Rating:  

By Michael Rappa

When those ten famous words "A long time ago in a galaxy, far, far away..." hit theater screens across the country on May 19, 1999, the beginning of a legend was born. And for those of us fortunate enough to have witnessed the birth of this great saga 22 years prior, we had come back home.

Like its 1977 namesake, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace has the distinction of being both the continuation and the beginning of a saga. Fans had waited 16 years since Return of the Jedi for George Lucas to continue his beloved saga—but the long wait may have been too much for some people who placed unreasonable expectations on The Phantom Menace. This movie could not possibly have lived up to the tremendous hype surrounding it—no movie could. Although Menace is not the strongest of the Star Wars films—it lacks the character chemistry of the original and the depth and intensity of Empire—it is still a worthy addition to the saga, and Lucas has once again made a film that will serve as a technical barometer for all science fiction films to come.

Menace begins a trilogy that will chronicle the much-talked about events leading up to the original Star Wars. The film takes place approximately 30 years before the adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia, when the Old Republic and the Jedi order are at their peaks. The movie opens above a planet called Naboo, where a group called the Trade Federation has blockaded the planet below in response to a trade dispute with the Old Republic. The political nuances of this plot may have proved too complex for the many youngsters in the audience, whose age group the film apparently targeted with the highly controversial character, Jar Jar Binks (more on him later).

Two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, are dispatched to the Trade Federation battleship to mediate the dispute but are soon betrayed in a dynamic action sequence where they must fight their way through a legion of robot soldiers—giving long time Star Wars fans their first opportunity to view the Jedi fighting at their peak.

The Jedi eventually escape the ship and land on the Planet Naboo where they meet the aforementioned Jar Jar Binks. Much has been said about this character—most of it bad. I will concur with most opinions that I did find Jar Jar somewhat annoying at times, but I did not hate him as much as some other people. Jar Jar, an amphibious reptilian biped, served as the film's comic relief (and marketing gold mine to little kids). The problem was that the comic relief seemed a bit forced—there were several scenes where his presence seemed more intrusive than comic. However, the technology used to create him was nothing short of spectacular. He was so seamlessly interwoven with the live action characters that you would have sworn he was real.

To make a long story short, the Jedi, with Jar Jar's help, make their way to the main city of Naboo (after a detour to Jar Jar's home—the magnificently crafted underwater Gungan city) where they rescue the young Queen Amidala from the clutches of the Trade Federation and escape in a spaceship. It is during this sequence that we get our first look at R2D2 as he helps save the ship from impending doom. When R2D2's name was first mentioned on screen, the theater I was sitting in erupted with applause. The night was filled with similar reactions as familiar characters from the first trilogy made their Episode 1 debuts.

The Jedi and Queen land on Tatooine to make repairs to their ship. It is here that the Star Wars saga is truly born—and the movie really begins to pick up. The Jedi find parts for their ship in a junk shop owned by Watto, a pudgy little computer-generated creature with humming bird-like wings. Watto owns Anakin Skywalker, a 9-year-old slave who shows a propensity for fixing things. Qui-Gon immediately senses a strong force presence in the boy. In order to rescue the boy from Watto, Qui-Gon enters him in a pod race and bets Watto the boy will win (which, of course he will—otherwise we wouldn't have a movie). The ensuing pod race is a phenomenal technical achievement—easily one of the highlights of the film. Virtually the entire sequence is computer generated, including the terrain that the racers drive through. This is the scene that will serve as the measuring stick for all special-effects films to come.

Anakin wins the race and leaves with Qui-Gon for the planet Coruscant, but not before facing an attack by one of the most intriguing movie villains since Darth Vader. This particular bad guy is Darth Maul, a satanic looking humanoid whose face is tattooed black and red with horns to boot. He does not speak much in this film, which only adds to his sinister quality.

After escaping Darth Maul's attack, our heroes travel to Coruscant, the heart of the galaxy—a planet whose entire surface is one giant city. This planet was the most impressive of all the locations in the film. Lucas managed to capture the elaborate hustle-bustle of this behemoth of a city with amazing detail. There is always something happening in the background as the characters in the foreground carry the action. You really feel like Coruscant is the center of commerce and law in galaxy. The senate chamber is another impressive feat. The vast, cold, bee-hive-like chamber serves as a symbol of the bloated, faceless, bureaucratic monolith that the Old Republic has become. Coruscant is also the home of the Jedi Council, where Yoda makes his first appearance on screen.

From Coruscant, the Jedi and Queen Amidala return to Naboo in order to free the Queen's people from the clutches of the Trade Federation, which has taken over the planet. The resulting climactic confrontation is fought on four fronts as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul in a dynamic light saber duel; Queen Amidala and her officers fight to take back the palace; Anakin and other Naboo pilots fly into outer space to knock out the Trade Federation battleship; and Jar Jar's people, the Gungans, fight an army of droid soldiers in a field outside of the city. The space and palace battles are fairly status quo, but the ground battle between the Gungans and the droid soldiers breaks new ground in that the entire scene is computer generated, with a cast of thousands of soldiers exchanging gunfire.

For Star Wars aficionados, the light saber battle between the two Jedi and Darth Maul is worth the price of admission alone. Darth Maul wields an intimidating dual-bladed light saber as he fights both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to a spectacular finish. The tension is at its peak when the dueling foes enter a chamber guarded by timed force fields that separate each of the three combatants, forcing them to wait until the force fields vanish before they can proceed with the battle. Ray Park, who played Darth Maul, displayed incredible skills and athleticism during this sequence—a primary reason why this was one of the best sword fights ever to grace the silver screen.

No discussion of Star Wars would be complete without mentioning the accompanying soundtrack by legendary film composer, John Williams. Instead of resting on his laurels by relying on the music established in the original trilogy, Williams introduces an entirely new soundtrack for this prequel trilogy that brilliantly supports the characters and action in the film. The highlight of the soundtrack is Duel of the Fates, which accompanies the final showdown on Naboo. The music is particularly resonant during the final light saber battle. Williams has not completely abandoned the original themes, however. He masterfully weaves them in and out of the new soundtrack at appropriate points in the film. The instance that sticks in my mind is when Anakin says goodbye to his mother on Tatooine and leaves with Qui-Gon. As he walks away, a grandiose version of the Force Theme reminds you that this is perhaps the most significant moment in the entire saga—it's enough to give any true Star Wars fan goose bumps. Our knowledge of future events adds to the poignancy (and dread) of this moment, for we know that Anakin is destined to become a great Jedi only to fall from grace and turn into Darth Vader—to be redeemed in the end by the love of his son. Williams was aware of the significance of this moment when he chose the Force Theme to accompany Anakin's departure. Similar examples are found all throughout the film. With this soundtrack, Williams proves once again why he is the greatest film composer in Hollywood history.

I would also like to take a moment to discuss some of the complaints people have had about the film, particularly the performances of Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman, who play Anakin and Queen Amidala respectively. In contrast to what certain critics have said, I had no problem with either performance. Lloyd's performance was perfectly believable (I mean what do these people expect from an 8-year-old kid, a Deniro-esque performance?). As for Natalie Portman, critics have called her performance somewhat emotionless. I say that a stoic coolness is exactly what her character called for—she was playing a regal queen after all.

People have also complained about the dialog in the film, which wasn't super, but then dialog has never been one of Lucas' strong suits. These are the same criticisms that people levied against the original Star Wars. Sci-fi fans have long complained about the "cuteness factor" in the Star Wars films (i.e. Ewoks, Gungans, Yoda), but people have to remember that Star Wars is first and foremost a fairy tale, where a seemingly weak (sometimes cute) character will often overcome the more powerful evil character. If you want hard core, reality-based sci-fi, go see Star Trek.

I admit that I had some problems with the film, which I have discussed, but I also liked it a lot better the second and third times I saw it. I think the movie has to be looked at as the first act of a three-act film because this was essentially a setup film for the next two. It's always hard to do the beginning of a saga; it's naturally going to move slower as characters and motivations are introduced. That is why Lucas decided to start telling his story in the middle with the original Star Wars. I think that in the context of the next two films, Episode 1 will be much more meaningful. That being said, The Empire Strikes Back remains my favorite of the Star Wars films. It had the best performances and character/plot development, stylish direction and cinematography, and the right touch of comic relief.

Star Wars is as much an event as a movie. And although The Phantom Menace isn't quite up to par with the best of the Star Wars films, I nevertheless walked away wanting more. Isn't that what it's really all about?