Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace
Synopsis: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a 9-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter.
Spoiler review:"Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace" is the fourth Star Wars movie and it is the first of the prequel trilogy. It is a flawed film with some redeemable qualities to it. This movie came out in 1999 when I was 4 years old and I was so excited to see it and loved it. But as I grew older, I have watched it multiple times and I like it less and less. Even though this movie has many problems, I will always defend the prequels because I grew up with them and they are close to my heart. This one finds two Jedi knights, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, escape a hostile blockade to find allies and they come across a young boy, Anakin Skywalker who may bring balance to the force, but the long dormant Sith resurfaces to claim their old glory. There are good points and bad points in this movie and I am going to start with the negatives first so I can get them out of the way. I loved the all-star cast they hired with Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid, and Terence Stamp, but they are being dragged down by awful dialogue and repetitive facial expressions that takes the audience out of the movie sometimes. Another problem I have is the first two acts are boring and full of characters sitting around talking which slogs on endlessly instead of any action (making the movie longer than its 2hr and 16 minutes running time). Also, this movie introduced Jar Jar Binks who, in my opinion, has to be one of the worst characters in cinematic history; he was annoying and not funny. Every time he was on screen, it took me out of the movie. Jake Lloyd plays young Anakin Skywalker and I was really disappointed in his performance. Let's just say, he was not good as Anakin. I liked the character of Anakin but not the way Jake portrayed him in this film. He was unwatchable. I wish they would have casted a much older actor as Anakin so it would have made it more believable to the audience. But, not everything in this movie is bad and there are some good things to share. I liked the two leads in this movie. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Qui- Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) bring wisdom and skill to their roles even though they had to say some terrible dialogue, but they made it work – real professionals. What I loved most about this movie are the visual effects and sound design. This remarkable technical team makes you feel you are back in this imaginative Star Wars universe that was created back in 1977. Personally, my two favorite action scenes are the pod race and the lightsaber fight. The pod race is one of most technically advanced visual effects in 1999 and each time I see it, it's like the first. The lightsaber fight among Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul is the best since the lightsaber battle in "Return of Jedi"; it was a well-choreographed, fast-paced and heart pounding moment. Finally, the villain, Darth Maul still has a dark and feared presence in the film although he was on screen for only 20 minutes. "Star Wars Episode I" was enjoyable to watch but it is still a disappointment to all Star Wars fans of the original trilogy. I am giving "Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace" a 2 out of 5 stars.
Director: George Lucas
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August, Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, Ray Park, Samuel L. Jakson, and Terence Stamp
Runtime: 136 minutes