Film Review – Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999)

The original Star Wars trilogy will go down in history as one of the most important, influential, and biggest films of all time. It redefined what sci-fi films were going forward, in my opinion. It wasn’t until the most recent Dune films that we saw a sci-fi franchise that matched the quality of the original trilogy—a slightly ironic statement to make, since Star Wars is inspired by Dune.

Between Return of the Jedi and Dune Part 2, there were six numbered title films, two spin-off films, and a Clone Wars film released under the Star Wars banner, not even including the number of television shows released during the same period. So, over the last four decades or so, the franchise has left more of a bad taste in film fans’ mouths than good ones, and for me, Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace was the catalyst for this reaction.

The Phantom Menace follows two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), who are dispatched to bring peace between the Trade Federation and the planet of Naboo. Due to the taxation of trade routes, the Trade Federation has deployed a blockade, which means all shipping to Naboo has stopped. From there, we discover that the Trade Federation is a pawn for a darker force lurking in the background.

The film’s biggest issue is its identity. The Phantom Menace cannot decide if it wants to be a fun, pulpy adventure film or a dark and twisted political thriller. The tone and narrative beats just don’t mesh well together; it’s like magnets with poles repelling each other away. We go from the Jedi being attacked on a spaceship and forced to zoom down a hallway to escape, to seeing Palpatine slowly infecting the Senate to go in his desired direction. It just feels underbaked and had me screaming, “Just pick a genre and stick to it!”

What also doesn’t help is that the plot is just so boring. From the political side, everything just seems to cut away to something else before it becomes interesting. The scene where Pe actions the vote of no confidence should be a turning point, but that aspect of the plot is dropped and never mentioned again until the end. The same thing happens with Anakin’s story: while pod-racing is cool, it also just feels like an excuse to give more purpose to being on Tatooine instead of feeling like a natural progression to the plot.

What frustrates me more is that the final action scene on Naboo is the best part of the whole film. “Duel of the Fates” is an iconic piece of music and perfectly adds a layer of suspense to the action scene between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul. But at the same time, while it’s awesome, I also feel that covering four planes of action is a bit much. Seeing Jar Jar Binks doing the typical silly slapstick routine gets annoying after a few minutes, so cutting back to him when we want to see more Darth Maul is immersion-breaking.

However, the most sinful aspect of this film is the acting. While Neeson and McGregor do a fine job, the rest of the cast ranges from okay to terrible, with the worst being Natalie Portman, who has won an Oscar in the years since. I have no idea why George Lucas directed her to speak in such an extremely monotone manner while playing Queen Amidala, but it’s a terrible decision, and Portman just isn’t suited to it.

I do not find this film to be terrible, to be honest, as it is still an easy watch. But because so much annoys me (and many fans), I just felt disappointed when the credits rolled. Stay, though, for Darth Maul and his lightsabre, and for John Williams‘s incredible score

★★

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD7bpG-zDJQ?si=PMjkgBfstxkDF_DR

In Cinemas from 3 May 2024 / Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ray Park, Keira Knightley, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Brian Blessed  / Dir: George Lucas / Disney / PG