Franchises: Star Wars. Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Now, we go from one of the most beloved film trilogies of all time to one of the most hated: the Star Wars prequels. You'd be hard-pressed to think of any movies that have caused such an uproar in both nerd (no insult intended) and popular culture in general. You mention any of these three movies to diehard fans of the original trilogy and you will get an earful about how horrible they are, how they forever ruined Star Wars for them, and so forth. Episode I in particular is almost universally despised, with the general consensus being that the prequels couldn't have gotten off to a worst start if they tried. First, though, let me tell my history with this film. Now, by the time it came out in 1999, I was a pretty big Star Wars fan, having been introduced to the original trilogy a couple of years before through the special editions and I did know that there more movies coming, although I wasn't exactly sure what they were going to be about. At this point, I had subscribed to a Star Wars fan magazine by which, of course, had one article after another about the upcoming film, including an issue with Darth Maul on the cover and another that had an interview with Jake Lloyd. I saw the trailer for the film in November of 1998 when Mom, my grandmother, and I were visiting relatives in Wisconsin and we went to see A Bug's Life in theaters. It looked interesting and cool judging from the trailer but I honestly didn't think about it that much. My thoughts were just, "Oh, the new Star Wars movie is coming. Cool." As the months went on and I started to see TV spots for the movie, I gradually became aware of what the movie would be about. I knew that since it was called Episode I that it took place before the original trilogy but it took me a while to grasp some aspects of it. For instance, I thought the little kid was meant to be Luke at a young age but, when I heard that his name was Anakin, it instantly clicked and I thought, "Oh, he's going to grow up to be Darth Vader!" You'd think I would have understand that from the magazine I mentioned and that Luke didn't get involved until he was a young man but, as I've said before, I was a bit slow on the uptake when I was a little kid. It was while I was in Florida that June on my family's annual vacation that Mom and I went to the see movie at the theater. There was so much mania for it still going on at that point that, the day before, I had gone into a Books-A-Million and read up on it a bit, so I knew a little more going into it than I did previously. And that night, I saw a Star Wars movie in the theater for the first time and, I must say, I enjoyed myself. I was just twelve, mind you, but I had a good time and came out of the theater smiling.

I got the movie on VHS the following year (in Florida again, oddly enough) and watched it quite a few times throughout my young adult life, still enjoying it each time. I also played this really fun pinball machine in an arcade at a condo we were staying at in Florida where you had to hit the ball towards a video screen display to touch objects and such in order to advance through the levels. It was really fun and addicting. In any case, it was some time between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith when I was in high school that I began to sense that a lot of people weren't too fond of the film and how the prequel trilogy as a whole was shaping up. I can't pinpoint the exact time but it was somewhere around there when I discovered that there had been a major backlash against both the movies, especially this one, and George Lucas in general. I was actually quite shocked by it when I found out. I had no idea that the story, the characters, Jar Jar Binks, and everything else had pissed so many people off. I was like, "I liked that movie! Did I miss something?" Over time, though, as I thought about it more and more, I felt, "Yeah, it is kind of a mess." I didn't grow to hate it and I still don't to this day, mind you, but as I grew out of that stage where I went along with everything without thinking about logically, I realized that this movie had a lot of problems. When I watched it again in order to do this review justice, I can say for sure that this isn't a very good movie: many of the characters aren't well developed, there are a lot of plotholes, the CGI is really dated and there's far too much of it (though not as much as there would be in the following films), and it's ultimately far too kiddy and juvenile for its own good.

There are two main reasons why this movie failed to endear itself to fans in the long run. The first and more practical one is the fact that George Lucas himself decided to write and direct it after not having directed anything since the original film back in the 70's. Lucas has never been that good of a writer, which even he admits, especially when it comes to dialogue, nor was he ever good at directing actors, but back then, he at least knew how to make interesting, unique films. By the time you get to this movie, though, he had long since lost any inspiration he once had. He wrote an over-complicated plot involving taxes and politics (a lot of which I still don't get) coupled with so much kiddy slapstick and humor that you wonder exactly who he was making the movie for. Kids would love the action and the humor but the story would go right over their heads and the adults would also enjoy the action but they would cringe at the humor and I'm sure many would be just as confused by the plot as their kids. On top of that, it seems as if Lucas hadn't watched the original trilogy in years because he made a truckload of continuity errors in all three of the prequels. I'll get into the specifics as we go along but he constantly messed up throughout. And finally, just watching this movie, it's obvious that Lucas is more interested in playing with his toys (i.e. CGI) than telling a good story and creating great characters. While the amount of CGI isn't as egregious in this film as it would be in the others, there's still too much of it and its quality horribly dates the movie, not to mention that it just screams laziness on Lucas' part. I also simply don't care how groundbreaking it was for the time: it's still not very good or needed for the most part.

The second reason this movie didn't sit well with fans is simply because of the hype machine. I didn't realize it at the time but this was one of the most eagerly anticipated movies in years, with tickets selling out months in advance, people going into theaters simply to watch the trailer for it, and people camping out in lines for weeks on end (at least, I'm assuming that they did that for this movie). There were dozens and dozens of news-stories dedicated simply to the growing mania for it and, on the day of its release, thousands of people all over the country filled theaters to capacity at the various midnight showings. In short, this movie was going to make a fortune no matter how bad it was but, at the same time, everybody was setting themselves up for a huge disappointment. When a movie is so over-hyped like that, it doesn't matter how great it is. Even if it's the best movie ever made, there are still going to be people who are disappointed because it cannot possibly live up to all those expectations. Also, I feel this particular movie was doomed even before the hype-machine got going. Since the release of the original trilogy, Star Wars had become such a massive phenomenon and a culture in its own right that people had already envisioned in their head how the saga began (I know I had), so there was no way that Episode I was not going to come close to what the fans had been picturing for years. Even though I feel that you don't have to acknowledge sequels and prequels if you don't want to, many others probably felt that they now had to live with the way Lucas said the story began and give up on the one that they had thought of for all those years. The fact that this official beginning turned out to not be a very good movie made it even worse.

Even though Lucas had written some not so good dialogue and a convoluted story, he was lucky enough to get some pretty good actors, the best of which was Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn. He basically plays the role that Obi-Wan Kenobi did in the original trilogy, save being a little younger and therefore, able to do more in battles, and since Obi-Wan was my favorite part of the original Star Wars film, it shouldn't be a surprise that Qui-Gon would be my favorite part of Episode I. I really feel that Neeson was the perfect choice for a wise Jedi Master. He not only presents an air of wisdom and respectability but is also very skilled in the Jedi arts and adept at using the Force. He's quite handy with a lightsaber, able to slice through battle droids and fend off a saber-wielding enemy with ease. Also, as Alec Guinness was able to overcome Lucas' less than stellar writing skills and create a believable character, so does Neeson. When he speaks of the Force and about what the best course of action would be, such as when he tells Queen Amidala that he can sense that the Trade Federation would kill her even though there's no reason why they should, you believe it because Neeson says it in a very sincere, knowing way. He also comes across as a great, kind teacher to the young Obi-Wan, as in the first scene between where he tells him to keep his concentration on the situation at hand instead of worrying about something that he can sense elsewhere. However, despite how wise he is, according to Obi-Wan, he has a tendency to defy the Jedi Counsel, which has kept him from actually being a member of it. I wouldn't say that he's arrogant, rather just stubborn and not willing to let go of something that he thinks the counsel is incorrect about, even though it puts them in constant conflict. For the most part, I like Qui-Gon a lot, but I do think there are some problems with the character. First off, although I know he's doing it for a good cause, he seems to use his Jedi powers to tip the scales in his favor a bit too much. I know Obi-Wan and Luke would do it too but they each did it once in their respective films, whereas Qui-Gonn does it multiple times here. He not only influences the thoughts of others but also, when he and Watto are trying to decide which of the two slaves that Watto will free if Anakin wins the race, Qui-Gon manipulates the Force so the cube that Watto tosses will land on the side that ensures Anakin's freedom. Again, I know Qui-Gon means well when he does this stuff but it makes him seem a little less honest as a Jedi. Second, and I know you can't blame him for this because he had no way of knowing but still, what happens in the following movies is alll his fault. He's the one who insists that Anakin is the mythical Chosen One who will bring balance to the Force and is determined to find some way to have him be trained as a Jedi, even though the counsel says that they sense danger in doing so. Knowing what the end result will eventually be, you can't help but think, "Wow, Qui-Gon, you really messed up." And finally, the biggest problem with Qui-Gon is that the character himself is a continuity error with the original trilogy. Obi-Wan always told Luke that Yoda was the one who instructed him (in The Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan even says to Yoda at one point, "Was I any different when you taught me?") and yet here, we learn that Qui-Gon is really Obi-Wan's master. Did Lucas forget what was spoken in the original trilogy? And if Qui-Gon was Obi-Wan's master, why doesn't he communicate with him in the original trilogy since, as Yoda says at the end of Episode III, he has returned from the netherworld of the Force and he will teach Obi-Wan how to communicate with him?

Speaking of the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, I feel kind of bad for Ewan McGregor in this film. McGregor is a great actor and I think he really came into his own in the other two prequels but here, he doesn't have much to do aside from fight battles alongside Qui-Gon and implore him not to defy the Jedi counsel again when it comes to training Anakin. That's pretty much it. When their ship is damaged after escaping from Naboo and they're forced to land on Tatooine, Qui-Gon tells him to stay behind in the ship while he, Jar Jar Binks, and Padme investigate the nearest town, so Obi-Wan is left over there, twiddling his thumbs for a good chunk of the movie. You have to wonder why Qui-Gon didn't bring his pupil with him. I guess one Jedi needed to stay behind in order to protect the ship but still, I think Queen Amidala's chief of security, Panaka, would be more than enough to protect it (or for that matter, why didn't Qui-Gon take Panaka with him instead of Jar Jar, of all people?) Even though he doesn't have much to do, McGregor does manage to pull off the feeling of a much younger, inexperienced Obi-Wan who holds his master in high regard, even though he sometimes questions his actions. But here's where we run into our second big continuity error with the original trilogy. Obi-Wan told Luke in Return of the Jedi that when he first knew Anakin, he was amazed at how strong the Force was with him and he took it upon himself to train him to be a Jedi. According to this film, though, Qui-Gon was the one who was impressed with Anakin's strength with the Force and wanted him to be trained as a Jedi, whereas Obi-Wan doesn't even seem to like Anakin all that much and, like the Jedi counsel, he insists that he's dangerous. He only decides to train Anakin because it's his master's dying wish. Once again, Lucas, did you even watch the original movies again? This goes completely against Obi-Wan's thoughts about Anakin in the original trilogy. People try to explain it away all the time by saying stuff like Obi-Wan warmed up to Anakin over time and he didn't want to tell Luke that he wasn't too sure about his father's chances at first but there's no getting around the fact that Lucas messed up. It could have been rectified, though, by maybe having Qui-Gon send Obi-Wan to investigate the town on Tatooine, where he meets Anakin; with that, you'd be off and running in the right direction. In fact, you could have Qui-Gon be the one who's concerned about Anakin being trained, and since Obi-Wan is simply a young pupil at this point, it would have been more believable to think that he made an honest mistake (which Obi-Wan admits when he tells Luke in Return of the Jedi that he thought he could train Anakin as well as Yoda "trained" him), instead of Qui-Gon, who's supposed to be a wise Jedi Master. In fact, an early draft of the script had a similar scenario but Lucas changed it. That aside, though, Obi-Wan really comes into his own in the climactic battle with Darth Maul, especially near the end after Qui-Gon is fatally wounded when he manages to slice him in half and send him tumbling down that air-shaft, an action that becomes the reason why the counsel officially makes him a Jedi Knight. I also like the moment at Qui-Gon's funeral where Obi-Wan tells Anakin, "You will be a Jedi, I promise." It says to me that even though he initially agreed with the counsel about the boy, Obi-Wan is forever loyal to his master and will honor his dying wish. So overall, I like McGregor as the young Obi-Wan but I feel that this was a bit of a clumsy start for the character in the prequels.

I don't think anybody who saw these movies in the theater expected Natalie Portman to win an Oscar one day. I don't know if it was the writing or Lucas' lackluster direction with actors but she's not very good in these films, although I think she would end up being worse in the other two films; here, she comes across as more bland than anything else. Her role of Queen Amidala/Padme is meant to be a reminder of Princess Leia: a strong-willed woman who is determined to end the suffering of her people and is not a damsel in distress but rather takes action herself. The pretense of a strong woman is there in that Amidala, after she becomes frustrated with the Senate's lack of action in stopping the Trade Federation, decides to take action herself and comes up with a plan to take back the major city of Naboo, leading Captain Panaka and some other guards in an assault on the building where the Federation's head honchos are held up while the Gungans and her pilots battle the Federation's armed forces. So, if nothing else, at least she's not a woman who needs to be rescued all the time. The problem is that Portman doesn't bring any personality to her role the way that Carrie Fisher did with Leia. Fisher played Leia as spunky and sassy, as well as determined and having a good heart, while Portman just seems to be going through the motions and says her lines rather flatly. It also doesn't help that her lines aren't all that good to begin with. One that just made me cringe and is a prelude to the stuff we'd hear in the later films is when she tells Anakin, "Many things will change when we reach Coruscant, Anakin, but my caring for you will remain." It's really hard to make a line like that sound good but Portman's very emotionless delivery made it impossible to take seriously. Speaking of which, I never bought it when she said that to Anakin. While their first interaction was okay,  for the majority of the time they were on Tatooine, she seemed annoyed at the kid, especially when Qui-Gon put their fate in his hands. When she says that line to him while they're on their way to Coruscant, I was like, "Now, you care about him? Earlier, it seemed like you hated him." I also have to something to say about the dual role that Portman plays as the queen and as Padme. I know that she has a decoy who dresses up as the queen while she wears the clothing of a handmaid but until recently when I watched the movie again, I thought the decoy was the queen throughout the entire movie because the queen would always speak in an accent while Padme didn't. However, I now think I'm right in saying that Padme is the queen whenever both "characters' aren't in the same scene and it's the decoy when they are. And yet, when Padme is dressed up as the queen, she talks in that same accent. If it was to fool her would-be assassins, I would understand but after the viceroy is captured at the end and she's dressed up as the queen, she's once again talking in that accent. Does it just come with the dress? I also thought that the real queen and the decoy were both played by Portman but it turns out the decoy was played by Keira Knightley, who looks identical to Portman, and apparently that was part of the film's marketing ploy, as that plotpoint wouldn't be revealed before the film's release. I have to give Lucas credit on that: it fooled me until recently. Finally, I have mention to Queen Amidala's dresses. Good lord, those are some of the wildest looking things I've ever seen. I especially like the one where her hair is done up into two horn-like things that hang down on either side of her head. I know those costumes must have been so uncomfortable to wear as well, so I have to give Portman props for suffering through those.

For me, the biggest failure of the entire prequel trilogy by far is the conception and portrayal of Anakin Skywalker. I know most have a bigger problem with Hayden Christensen's acting in the following movies and while I do too, I don't particularly like how Anakin is portrayed in this film either. Before I start ranting, though, I guess I'd better talk about the positives I have about it. For one, I don't find Anakin to be a whiny brat here. Sure, he gets a little defensive when Padme asks him if he's a slave but other than that, he comes across as a kind-hearted boy all-around, going out of his way to enter the pod-race to win the money that Qui-Gon and the others need in order to repair the ship. Even before that, he saves Jar Jar from Sebulba and offers him, Qui-Gon, and Padme shelter when a sandstorm is approaching. Anakin's mother even says that he knows nothing of greed. He also dreams of becoming a Jedi Knight and promises his mother that he will free her after he does so. All in all, I like the idea of Anakin being a nice kid who wants a better life for both himself and his mother, as well as that both he and Luke come from nothing on the same planet and both embark on the journey to become a Jedi, a similarity that aids very much in the drama when Luke comes very close from suffering his father's fate.

However, that's where Anakin's good points end and the problems begin. First, I really, really don't like that he's nine years old in this movie. Personally, I think he should have been at least 19, as he was in Episode II. I know the reason why Lucas made him so young, to ensure the confusion and turmoil he would feel when he's separated from his mother, which would start him down the road to becoming Darth Vader, but I think he could have taken a different and much simpler route with it, as we'll get into. Second, here's another continuity error: Obi-Wan told Luke that when he first Anakin, he was a skilled pilot who was strong with the Force. Skilled pilot, my ass! He's a slave! The only piloting experience he's ever had is racing pods! And you hear that he's never even finished a race before, so not only is he apparently not a good pilot but he can't be that strong with the Force if he sucks so badly. Furthermore, he ends up saving Naboo by total accident. He hides in the cockpit of a Naboo fighter when he accidentally hits the ignition and the auto-pilot takes him to the ongoing battle with the Federation's droid control ship. From there, he crash-lands inside the ship and just happens to shoot its proton torpedoes that hit the control ship's core. He becomes a hero because of a complete fluke. Again, some great pilot and potential Jedi. Third, and my biggest problem with the characterization, Anakin is portrayed not only as a potentially strong Jedi but is also built up as possibly being the Chosen One, a prophecized figure who's supposed to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. The part that really gets me is when Qui-Gon, after feeling that Anakin is strong with the Force, asks his mother who Anakin's father was and she says that there was no father, that she just suddenly became pregnant with him. Later, when Qui-Gon talks to the Jedi counsel, he says Anakin has such a high amount of midi-chlorians that he was actually conceived by them. When I got old enough to understand the meaning of all this, I was like, "Oh, my God, are you trying to say that Anakin was an immaculate conception? Oh, that's bullshit, man!" I don't like how all this stuff is heaped upon Anakin, how he's made out to be a Christ-like figure because, among other things, it again makes Qui-Gon look like a moron when he becomes Darth Vader and helps enslave the galaxy by exterminating the Jedi. It didn't need to be this complicated. Anakin should have just been a charismatic 19 or so-year old pilot whom Obi-Wan meets on Tatooine, impresses him so much with not only his piloting skills but how strong he is with the Force that Obi-Wan decides to train him as a Jedi but, before that can happen, Anakin uses his piloting skills to save Naboo. Doesn't that sound like a better, simpler introduction for the character. And finally, Jake Lloyd was a horrible child actor! I hate ragging on the guy, lord knows he's been stomped into dust by haters of this film and suffered horribly in his personal life for being in this film, but he deserves a lot of the flack he gets. The way he delivers his lines is just off and doesn't feel natural in the least. Nobody could have made a lot of his dialogue good but the way he asks Padme if she's an angel when they first meet is awful and his constant yelling of, "Yippee!" and "Oops!" also just make me cringe, as does when he says, "R2, get us off this auto-pilot. It's gonna get us both killed!", which feels like he emphasized a word when it wasn't necessary. I'm like, "Darth Vader started like this? Give me a break!"

A big plus for the prequel trilogy is that Lucas thought enough of Ian McDiarmid to bring him back as Palpatine before he became the evil Emperor. Now, here's something weird: I knew that Palpatine would become the Emperor but that's only because I had heard him called "Emperor Palpatine" in commercials for Star Wars action figures a couple of years earlier, even though they never referred to him as such in the original trilogy. If that was meant to be a secret, then the people behind those commercials blew it wide open for me at least! But anyway, McDiarmid is awesome as always as both Palpatine and his alter ego, Darth Sidious. As Palpatine, he comes across as an apparently benevolent, sincere senator who wants to bring peace to the Republic. You have to love the way he hovers next to Queen Amidala during the Senate meeting, advising her that the Senate is ruled by greed now and that the current chancellor should be removed in favor of a stronger one: i.e. himself. The way he schemes himself into the position is just great to watch. As Sidious, he's basically playing the Emperor, albeit without the evil sense of humor that he would develop in Revenge of the Sith that was carried over from Return of the Jedi. He's pretty threatening here, growling at the Trade Federation's leaders through that hologram about their incompetence and giving them orders to kill the Jedi and such. I have to say, though, his plan throughout all these movies is really convoluted. I get the feeling that he was playing both sides, that he was telling the Trade Federation to stop all traffic to Naboo and invade the planet as well so the Senate would get tired of the current chancellor and give him the position. However, he has Queen Amidala call for a vote of no confidence in the chancellor so he can be removed from office and yet, at the same time, he sent Darth Maul to find the queen and capture her. What, was he counting on Maul to fail to capture the queen so she would be brought to Coruscant? I guess if he had captured her, Palpatine might have revealed himself to her and forced to make the vote of no confidence by threatening to wipe out her people if she didn't do so. What would he have done had the Trade Federation won the battle of Naboo? Would he have sent an entire army to wipe them out? Maybe I'm making this sound more complicated than I should but I suck at understanding politics (which is a big part of this prequel trilogy, unfortunately) and it seems like everything just conveniently fell into place for Palpatine not only in this film but the others as well.

I think we can all agree that Ray Park was pretty awesome as Darth Maul. At first, I thought Maul was a human with a painted face but when he took off his hood and revealed that he had little horns sticking out of his head, I knew that he was actually of an alien species. I sometimes wonder if others thought that as well. In addition, when I first saw him on the cover of that Star Wars fan magazine, I, for some reason, thought that he was the Emperor, that this was what he looked like when he was young. I don't know what I was thinking. (I'm telling you, I was an idiot when I was a kid.) In any case, he's very intimidating with how he barely says anything and, when he does, it's in a very soft, creepy voice (the voice is that of Peter Serafinowicz). However, it's his body language and eyes that do the talking for him 99.9% of the time and it's quite effective. Some have even compared him to looking like the devil and I can't blame them judging from his physical appearance, the horns on his head, his piercing eyes, and his black clothing, especially the hood. He proves himself to be a very skilled and powerful Sith lord, able to single-handedly take on both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan with his two-sided lightsaber and even manages to kill Qui-Gon. His death is pretty memorable too, when Obi-Wan leaps up and slashes through him with his lightsaber, sending him tumbling down the air shaft where you see that he was cut in half. Not much else to say about Darth Maul since he's not in the film much but he is a very memorable part of the prequel trilogy and it's a shame that they killed him off so quickly. The only thing that temporarily hinders his coolness factor is a shot when he's walking with the viceroy of the Trade Federation while the latter and his crony speak with Darth Sidious. Look at how short Maul looks at that moment! I don't know if that was bad compositing or if Ray Park is just really that short but that was a shock when I saw it because I hadn't noticed it until I saw the movie again to do this review.

I don't think there has ever been a fictional character who is as universally despised as Jar Jar Binks. It goes far beyond Star Wars fans; even casual moviegoers feel that Jar Jar is the cinematic equivalent to cancer. Before I saw the movie, I knew a bit about Jar Jar due to a dancing toy of him I saw at a Toys 'R Us (which was complete with the alien longue music from the Mos Eisley cantina when you activated him), as well as a children's book I found at that Books-A-Million in Florida that I spent some time at before seeing the movie. When I finally did see the movie at the age of twelve, I thought Jar Jar was funny. So sue me, that is a true statement. Even as I watched the movie many times over the years, he didn't get on my nerves. However, I did grow to understand exactly why people hate him so much and when I watched the movie again to do this review, I will say that he did grate on me a little bit. While I don't utterly despise him like everyone else, he's definitely way too silly and cartoonish for this type of movie. Star Wars had funny characters before, such as C-3PO and R2-D2 and even the Ewoks to an extent, but they were never as overtly goofy as Jar Jar. I agree with the notion that his only purpose was so the movie could be marketed easier to young kids because he sure isn't a vital character (even though Lucas referred to him as such in the making of documentary). He's stupid, useless, clumsy as all get out to the point where it becomes distracting, and has an extremely annoying voice. His voice is so thick that there are some moments where I don't even know what he's saying, like when he's telling Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan the specifics of why he was banished from Gungan City. I got that he messed up a lot and crashed into something that belonged to the head Gungan but that was about it. Like I said, he's completely useless and just sticks to Qui-Gon like an annoying mole because he feels he owes the Jedi Master a life debt. The only useful thing he does is show the two Jedi the way to Gungan City and from there, they're able to get the head Gungan to give them a transport to the main city of Naboo. Qui-Gon takes Jar Jar along because he said that they needed a navigator but Jar Jar doesn't seem to do much navigating and mainly just screams at the enormous monsters that attack them. It makes me wonder if Qui-Gon really didn't feel that they needed a navigator but rather just felt bad for the poor schmuck since he was going to punished for coming back to the city.

Other than that, though, Jar Jar serves no purpose whatsoever in this story. All he does is get into trouble and cause havoc with his antics. I don't know why the head Gungan made him a general for the upcoming battle with the Trade Federation's droid army because he sure hadn't done anything to deserve it. (He said that Jar Jar brought the Gungans and the Naboo together but Padme is the one that established peace.) Even during the battle, Jar Jar is still a whimpering coward, and only manages to help in the fight through accidents that he causes. He's not even willing to keep fighting and surrenders to the droid army. Some general. His orange butt is only saved when the droid control ship is destroyed. I kind of hate ragging on this character since everyone else has done it to the nth degree, and I especially feel bad since actor Ahmed Best seems like a nice guy who kept up a great attitude during filming even when times were tough, but I have to be honest. Finally, I have to comment on the notion that Jar Jar is a racial stereotype of Jamaicans, with ears that seem like dreadlocks and his voice (personally, I think he sounds more Asian than anything else). Honestly, I think some people, particularly Spike Lee who came up with that notion about Jar Jar, try to create controversy out of nothing. When I was a kid, I just thought Jar Jar was funny. I never thought about Jamaicans or Asians or anything when I saw him, nor do I think any other kids, whom he was aimed for, thought that. He's an alien creature, for God's sake! I'm just really getting sick of people trying to find racism and the like in everything. Just shut up and enjoy the movie!

Anakin's mother, Shmi (Pernilla August) is not only very likable but she's also quite a pitiable character to me. She loves her son dearly and is always looking out for him, even if she maybe worries about him a little too much. She's at first reluctant to let Anakin enter the dangerous pod race but when he convinces her that it would be the only way for Qui-Gon and the others to get the money required to repair their ship, she agrees. Unfortunately, when Anakin is freed from being a slave, Shmi is unable to accompany him since Watto wouldn't allow her to be freed as well. As a result, Anakin isn't in the best frame of mind when he leaves and continues to think about her constantly, which the Jedi Counsel sees as potentially dangerous. Like a lot of people, though, I do have a problem with this idea. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan really should have forced Watto to let Shmi go as well. Some may not see that as ethical but neither is slavery and I doubt Watto would have argued with two Jedi about it. And if they couldn't do that, then the Jedi Counsel should have at least gone back to Tatooine and freed her after Anakin helped save Naboo. Some would say that they couldn't do that because Tatooine, as Shmi herself says, isn't in the jurisdiction of the Republic, but who cares? Anakin needed the presence of his mom and I really doubt that Watto would argue with a lot of lightsaber-wielding Jedi. But nope, Shmi is left on Tatooine, adding fuel to Anakin's distress, which would eventually lead him to the Dark Side. Just another reason why Anakin shouldn't have been nine years old in the first place.

I've always felt that C-3PO and R2-D2 had no place in the prequel trilogy at all. You could have removed them from all three of these films and it wouldn't have a made difference in the slightest. They just didn't need to be here but they are, so I might as well talk about them. R2's introduction is pretty unremarkable: he just happens to be one of the many astro-droids aboard the Naboo ship that Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and everybody use to escape the planet. You could have just as easily had a bunch of astro-droids who, working together, manage to fix the ship before they're all blown away and everybody just barely manages to escape. I guess I'm just nitpicking but that's how I feel. However, I really don't like the idea of C-3PO having been built by Anakin. I get that it was another attempt to create a link between Luke and his father but I did not like this at all, mainly because it felt too on the nose and coincidental for the overall story that 3PO, through circumstance, would eventually end up back on the planet where he was created and just happen to come into the possession of his creator's son. I have to wonder why Anakin even made a protocol droid. He said it was to help his mom but what is a protocol droid going to do on Tatooine? I know Luke's uncle eventually bought 3PO because he could speak with some of his computerized farming equipment but Shmi is a slave, so it's unlikely that she had any high-tech equipment that she would need a protocol droid for. Maybe I'm just overanalyzing things, though. My complaints aside, I will say that it is nice to see 3PO and R2 meet for the first time and I do smirk at the line, "My parts are showing?! My goodness!" What's funny is that, with his insides showing due to no coverings, 3PO looks like a thin, mousy Terminator! What's more, in all of these prequels, 3PO doesn't feel like the same character we all know, even though it is Anthony Daniels playing him again. I think it's because he's not as verbally abusive to R2 and doesn't argue with him as much as he did in the original trilogy, which I guess means that their relationship changed when his memory was wiped at the end of Episode III (I'll have a lot to say about that when we get to it). Finally, even though I don't think that they're needed in the prequels, I don't feel that their presence causes any continuity errors. You may say, "Well, Obi-Wan doesn't recognize them in the original film," to which I ask, "Why should he?" He barely spends time with 3PO in any of these films, so he's probably not all that familiar with him, and even if he were, there are thousands of protocol droids in existence, making it acceptable to me that he wouldn't recognize him. He does spend a lot more time with R2 but, like protocol droids, there are thousands of astro-droids throughout the galaxy and it would have been foolish for him to assume that this one with Luke is R2. As for why Darth Vader doesn't react to the droids' presence, you have to remember that the only time Vader is even in a scene with either robot is wtih 3PO in the freezing chamber in The Empire Strikes Back. The fact that there are so many protocol droids out there also applies here too, as well as the notion that by then, there's so little of Anakin left within Vader that it's doubtful he would be sentimental about his old protocol droid.

He doesn't have much of a role but I do like Hugh Quarshie as Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala's chief of security. He comes across as brave and eternally loyal to his queen and is determied to keep her safe, fearing for her when Qui-Gon says that they are to land on the planet Tatooine, which is controlled by the gangster Hutts. He also advises against her going back to Naboo but, when she is determined to launch her attack on the Trade Federation's head honchos in the main city of Naboo, he sticks with her throughout the battle, even though he doesn't give much for their chances. Although, I must that Panaka must not have a very good security force at his disposal since the Federation managed to capture Naboo with no trouble at all. One actor who I pity is Terence Stamp, who plays Chancellor Valorum. Stamp had a great, memorable role as General Zod in Superman II but I don't know if he's had a decent role since then. It's nice to see him in this movie but he barely has any lines (I used to think that he didn't have any at all) and he only appears in two scenes. His character is basically a decent enough man who, beleagured by everything happening around him, is unable to keep order in the Republic and, therefore, is eventually replaced by Palpatine as chancellor... just as the latter intended. It's a shame that a good actor like Stamp was given a role that was essentially nothing and a waste of his talent (he says he hated being in this movie and called George Lucas a horrible director). You could have never even seen Valorum and you wouldn't have missed anything at all.

The members of the Jedi Counsel are an interesting bunch, to say the least. You have Yoda, of course, who shows up very late in the film and doesn't have much to do other than warn Qui-Gon and later Obi-Wan that he thinks it's dangerous for Anakin to be trained. Yoda also looks really bad here. He's supposed to be younger and supposedly the puppet's design was based on the original by Stuart Freeborn but he just looks weird and freaky, with his eyes looking kind of like they're crossed. Frank Oz is still great as his voice, giving a much more serious performance than he did in the original trilogy, but the look always throws me (I think replacing him with CGI in later releases of the movie was a smart move). You have other Jedi on the counsel like some guy with a white beard and an elongated head named Ki-Adi-Mundi (Silas Carson), some guy in the background with a long thin neck and small head, and finally, Mace Windu, played by Samuel L. Jackson. I love Sam Jackson but he does not belong in a Star Wars movie, let alone three of them. He doesn't have much to do in this film but even then, I cannot take him seriously when he's trying to talk all proper like a Jedi. You keep expecting him to any minute start cursing up a storm like he usually does. He does look like he's trying but he's just out of place in these films. Plus, the Jedi Counsel in general comes across as really stuffy and indifferent about everything going on around them. They particularly don't seem interested at all when Qui-Gon announces that he feels he may have found the Chosen One. In fact, all of them, Windu especially, seem downright annoyed that they're being bothered with this. Even worse is that, while they all, especially Yoda, sense great danger stemming from the idea of Anakin being trained, they still allow Obi-Wan to do so. Promise to his dying master or not, you'd think the counsel would have put their foot down about the boy being trained if they feel so leery about it. And finally, they do nothing to help Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan when they return to Naboo to help Amidala take back her planet. They just sit on their rears in the counsel room and twiddle their thumbs while only two Jedi help in the attack. They might have been able to keep Qui-Gon from getting killed if they had joined in.

There's a lot of stuff about the Jedi and the Force in this film that puzzles me, to say the least. First, this is an extension of my last argument, about why the Jedi Counsel does not aid in the battle of Naboo. On the way back to the planet, Qui-Gon tells the queen that he can't fight a war for her and, even later, he tells Obi-Wan that they cannot use their power to help her. What exactly is it they've been doing for the entire film, then? I'd say that Qui-Gon's going through with an elaborate and risky plan to have their ship fixed on Tatooine was much more than just protecting Amidala, wouldn't you? Also, if he can't fight a war for her, then why did he and Obi-Wan go with her? Judging from the counsel's instructions, they were simply hoping that this plan of hers would lure Darth Maul out of hiding of and they would then be able determine if he is indeed a Sith lord. And yet, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan accompany Padme in her assault on the Federation. How is that not fighting a war for her? And if you say they only went to protect her, then why did they allow her to go off by herself while they fought with Maul? Second, if the Jedi are meant to be honest, pure keepers of peace, then why does Qui-Gon constantly use his powers to tip things in his favor, like influencing others' thoughts and making Watto's chance cube roll onto the side that would ensure Anakin's freedom? Again, I know all of this was done for a good cause but there seems to be no balance between what the Jedi will and won't do. Third, why did they take Anakin with them to Naboo? It's suggested that Qui-Gon did so in order for Anakin to watch him, a first little taste of Jedi training, in a way. Okay, I'll buy that. But, what happens when Qui-Gon takes Anakin to the palace? He tells him to find a place to hide and to stay there. Uh, I thought you wanted Anakin to observe you in action. All he saw you do before that was slice apart some battle droids and that hardly counts as any profound teaching because anybody could destroy those pathetic things. You know why he told Anakin to hide? Because the plot required for him to end up in a Naboo fighter and "help" with the attack on the droid control ship.

Speaking of Anakin, what's the reason that the counsel gives for why he won't be trained? He's too old. Even Obi-Wan even tells his master that the boy won't be trained because of that factor. Too old? He's nine! When do you start training to be a Jedi, when you first come out of your mother's womb? And what about those "younglings" that you see in the other prequels? They don't seem that much younger than Anakin is here. Are a few years going to make that much of a difference? If it's because the skills must be honed from early childhood, remember that according to Qui-Gon, the Force is very strong with Anakin, so it's not like he's somebody who's coming into this situation with no Force experience or involvement at all. Last thing I want to mention before moving on to the main controversy about the Jedi and the Force in this film is a move that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan use at the beginning of the film that they never do again. When they're trapped aboard the Trade Federation ship by some very powerful battle droids, they suddenly zip out of the hallway at incredible speed. They never do that again and in fact, this move is never seen again in any of the other movies after this brief glimpse of it. We see all of the impressive acrobatic moves and the Force pushes, yes, but not that quick speed technique, which would have been really helpful during the battle with Darth Maul. If Obi-Wan had used that to get back into the fight when he was separated from it, he would have been able to continue aiding Qui-Gon and keep his master from dying.

The biggest upset that this film caused when it came to the Star Wars mythology is the introduction of midi-chlorians, microscopic organisms that reside within the cells of all living things that communicate the will of the Force to others. A lot of people hated this idea, saying that it severely degraded the mystical quality of the Force that was prevalent in the original trilogy. Granted, they don't say that the midi-chlorians themselves are the Force but that they simply act as a conduit for it but I do agree that this idea does make the concept less mysterious and mystical as it was originally. Also, even though it's said they reside in all living things, the more midi-chlorians that you have, the bigger potential that you have to become a Jedi, which is why Qui-Gon was so keen on having Anakin be trained due to sheer amount he has. So, basically it's like the power levels in Dragonball Z: the higher the number, the more powerful the individual. I do agree that is a rather clunky notion. In the original trilogy, it seemed like everybody, if they concentrated hard enough, could become one with the Force and become a Jedi (or a Sith, if they're evil); according to this, while every living creature has a connection to the Force (which does kind of go along with Obi-Wan's original statement that it's an energy field created by all living things), only a select few that have enough midi-chlorians can truly become one with it. I don't think that means someone with a low amount would be completely unable to do it, it would just be really hard. If that's the case, I guess every Jedi and Sith is a "Chosen One," which hardly makes Anakin special no matter how many midi-chlorians he himself has. If they had just gone with the original concept and simply have Anakin appearing to have poentially powerful Jedi abilities that need to be honed, it would have been much more effective. So, yeah, way to downgrade your mythology, Lucas.

To say that this movie is often far too kiddy and slapsticky for its own good is an understatement. The other films did have their cute and comedic moments but not to this extent and, as a result, there's a constant clash of tones. You'll have serious moments being intercut with silly comedy, like when Qui-Gon is trying to find some parts for their ship from Watto and you keep seeing Jar Jar's hijinks back in the shop all the while or during the scene at the dinner table in Anakin and Shmi's house where they're talking about slavery and the Jedi and, suddenly, Jar Jar slurps up some fruit with his long tongue. A lot of the comedy does come from Jar Jar and, as I said, his stuff is distracting. You've got that needless scene where he messes around with this pit-crew droid in Watto's shop, chasing the thing around when it gets away from him, the scene where he gets shocked in the mouth by the pod-racer's energy beam and gets his hand stuck in one of the turbines, and moments during the Gungans' battle with the droid army where he accidentally tips over some of those plasma balls that end up shorting out some droids or when he gets stuck on the barrel of one of the droid tanks, causing the thing to skid along the ground and crash, which distract from what is supposed to be a crucial, life or death battle. There's a lot of unnecessary potty humor as well, like when Jar Jar steps in a pile of crap when he and the others first enter the town on Tatooine and when that camel-like creature loudly farts right before the pod-race starts and Jar Jar goes, "Peeusa!" The antics that go on during the race, like when that one pit-crew droid gets sucked through that engine and spat out the other side or that one alien who can't get his racer started, are also not needed. Fun's fun but you should also try to treat your audience like adults instead of catering only to the kids, something Lucas seems to have forgotten.

While the amount of CGI in this film isn't quite as egregious as it would be in the others, it's still used to a ridiculous length. There is still some use of good old-fashioned models, puppets, and makeup effects, as well as some real location work for some of the environments, but the majority of everything is CGI, most of which has dated very poorly. The computer-generated battle droids, outer space sequences, and planet effects, in particular Couscant, look fine to me (although they could have been done better) but it's the CGI flesh and blood creatures that are really cringe-inducing. They just look so fake and you can that there was really nothing in front of the camera. I understand that with the complex and intricate alien planets, you would probably have to use a lot of CGI but, for the creatures, it wouldn't be so bad if Lucas would have used a mixture of practical effects with the computer effects, like maybe animatronics for closeups of the creatures' faces and bodies and stick to CGI for far off, full body moving shots. But no, Lucas uses CGI for practically everything, save for closeups here and there, like when Jar Jar sticks his hand into the vent of Anakin's pod-racer to get the wrench he dropped in there. At least he wasn't that lazy but still, as I said when I talked about his thoughts on Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi, it's discouraging that Lucas doesn't seem to respect practical animatronic and makeup effects for creatures. He did use it for the heads of the Trade Federation and he also had Ahmed Best walking around, dressed up as Jar Jar, for the entire shooting but that's probably because he knew he needed actual actors for those characters and even then, the latter was replaced by a completely digital creation. He also made a big deal about how this would be the first time you would see complete digital characters interacting with real actors, when the idea is nothing new. Walt Disney and other filmmakers achieved this type of effect decades ago with hand-drawn cartoon characters interacting with real actors and a lot of it still looks great. The fact that Lucas did it with CG doesn't make it new; all he was use a new technique to create the characters. And besides, there were other movies that did it with that technique before him as well, like Dragonheart. All he did was increase the amount of time the CG creatures were in the same scene as the real actors. Finally, even though I think the CGI ships look fine, I've always found it hard to believe that these prequels really do take place before the original trilogy, since these spacecrafts move much smoother and can do more dynamic moves than any of the ships in those films. Basically what I'm getting at is that Lucas, to me, is a fool if he looks at all of this CGI stuff and thinks it looks better than practical effects, that it fits with the original trilogy (which is another reason why he did those special editions) and if he also thinks that what he did here is all that groundbreaking (which I know he undoubtedly does).

There are some interesting new worlds introduced in this film. The first one is Naboo, which is kind of like Endor except it's both a forest and swamp planet, though not to the extent that Dagobah was. There are three parts to Naboo: the forests, swamps, and fields, where a lot of battles take place; the underwater portion of the planet, with Gungan City and the path through the planet core; and the main city of Naboo, Theed. The forests, swamps, and fields look fairly average, however Gungan City is a pretty interesting sight when you first see it, with an air of Atlantis about it. It has some fairly unusual aspects to it, such as the water screen that the Jedi and Jar Jar swim through to enter the city and the throne room where the head Gungans are. The tunnels that go through the planet core are fairly unremarkable: just typical dark, underwater caverns. The main city has a very lovely look to it, having been filmed in Italy with the interior of the main palace being the Caserta Palace. The generator room where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul is also really cool, with its long air shafts, suspended walkways, and the section that has shield walls that pop up from time to time. It reminds me a bit of the interior of Cloud City where Luke fought with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. Like the original Star Wars, a good portion of the film takes place on Tatooine and I don't know what I can say about the planet that hasn't already been said. The town that you see is a smaller, poorer version of Mos Eisley, made up mainly of just simple homes and shops with no bars or anything of that nature. You get a sense that the people who live there struggle with the intense heat and also just to get by due to their meager means. The exact opposite is the planet of Coruscant, which is like the special edition version of Cloud City, except that it covers an entire planet. I do think that Lucas did a good job of conveying the sense of a gigantic, working city filled with flying crafts and tall buildings. They even seem to have fly-ways instead of highways judging from all of the ships traveling in a straight line at various parts of the city. To sum up, the planets displayed in Episode I are interesting but nothing too dramatic in the long run. You've kind of seen it all before if you've watched the original trilogy and other 90's science fiction films like The Fifth Element.

I don't think the alien species in any of the Star Wars films caused as much controversy as those on display in this one. Many may have hated the Ewoks but at least they were never accused of being culturally insensitive; the three main alien species of Episode I, however, are a different story. Right off the bat, you're faced with Nute Gunray (Silas Carson) the viceroy of the Trade Federation and his cronies who are of an alien species called Neimoidans. There's no denying that they look and sound Asian (in fact, their accents are meant to be of the Thai dialect, chosen by Lucas himself). The accents, as well as the fact that the characters are portrayed as greedy and cowardly, doing whatever they can to get money and only regretting their deal with Darth Sidious as he becomes more and more threatening towards them, infuriated a lot of people. My personal opinion is, while I didn't think about it for the longest time, now that I've really watched the movie, I can't help but understand why people weren't too happy about that. Again, the characters' accent are meant to be Thai, so there you go. Also, the Trade Federation was lucky that they found such an easy planet to conquer like Naboo because the personnel and weapons they have at their disposal are pathetic. Those battle droids in particular are a joke. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan can slice a bunch of them to pieces without breaking a sweat and they're even easily taken down by blaster fire. They also seem to be prone to brain-farts, according to how that one acts when Qui-Gon tells him that he's taking the queen and the others to Coruscant. "Coruscant? That does not compute. Uh, wait, uh, you're under arrest!" Was that droid just stupid or did I miss something? Some even have voices that are weird even for droids, like the one who sounded like he had a sore throat when he said, "Roger, roger!" to his commander. The most powerful weapons at the Federation's disposal are the Droidekas, which are much more lethal, able to roll along at high speeds and create a tough energy shield that they can fire their lasers through. However, the Federation doesn't seem to use them that much, even if they do come in handy in staving off attacks. Also, I have to mention this: when the Jedi and the queen escape Naboo, of all the ships that the Federation has serving as a blockade, only one fires upon the ship, as if they don't realize that they would have better chances in stopping them if they used all their firepower. Incidentally, if you think about how Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, after meeting with the Gungans, have to go through the very core of the planet to get to the main city, you realize that means the Federation landed their battle droid army on the side of Naboo opposite from it. Why? Seems like a waste of energy to not just land right outside the city. Finally, what was with that walking chair that Gunray is sitting on at one point at the palace? Is it too much of a chore for him to just walk to wherever he's going? It's not bad enough that these guys are stereotypes but they're idiotic and lazy stereotypes as well!

In addition to Jar Jar, the entire Gungan race was also accused of stereotyping black people, particularly Jamaicans and primitive African tribes. Boss Nass, the fat leader of the Gungans, was especially criticized as being a mockery of the the chiefs of said tribes. I can sort of see the idea there but honestly, I've always liked Boss Nass. I thought he was funny as a kid and I still think that he's funny now, with the way he speaks, his mannerisms (that clicking he does now and again and that noise he makes when he shakes his head furiously), and such. So help me, he's a bit of this film's childish humor that I don't mind. I also kind of like Captain Tarpals, the Gugan who leads the army into battle along with Jar Jar. Like Jar Jar, though, it is sometimes hard to understand what the Gungans are saying. Not only do they tend to put "sa" at the end of everything but the way they talk isn't always consistent either. For instance, sometimes they say "I" when referring to themselves and other times, they'll say, "my." Makes it a little hard to follow their conversations when they keep switching. If I do have a major problem with the Gungans at large, it's the reason they don't like the Naboo: they say that the Naboo think they're smarter than them, which is a very shallow reason for not liking an entire race of people. What's more, we never see any Naboo human say that about the Gungans so we're never sure if it's true or not. Queen Amidala herself doesn't seem all that prejudiced against them, given how she goes to them for help, even though their primitive weapons might not be much against the droid army. I thought it was just a lazy way to explain why the Gungans are reluctant to help in the battle against the Federation and why they only do so when Padme appeals to Boss Nass. Since I've discussed the Gungans, I may as well talk about the enormous creatures that attack the watercraft carrying Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar as they head through the planet core. None of them are that interesting or realistic-looking. There's a gigantic fish with big teeth that chases them, this big, dinosaur-like thing that kills that fish (I do think that creature is kind of cool), and a monster that looks like a huge eel. Not bad but nothing special either.

On Tatooine, the cast meets up with the third and final controversial character, Watto (voiced by Andy Secombe). He's accused of being a Jewish stereotype, with his long, hooked nose and middle-Eastern sounding accent (it does sound rather Hebrew). The fact that he's very greedy, to the point where Jedi mind tricks don't work on him, which is said to be a trait of his race, and he owns slaves didn't win him any supporters either. Once again, I can't deny that I do understand why so many see that stereotype in this character. Although Lucas denied any intended stereotyping, animator Rob Coleman once said that he viewed Alec Guinness' performance as Fagin in Oliver Twist as inspiration for creating Watto, so there's that. What puzzles me more about Watto is what another critic asked: how he is able to stay afloat for so long when he's so fat? Don't really have an opinion on him, otherwise. He's just kind of there to me. You also meet Sebulba (voiced by Lewis MacLeod), Anakin's pod-racing rival. He's an aggressive little creature with monkey-like proportions who walks on his long arms, uses his short legs as hands, and has an ugly, camel-like face. He's also rotten to the core, cheating constantly in the pod-race and going as far as to kill his opponents. You also see some of the classic Tatooine creatures, like a young member of Greedo's race who is one of Anakin's friends, some Jawas and Tusken Raiders who pop up during the race, and even Jabba the Hutt shows up to start the race. Jabba, of course, appears in all his CGI glory but, to be fair, he looks a lot better than the way he did in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars. He's still munching on little creatures and he actually falls asleep and misses the finale of the race. I do smile when he's woken up after the race is over and he makes a sound like, "Hmm!" Bib Fortuna is also with him, looking a lot paler than he would in Return of the Jedi. I will say that I do really like Fode and Beed, the two-headed announcer of the pod-race. The reason is because one of them is voiced by Greg Proops and, being a big fan of Whose Line is it Anyway?, I really enjoyed him here, with his lines like, "I don't care what universe you're from, that's gotta hurt!" There's also all of the drivers in the pod-race, such as this four-armed guy, a little short dude with antennas on his head whose pod stalls out and explodes, some guy who looks snooty and, for lack of a better term, gay to me, some little lizard man, another guy who has a band over his head for some reason, and a racer who looks human but not quite and whose chances of winning are dashed when a pit-crew droid gets sucked into his pod's engine. Darth Maul uses some small, floating, probe droid-like robots to scan the nearby towns and find his targets. Finally, there are some interesting creatures in the Senate room on Coruscant, such as this weird guy with horns who appears to be a judge because he calls for order, another member of the Trade Federation, a member of the species of that three-eyed creature that was seen in Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi, and even some wookies, as well as some tiny E.T.s in one of the seating box if you look carefully. I guess it takes all kinds to make up the Galactic Senate.

There's a lot of action in Episode I and it begins a mere few minutes in, with the ship that brought Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to the Trade Federation ship being destroyed and the two Jedi slicing up a bunch of battle droids and attempting to make their way into the control room where the viceroy is held up before having to retreat from a couple of Droidekas. When they get down to Naboo, you have a short scene of the droid army invading the planet with a bunch of creatures fleeing the tanks, which is where Jar Jar is introduced when Qui-Gon saves him from being crushed by one of the tanks. There's also some chase scenes when the Jedi and Jar Jar are going through the planet core (in an interesting-shaped submarine craft called a Bongo) and they are attacked by the enormous creatures that live down there. After that, you have a brief skirmish where the Jedi free the queen and her followers from the battle droids and fight their way aboard a ship in order to escape from Naboo. This is where the Federation stupidly has only one of their gigantic blockade ships fire upon them and is also where we're introduced to R2-D2, who is the only astro-droid that isn't blown away when fixing the damaged ship.

There are setpieces that everybody seems to remember and one of them is the pod-race that Anakin enters in order to win the prize money that Qui-Gon and the others need in order to repair their ship. The set-up to it is a bit clumsy, though. I get that they need the money but couldn't they have first tried another dealer? Watto says that he's the only dealer around with the necessary parts but does he look at all trustworthy? He might be lying. Moreover, he's one of the smaller dealers, so why not go to the bigger ones and see if they have the necessary parts? And while Watto says that Republic credits are no good on Tatooine, again, he may be saying that just because he doesn't want them. I do get that they didn't just hire a ship like Luke and Obi-Wan in the original film because it might be too risky since they have a queen with them but I still think it would have been easier to find the parts needed to fix the ship. The race itself is okay. It's fairly exciting but it goes on so long that, after a while, it kind of gets old. There are some great moments during the sequence, such as the last leg when Anakin and Sebulba are fighting it out for first place and the various way the other racers are taken out, either by the various hazards on the course or by Sebulba's rotten tactics, but I can't say it's my favorite part of the film. Qui-Gon also has a brief skirmish with Darth Maul before they leave the planet but it's nothing to write home about.

Since the climax of Return of the Jedi had three battles going on at once, Lucas decided to one-up himself here by having four big battles going on at one time (although, he admitted that he felt he spread himself too thin, which is one of the few times you'll ever hear him admit that he was wrong about something). First, there's the battle in the big grass field between the Gungans and the droid army. The first part of it is pretty good, with the Gungans activating an enormous plasma-energy shield and the droids, unable to penetrate it with their tank blasters, send out a legion of droid soldiers that can walk right through it and the outmatched Gugans are now struggling to knock them out with those plasma balls they use. But, I think that the gravity of the battle is weakened during the latter half by Jar Jar's shenanigans and clumsiness, which lead him to take out a bunch of droids when he doesn't mean to. You don't need slapstick in the middle of a big battle scene. It's distracting. The space battle between the Naboo fighter pilots (whose ships do look cool) and the droid control ship is pretty standard. It's definitely got nothing on the two Death Star battles in the original trilogy and, like the Gungan battle, it's importance is hampered by its being won because Anakin accidentally manages to destroy the ship through dumb luck. Padme's assault on the Naboo palace is also standard, with them simply having to shoot down a bunch of battle droids and, when they're captured, Padme uses her decoy to distract the droids so she and her men can trap the viceroy (you'd think they would have kept some droids around to watch Padme and the others instead of sending all of them after whom they think is the real queen).

My favorite part of the climax, and the other setpiece everyone remembers, is the lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battling Darth Maul. This is where Maul shows just how powerful he is, holding his own against two Jedis with his two-bladed lightsaber, showing his impressive physical abilities, and constantly using the Force to his advantage, such as having it throw something at a door control so he can keep his focus on the battle. I like the part where he and Qui-Gon are separated by those reactor shields and Maul stares Qui-Gon down while the latter calmly meditates as they wait for the shields to deactivate. He looks really bad-ass and intimidating there. Maul manages to kill Qui-Gon thanks to a cheap blow he makes to his chin that allows him to skewer him and Obi-Wan, once the shields deactivate again, immediately steps in to continue the fight. Obi-Wan does a pretty impressive move at one point when he blocks one of Maul's laser blades and then immediately lifts the sword up over his head and puts the blade down in front of his back to block the other when Maul comes around with it. He also manages to destroy one of the sides of Maul's saber and more than hold his own, with Ewan McGregor showing off the nice results of all the rigorous training he went through for the part. He's almost killed when Maul Force-pushes him down an air shaft but he manages to grab onto a little ledge sticking out of the wall and, using the Force, Obi-Wan pulls off another impressive stunt: he Force-jumps over Maul, uses the Force to bring Qui-Gon's lightsaber to his hand at the same time, and slices Maul in half, sending him tumbling down the shaft. This tells you why Obi-Wan would become such a well-respected Jedi: he's just awesome. And the battle ends on a poignant note where the devastated Obi-Wan promises his dying master that he will train Anakin.

John Williams provided another great score for both this film and the other prequels, making his music one of the best aspects of the trilogy. Heere, he used more choral pieces to reflect the less military and more mystical atmosphere of this time period of the galaxy, as compared to that of the original trilogy. My favorite part of this film's score is, without a doubt, the Duel of the Fates that plays during the epic lightsaber battle. That chorus just makes everything sound so much bigger and epic in scope and it also signifies the drama of the duel. It's awesome. I also like the somber chorus that sings during Qui-Gon's funeral, which Williams would reprise that for the end of Episode III. While I liked the way it sounded there better, this still captures the mood of the scene here perfectly. Anakin's theme is a nice little melody that does what Williams said its purpose was: to signify the innocence of his childhood. However, Williams also puts in little hints of what's to come such as when Yoda tells Obi-Wan at the end of the film that he senses great danger in Anakin's training. At that moment, you hear a little bit of the Imperial March. More to the point, Anakin's theme also plays over the last part of the ending credits and as it approaches the end, it becomes more sinister and the last thing you hear is Darth Vader breathing. Nice touch. The ending celebratory march with those kids singing... it's okay. Don't love it, don't hate it. I know some probably don't like it because it's so kiddy, as with a lot of other things in this movie (the bumbling music for Jar Jar, for instance, is something I could do without, much like the character himself), but I thought it served its purpose fine.

Once again proving that he cannot leave things alone, George Lucas made some changes to Episode I when it was released on DVD. Having owned the movie on VHS beforehand, I had seen it a bunch of times after I saw it in theaters and so, when I watched it on DVD, I immediately knew that some stuff was different. The changes consisted of adding some moments that were deleted from the theatrical release back into the movie rather than creating new stuff specifically for the home video release, as it was with the various re-releases of the original trilogy. The lead-up to the pod-race is now quite extended. Beforehand, only a few of the racers were introduced but here, all of them are. Lucas said he cut it because it went on too long. I agree... so what was the point of putting it back in? There's also a moment during the pod-race when the main part of Anakin's pod becomes detached from one of the two power generators that it's attached to and he spins out of control before he eventually uses a magnetic gadget to draw the loose part back to him so he can reattach it. Interesting, but it doesn't add anything to the race in the long run. Finally, when they arrive on Coruscant and Anakin and Jar Jar accompany the queen, there's an added shot of their small craft leaving the landing platform and flying around a bit of the city. Again, what's the point? I get why Lucas added stuff to the original trilogy since he felt that it wasn't finished but why did he reinstate this stuff in a film where he was able to do everything he wanted and what's more, adds nothing at all to the story, which is why he cut it in the first place?

In an interview he did while promoting Episode II, Ewan McGregor summed up things very well regarding Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: due its enormous responsibility of setting up the entire saga, the film ended up feeling flat. Indeed, for all that it's trying to accomplish, the end result is rather, "meh." It has a lot of bland characters,  bad dialogue, tons of plotholes and continuity errors with the original trilogy, and is far too childish at times for its own good. But it didn't matter how bad it was. Being the first Star Wars movie in sixteen years, the thing was going to make money and it did so in spades, becoming one of the top ten highest grossing movies of all time. Even the 2012 3-D re-release did well, so there's no denying that people still like seeing Star Wars on the big screen, even if the particular film isn't good. And you know what, despite all the mistakes and problems that I see in the film, some of which do annoy me, I can't say that I hate it. I enjoyed it very much in the theater when I was twelve (it was one of the best theater experiences of my life, actually) and even now that I'm older and can see that it's not exactly a good film, I can watch it in order to kill 135 minutes and enjoy some of the performances, the action sequences, and the music. But, I do agree with McGregor's thoughts that it's mainly just flat and nothing more. I know many still really despise this movie but, at the end of the day, my opinion can be summed up in the one word I said earlier: "meh."