Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

 

Genre: Family/ Sci-Fi

Time: 2h 14mins

Director: George Lucas

Quick Summary: Two Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their original glory.

Take a shot every time Jar Jar says "how wude" or when Anakin says "yippie".

There is a lot to unpack with this one as there is a lot set out straight off the bat. I think on your first watch, with no prior knowledge of Star Wars the plot of this one is very complicated. Don't get me wrong, you can follow it pretty easily, but some parts assume you've seen the original trilogy and can be a little confusing, but mostly it tries to keep things easy to follow. That saying, I found the politics to be incredibly difficult to follow and fill in the gaps at times. This expects you to piece together things through subtly and dialogue, which is fine usually, except this film tries to also cater towards a younger audience through various things and characters so it feels a little strange flicking towards the two.

Which brings me onto Jar Jar. Never in my life have I wanted to deck a character so hard. He felt like a toddler that had learnt to speak, but also tried reading a dictionary and doesn't know how to pronounce these words. Obviously he was there to keep the attention of younger kids and be used as comedic relief, but we just didn't need it. 

Complaints aside, this is wonderfully rich with action and space age science-fiction that is so captivating. One of the highlights of this is the pod racing, which is helped massively from the amazing sound effects throughout this entire trilogy. Fast paced, hetic, tense and so enjoyable to watch, especially with how dialogue driven most of the film before this part was. Watching them speed through dangerous landscape, sabotage each other, and the rise of our little Anakin the underdog was just brilliant. Along with this, how could I go without saying, the fight with Darth Maul at the end. One of the most thrilling music scores I have heard (And been lucky enough to hear in cinema) pairs perfectly with this fight. Not the best chorography I have seen, especially for Star Wars, but still pretty nail biting as the pair as essentially a fraction of a second away from killing the other. 

The set designs will always be so impressive, no matter how dated the story is. From the rich sandy landscapes of Tatooine, to the beautiful architecture of Naboo. Every scene was shot stunningly and I can't fault it for that, any time there was a sun set I was in awe. Honestly as well, the costume designs were flawless, especially for Queen Padmé. Each article of clothing was incraticale made and there is obviously a lot of love and care put into them. I loved how just over the top some of her hairstyles were and am fasicated on how she was able to walk around with them.

I am aware people disliked child Anakin and complained he was annoying. Let me raise you a counter argument of: "He was literally supposed to be an innocent child." Sure, realistically a child wouldn't know how to do half the things he did, but the story literally hammers in that he's extra special because of the "Midi Chlorinies."(Though the explanation of those was honestly really cringey).  I didn't mind the childish dialogue moments, especially the little "Yippie" he did occasionally. 

Touching on the CGI, it wasn't awful. I have seen worse. Yes this was a little distracting at times, but for the time it was pretty good too and because of the sheer amount of practically effects that were also used in this I was able to forgive the bad bits. 

Something I want to briefly mention as a personal dislike was how deadpan and montone Padmé. I found it so distracting and off-putting as it felt like she was trying to put on a voice to appear more serious. Everyone else was sort of wooden, even Ewan McGregor at times. Personally I think it came down to the lines they were given, but they did what they could. 

Flaws aside, this is a Science-Fiction classic that sets off the whole film series really well and is a solid introduction for anyone trying to get into them. 

7/10

"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts."

"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here."

"Qui-Gon Jinn: I don't presume...

Yoda: But you do! Revealed, your opinion is."