S T A R W A R S
---Episode One---
The Phantom Menace
Starring
-Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn
-Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
-Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala/Padmé Naberrie
-Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker
-Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine
-Ahmed Best as the voice of Jar Jar Binks
-Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
-Kenny Baker as R2-D2
and Directed By George Lucas
So after many years of waiting and sitting through those last few months to wait for the film to reach our British shores, was the most anticipated film of the decade(??). But was it worth the wait? Are people reading into the film too far? What am I on about?? Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace of course.
The Plot:
This story is the first part in a new trilogy which will tell the tragic story of how a young boy, incredibly strong in the force, will grow up and eventually become Darth Vader. But the film does not dwell on this subject, in fact the plot is all about a taxation dispute. A war between two groups of aliens, the Naboo and the Neimoidians. Two Jedi are despatched to settle this dispute and begin negotiations. But once the Trade Vicory realises that two Jedi have arrived, he panics and despatches battle droids to dispose of them. He also launches an attack against the Naboo in order to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty which will give the Neimoidians the advantage of the situation. It is here that we discover that this attack is being organised by a mysterious cloaked figure known as Lord Sidous...
The battle between the Jedi and the battle droids gives this movie an explosive start, only five minutes in and we are already treated to some top notch action. We get to see Jedi’s in their true form. But unfortunately this battle does not last very long. Before you have a chance to catch your breath, the battle invasion force have moved into Naboo, the two Jedis have met Jar Jar and swam down to the underwater city of Otah Gungah. That’s how quick the movie moves at this point and to be honest it seems to fast.
Jar Jar Binks, he seems to be a character that you love or hate, there is no middle ground. I personally found Jar Jar to be very amusing and brought comic relief to many situations that would be dull without him. From here the Jedi leave the underwater city with Jar Jar in tow and make their way to the queen.
After describing the situation to the queen she agrees to leave her home planet and make her way to Coruscant. Here she can plead her situation to the senate in an effort to control the situation. But as the queens ship leaves the planet it comes under heavy fire and is badly damaged but thanks to a little droid known as R2D2, they manage to escape. But their hyper drive is broken and needs repair.
They decide to land on the nearby planet of Tatooine where they hope to buy parts and make repairs to the ship. I won’t go any further except to say pod racing, Darth Maul and the big final battle.
Visuals:
That’s the story, but how does the film stand up on its own, especially after one of the biggest build ups of hype in movie history. The films visuals are incredibly impressive and will impress you throughout the film. In fact there so spectacular at times you do wonder if there hasn’t been a bit of CGI overkill. What comes out best is the pod race. Aliens racing in little pods with two massive jet engines tied to the front by a couple of strong cables, for around twelve minutes. The sequence in simply stunning. The sensation of speed is amazing. Its like Nascar or formula one racing but a lot faster and with a much higher risk factor. But with all these amazing visuals, it did make a couple of the shots in the movie look ’wrong’. In particular they were obviously blue screen shots where an out of focus background had been inserted and it didn’t work 100%. Call me picky but that’s what I saw and noted.
Acting:
In terms of acting performances the best came from Liam Neeson and Pernilla August. These two played their parts with conviction and seem genuine. Ewan McGregor comes across as a Jedi who a bit too eager for action. But I do applaud him for trying to keep the continuity by speaking like Alec Guinness, the older version of his character forty years from now as portrayed in the original Star Wars movie.
Onto the next subject, child actors. Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker. While he came across pretty well most of the time, there were occurrences when he was annoying. This especially comes across when he’s celebrating. Whenever he shouts or screams with joy, he never sounds like he really means it. In fact the only time he sounded genuine was when he was speaking in an alien tongue to his owner, the junk shop owner Watto.
Conclusion
Finally the story itself is simply a back story to real reason behind the film. After all these years did we really want to see a story about taxes. No, the real story has only just begun. What we have here is merely the introduction. This film sets up the plot lines for several of the characters, mainly Obi Wan becoming a jedi, Anakin becoming Obi Wans apprentice and Queen Amidalas introduction.
Don’t get me wrong, this film is a highly enjoyable romp, its just that you mustn’t take it seriously. Don’t expect it to be the best film you’ve ever seen because if you do you will leave the cinema very disappointed. Sit back, and enjoy, just don’t think about it too hard.