In A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace

I am so excited! This year, for my resolution project, I’m rewatching the Star Wars franchise. I chose it because I love Star Wars, and I thought it would be fun to re-watch the movies in order of release date, with perhaps a bit more of a critical and appreciative eye than I have before.

This month’s installment: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

The Premise:

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

Spoilers for a 20 year old film ahead

I am beginning to re-think my love for this movie franchise. There is just so much that is wrong with it. The prequels were never a good idea. I don’t know that we ever needed three films to tell us how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.

I desperately want to resist being negative here. There has been so much hate in Star Wars fandom which continues to be ruthless towards Jake Lloyd, who played young Anakin, and Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks, to the point where Ahmed contemplated suicide.

So let me leave the actors out of it. None of it is their fault. The actors did their job, and they did them well. Jake Lloyd was adorable, and he should have been given a chance to learn and grow as an actor.

Jar Jar Binks is annoying and out of place. I blame the writers. I get that he is there for comic relief, for the kids, and I’m sure they loved him. The problem is that he is the only one of his kind that sounds like him and that is as clumsy and idiotic as he is. As a character, he is just out of place.

I had forgotten just how prevalent he is throughout the movie. I think he has more screen time than anyone else. That tells me the writers had very little story to tell and were filling up time.

I loved the costumes for Queen Amidala. I find it interesting that they went for an Asian Empress look, which is stunning. And I suppose it is in keeping with the Karategi the Jedi wear.

What was interesting about this movie was the history of the formation of the Empire. That was the real story, and it got lost in the finding of Anakin and the pod race. And don’t even get me started on the midi-chlorians!

Though let’s talk about Anakin’s apparent immaculate conception. Let’s suppose Star Wars is a classic Good vs. Evil story in which there is the unlikely hero, he or she, of humble birth, who is the only one who can lead and save the world; and that unlikely hero is often based on the biblical story of Jesus — born in a stable to a lowly carpenter — who dies for the salvation of all. Anakin’s immaculate conception takes that Jesus comparison one step further. And then we find out that he is the chosen one, the one prophesied about, like Jesus was. How interesting, then is it that George Lucas’s Jesus figure becomes the embodiment evil, and yet his offspring do not. An intentional twist on the classic? Was Lucas trying to spark a theological debate? Or am I just overthinking things?

Darth Maul had the coolest light-saber and he was hardly in the movie. I know his purpose was to signal the return of the Sith, and that he symbolized a deeper, “Phantom” menace behind the scenes, but I remember Darth Maul featuring in a lot of the trailers and commercials, and being disappointed he was hardly on screen. I still feel that same disappointment.

In conclusion: I must admit, it can be painful to watch these movies, seeing the potential that is there, and yet they continually fall short. It is always easier to see shortcomings when looking back. I’m sure there was a lot of pressure on Lucas to put out a script and a movie, and he did his best. I think he tried too hard to refute the critics who say that Star Wars is Fantasy, not Science Fiction. He wanted it to be Science Fiction, when it clearly is not. I’m glad that in the future films he embraces the Fantasy genre, or at least sheds the attempts to be hard Science Fiction.

Up next: Attack of the Clones.