Star Wars.
Well, it's had it's ups and downs, hasn't it? Currently, I would say, up. Up. Lots of Ups.
You could attribute this to a lot of things. A fandom being re-invigorated by a beloved animated series being completed. Expansion on characters that always had potential. Ground-breaking visuals. Awesome fight choreography.
I mean, you could. But we all know that actually it's just that Baby Yoda is adorable. I mean, look at this guy!
Anyway, with the current jump in success of the Star Wars TV series, as released on Disney Plus, and with the imminent arrival of... deep breath... Kenobi (which might be the most awesome Star Wars thing since... well, since the Book of Boba Fett showed Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker meet, but still), I thought it would be fun to go back to... the beginning. And talk about Star Wars.
Episode 1.
So, let's start with the elephant in the room. Or one of the many elephants in the room, I suppose.
The CGI.
We have learned many things in the past few decades. One of these is that CGI is amazing. Awesome. In moderation.
And in excess, it can turn an awesome story into... well, the Hobbit trilogy springs to mind.
The CGI in the phantom menace is... excessive. And not good enough that we don't notice that it's excessive. It is simply difficult to really believe that some things are real, especially things like the Gungan city. And the Gungans.
And plenty of the space ships.
And... space.
And the water.
And the droids.
You know what, though? I'm going to try and defend it.
Firstly, the CGI is obvious, but it doesn't look... bad...
Yes, the basically fully CGI characters and locations don't look real, but even today a lot of fully CGI characters are noticeably unreal. And they don't look obnoxious. They don't fall into the Uncanny Valley.
The CGI is also very consistent. Jar-Jar compared to Obi-Wan? The difference is obvious. But compared to the droids, ships, other characters... stylistically similar enough that he doesn't stand out.
Finally, although it isn't 100% realistic, the animation is, at least... kind of beautiful at times.
Yes. They should have used less of it. But truly, it doesn't take me out of the film. It doesn't ruin the film.
It's easy to criticise, but CGI allowed them to show multiple gigantic landscapes, collosal armies and space-based battles that realistically could not have been created any other way.
Let's move on to... our second elephant. Mr Binks.
He is the designated comic relief for the film. I know a lot of people hate him, say he isn't funny, that he tries to lighten up moments that shouldn't be lightened and that he is downright annoying...
I can't argue. He is annoying. He is clearly there to lighten the tone, but a single comedic character simply can't do that. If you want to make a more lighthearted film, you have to make the film... lighthearted. Sticking a bit of slapstick into the background simply doesn't cut it.
You know what, though? (And please don't hate me for this. Especially you, Judge Bookman) I have a soft spot for him.
Kind of, anyway.
The reason behind this is simple. I was a bit too young to watch the prequel trilogy when it came out. My star wars exposure came in drips and drabs. I think I watched them in this order: 2, 4, 1, 5, 6, 3.
So... yeah. I remember being mildly confused by the whole thing.
Anyway, point is, I was a kid when I watched this film for the first time. Many people theorise that Jar-Jar was put in to appeal to the younger generation, and to draw in new viewers.
For me? It worked. As an adult, I might look at him as a bit out of place, kind of wouldn't be missed, could have been done better. But as a kid, he made the film more approachable.
So I like him because... he works. The character had a job to do, and he did it well.
And growing a fan base is important! Without it, the franchise would die!
So well done, Jar-Jar. The irritating blob of CGI that saved Star Wars.
Ok, so I've talked about a few things that I do like (even though other people might not).
Let's talk about a few that I don't.
Firstly, it's just a little too self-congratulatory. Introducing and giving origin stories for R2-D2, C-3P0, Darth Sidious, Obi Wan, Anakin all in one go? That's... a lot. Really, a LOT.
I can't help but think that the sequel trilogy did this better. Yes, they gave a lot of fan service. Luke, Leia, The Millenium Falcon, Han, the droids, Chewie... but they were more subtle about it. In this film, it feels a bit like they're hammering the point in. "Hey! Remember this droid? Don't you love this droid? Remember when he did that cool thing in that other film? Look, here he is doing it again! But it's in a different film! Don't you love this new film?"
Hmm. Doesn't quite work for me. I see why they did it, they needed to make this film stink of Star Wars. They needed to appeal to the people who grew up watcing the original trilogy. I think they just pushed a bit hard.
What else...?
Well... Anakin. I don't hate the acting, the kid did his best. What I dislike is the choice to make him this age. I know they were treading a line as far as lore goes. If they made Anakin too old, him being accepted by the Jedi order would become more unrealistic.
Except that the people making this film were writing the lore as they went. So yes, they could have made this character older. I'm sorry, but letting an 8 year-old compete in a pod race?
And then make it seem like he's capable of flying a vehicle into space?
I was barely capable of making sensible life choices at 18.
His youth, I think, is also why we seem never to focus on the horrors of the slavery that he has lived through.
It also creates a... another problem. I'll dwell on this more if I get round to reviewing episode II, but the relationship between Anakin and Padme has... well, feels off to me. And a big part of it is that Anakin... well basically, he has a crush on her. She's 14, he's 8/9.
Except this crush never dies. When they meet again as (well, nearly) adults, he says that he has basically never stopped thinking about her.
This feels so, so weird! And unnatural! Sure, kids get crushes. Not many kids get "I have met the one true love of my life and should we meet again I think we will basically instantly develop a sexual relationship" before they've left primary school!
They could have made him 13. It would have made the story better, made the character development make more sense, and simply been more logical!
And here's the thing. Watching this film back, it mostly, MOSTLY holds up!
Apart from the moment where a 9 year old accidentally blows up a heavily defended and shielded ship.
Thus literally Deus Ex Machina'ing everything else to be OK.
It's just...
There are a lot of good things about this film. There are even more "bad but excusable" things about this film. And then there are some absolutely ridiculous, unnecessary choices that make things more complicated for the whole franchise, and leave fans scratching their heads.
I think I will always like this film. It's still a fun watch, and I have good memories of it.
But every time I watch it, I will cringe a little bit at "Darth Vader as a child". Which just... didn't need to exist.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this review, and may the force be with you!
Keep an eye out for the next one!
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