Zen-like nature
of the force and builds upon the previous mythology in an exciting
manner.  The effects are terrific but they are not over used. Lucas
takes his time telling the story and fleshing out the characters
slowly, and the pacing is just right. Each character is extremely
well-developed yet the amount of time spent on a given character is
perfect. For example, when the focus is on the evilness of the
Senator, it's just enough to let us realise he is not what he seems to
be but yet it's not so blatant as to be insulting.

The look and feel of the film is exceptional and retains the same
comfortable aesthetic we're familiar with from episodes IV-VI.  The
Darth Maul character is extremely effective and Ray Park's stunt work
in this regard is brilliant. The martial arts-inspired fight sequences
are extremely well choreographed.  The acting is excellent---Liam
Neeson is aptly cast as a stubborn Jedi Knight and Ewan McGregor is
perfect as an earnest Obi-Wan.  Jake Lloyd does a great job as young
Anakin Skywalker and even at his age the chemistry between him and
Natalie Portman is readily apparent.  And the score... while the heavy
passage announcing the arrival of Darth Vader in episodes four through
six is barely present, the other parts of the score by John Williams,
mixing the old with the new, sent shivers down my spine.

The reason this movie worked so well was because it induced goose
bumps in me on several occasions. These thrilling moments included the
pod race which determines Anakin Skywalker's fate, and the battle
scene at the end where Anakin destroying the droid control ship,
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battling a ferocious Darth Maul, and Queen Amidala
taking control of her throne, are all juxtaposed with each other.  This
is the reason also it was able to live up to my expectations--it was
exactly like I was watching the original trilogy when I was twelve or
so.  I can't think of a single thing that is wrong with the film and I
can't wait to see it again.

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