

Star Wars: Episode 1--The Phantom Menace    * * 1/2 (out of * * * * )

Directed by George Lucas.
Cast: Liam Neeson, Jake Lloyd, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Pernilla 
August, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Park. 
Voices: Ahmed Best, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker.
1999 - 131 minutes
Rated PG (for mild violence).
Reviewed May 20, 1999. 

"Star Wars" fans across the nation have been waiting sixteen years for 
the promised prequels to the most popular series in motion picture 
history. The original trilogy somehow captured viewers' imaginations 
like no other movie possibly could, taking them on a wild ride through 
never-before-seen places and meeting unforgettable characters and 
creatures. The most die-hard fanatics have been sitting outside the 
Mann's Chinese Theater in L.A. for over a month, simply to be the first 
in line to see director-creator George Lucas' latest opus. On Wednesday, 
May 12, advance tickets went on sale at 3:00 p.m., and I was instantly 
in amazement, arriving at the theater almost two hours before the 
tickets were to be sold, to see a line going all the way around the 
building. Many people were said to have camped out overnight (and this 
is in the small town of Frederick, MD!), and the two guys next to me in 
line both said that they had called off work on that day. Ultimately, I 
waited three hours to get tickets to the 7:30 nighttime showing on "May 
19," a date that will probably be forever ingrained in some peoples' 
minds. Expectations were so high for the film, with many nearly treating 
the impending release as "The Second Coming." On the other hand, I have 
never been that big of a fan of "Star Wars." I like them, and in the 
case of 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back," I nearly loved it, but I am 
far from a crazed devotee. I couldn't, however, pass up going to see 
this "Event" on the day it opened.

The film in question is, obviously, "Star Wars: Episode 1--The Phantom 
Menace," set many years before the goings-on in the original trilogy, 
Episodes IV, V, and VI. Going in, I chose to not have any sort of 
expectations (although they admittedly were kind of low), but to simply 
hope the film would do its job in amazing and exciting me. Early 
critical reviews have not been very kind, but there have been a slew of 
overwhelmingly positive ones, including Roger Ebert and Janet Maslin (of 
"The New York Times"). And so, without any certain presumptions, the 
final word on "The Phantom Menace" is that it is perhaps the most 
visually astounding motion picture I have ever seen, far more 
stimulating than the previous "Star Wars" movies, due to such 
extravagant technological visual effects advancements since the 
late-'70s/early-'80s. Unfortunately, those movies by-and-large had one 
vital element that this movie is sorely lacking, and that is any sort of 
character involvement. While Han Solo, Lucas Skywalker, and Princess 
Leia were likable characters with distinct personalities, "The Phantom 
Menace" holds no such close scrutiny. But then again, that leads to 
another predicament, which is that this film is only the first in a 
planned prequel trilogy, meaning that many of the characters will, no 
doubt, be further explored and development in the later installments, 
currently due out in theaters in 2002 and 2005. Problems abound in "The 
Phantom Menace," many more than there needed to be, but George Lucas 
truthfully had an overwhelming amount of elements to handle here, as he 
had to do the most difficult thing so far in the series, and that is to 
start it with the first vital chapter in the "Star Wars" legacy. You 
would be out of your league to say Lucas succeeded on every level, but 
he did do a respectable job, and treated me to extraordinary images that 
are worth the price of admission alone.

"Episode 1" begins as The Trade Federation are preparing an attack on 
the planet of Naboo, headed by the 14-year-old Queen Amidala (Natalie 
Portman), whose life is in jeopardy. After a narrow escape from the 
Federation, who turn out to be more twisted and corrupt than expected, 
two Jedi Knights, the no-nonsense, scruffy Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), 
and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), set off for Naboo to 
rescue the Queen and take her to Tatooine, a planet of safety. When 
their spacecraft breaks down, they venture out into a small desert town 
where they come into contact with two slaves, Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla 
August) and her 9-year-old son, Anakin (Jack Lloyd). Sensing the Force 
is with Anakin, and that he is destined to become a powerful Jedi, he 
hesitantly leaves behind his mother to join Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, 
promising to return and set her free one day from a slave life.

Since "The Phantom Menace" has the tiresome task of setting up 
everything to come later on, the villains come off more as an 
afterthought. The main one, I suppose, is Darth Maul (Ray Park), a 
fiendish sith with red-and-black face makeup, but he is literally given 
about four scenes and three lines of dialogue. How are we supposed to 
feel negatively towards Maul when we don't really even know who he is, 
and we never actually see him do any bad things, save for the inevitable 
climactic lightsaber battle between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and himself? 
Villains probably aren't the point in this installment, though, and 
since they are so uninvolving and slight, it doesn't come off as a major 
problem.

Sure, this movie is basically an arrangement for everything to come, but 
that still isn't an excuse for what does come off as a problem, and that 
is the performances, which are as lifeless as a piece of chopped-up 
wood. Neeson and McGregor are the centerpiece of the film, but we learn 
almost nothing about them, and they recite their lines without any 
feeling, as if their hearts weren't really into it. Maybe it is not the 
actors' faults, since they are so thinly written. At any rate, I'm sure 
McGregor felt especially out of place since he is a real actor, and 
probably not used to being what is essentially a background prop who 
stands there like a good boy and rarely says anything. Jake Lloyd, as 
young Anakin Skywalker, later to become Darth Vader, is an unctuous 
child actor if I ever saw one, with almost nary a line of dialogue that 
he is able to pull off. Surely, Lucas could have found a stronger, more 
assured actor to fit the bill of what is the most vital character in the 
film, as Lloyd is annoying and seemingly always aware that he is "in" a 
movie. Out of the four central roles, Natalie Portman easily fares best, 
but did you expect anything less of her? At 17-years-old, she is already 
a near-veteran, popping onto the scene in 1994 with her heartbreaking 
performance in "The Professional," and carrying it over to what was a 
performance snubbed of an Oscar nomination, in 1996's "Beautiful Girls." 
Portman knows how to make a scene work, even when the material isn't up 
to her level, and it will be intriguing to follow her character's 
development in Episodes II and III. Pernilla August, a Swedish actress 
in her first American film, is touching as Anakin's solemn, caring 
mother, and in each of her scenes she gives Neeson and Lloyd a run for 
their acting money. Also making brief appearances are Yoda (voiced by 
Frank Oz) and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), who sense an underlying 
uneasiness within Anakin, as well as friendly androids, R2-D2 (voiced by 
Kenny Baker) and an unfinished C-3P0 (voiced by Anthony Daniels). 
Brought to life as "Star Wars"'s first-ever major character that is 
completely computer-generated is the amphibious Jar Jar Binks (voiced by 
Ahmed Best) who, judging from his thick accent, must have been born and 
raised in the outskirts of Jamaica. Much talk has been raised about how 
Jar Jar is an annoying, kid-friendly addition to the film, and although 
he is probably more targeted for the children in the audience, I 
actually did like him, and his goofy, lovable nature. He is integrated 
seamlessly into each frame, never really looking like a special effect, 
and gives a better performance overall than any of the humans do.

If the characters are lacking depth and three dimensions, no one can 
accuse "Star Wars: Episode 1--The Phantom Menace" of not being original 
and often awe-inspiring. The landscapes and marvelous city vistas are 
never anything less than powerful, majestic, and sumptuous, 
picture-perfect images that I could stare at for hours on end. Words 
really can't describe the visual experience of "The Phantom Menace," but 
every frame in the 131-minute movie is gorgeous to look at. Some images 
I will never forget include: the atmospheric, dreamy overhead views of 
the city skyscrapers in the planet, Coruscant; the endless green fields 
in Naboo where a climactic war is held; the Queen's kingdom, which is 
surrounded by curved, bubble-like buildings, as well as a crystal-clear 
waterfall leading into a river; and an underwater city in Naboo, 
populated by fish, giant water creatures, and Jar Jar Binks' own race of 
giant, floopy-eared pseudo-hares. "The Phantom Menace" is such an 
optical triumph that, like "Terminator 2"'s liquid-metal and "Jurassic 
Park"'s dinosaurs, stands as a new turning point in visual effects 
artistry, this time proving that every frame can look completely 
believable, as if no effects were even actually used. If I didn't know 
better, I'd say that Naboo, Tatooine, and the underwater city were 
actual places that exist.

"The Phantom Menace," although more dialogue-oriented than 
action-inclined, as in 1977's "Star Wars," nonetheless includes some 
startling setpieces, including an exciting, superbly-crafted pod race 
that Anakin enters in with a pod he has made himself. Soaring through 
rock passageways and down cliffs, this sequence is the first true sign 
that we are back in "Star Wars" territory, and it is further carried out 
in the climax, which intercuts between three separate action storylines, 
including a war in the fields of Naboo between an army of robots from 
the Confederation and the amphibious Naboo residents; a fight to the 
death between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi; and the weak 
link, due to the corny, throwaway one-liners and weak acting by Lloyd, a 
space battle between Anakin and enemy troops.

Flawed as it is, "Star Wars: Episode 1--The Phantom Menace" captured my 
imagination and I enjoyed it. With a more tightly-written screenplay and 
characters, George Lucas would have really had something, but just as 
with "Episode IV," you have to look at the movie as a jumping-off point 
for the two later films, which most likely will be better on the story 
and, hopefully, on the performance levels. Going into "The Phantom 
Menace," I wasn't actually a "Star Wars" fan, but coming out I wanted more; 
I wanted to see what was going to happen next. "Episode II" may be three 
years away, but I'm already highly anticipating it, and the 
imperfections of "Episode I" have only sparked my interest even more 
since, like "The Empire Strikes Back," it is sure to be superior.

    - Copyright 1999 by Dustin Putman
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