I have a bad feeling about this.
Back in the summer of 1999, as mentioned, there were several
big flicks that got people’s attention. There was the cynical Fight Club, the
uproarious South Park feature film, the zeitgeist-changing Matrix, and
then…there was THE film franchise making a comeback. It came with brand new
effects, it had incredible marketing, and it took advantage of this thing
called ‘internet hype’. Yes, it’s time to talk about Star Wars again with
the…er…noteworthy instalment that was The Phantom Menace.
So much has been said about this one over the past twenty
years that I’m not sure what I can say at this point—so I’ll just share my own
perspective. I remember this one being a goddamn
event, and to be honest, I remember more of what surrounded it than the
film itself. You couldn’t move for the slew of merchandising, the games, the
amazingly composed posters, and did I mention the merchandising? This Onion
article sure wasn’t kidding. But truth be told, it did the job of getting people
all excited incredibly. You had the familiar elements like lightsabers all over the
spine-shakingly excellent trailers, but also cool brand new stuff, like those
legions of battle droids and weird, spectacular new planets.
This was a level of excitement that wasn’t replicated until
The Force Awakens sixteen years later. And there was no shortage of buildup
either, starting with the re-release of the original trilogy in ’97, with
changes that have also proved contentious over the years. I was too young to
care about Han shooting second at the time, and in all honesty, I still don’t.
Either way, for newer audiences at the time, they served their role in ramping
up the excitement for a brand new set of films.
Of course, the hype didn’t last. I wasn’t exactly deep in
the internet culture at the time, which then was basically the purview of
hardcore nerds, but even I soon got wind of the discontent. By the time of
Attack of the Clones, things like lil’ Ani and Jar Jar were definite
punchlines—and until the Disney projects gave some people new things to complain
about, the vitriolic debates and hits at this, and the other prequels, went on for years.
But did this one really deserve it?
…yes and no? Some have been trying to rehabilitate Phantom
Menace and the subsequent two films over the years—and to be fair, there are
some decent elements in this one. It’s arguably the best looking of the
prequels, shot on film and in general having a vibrant, colorful look. And
though people joke about the excessive CGI in this era of the franchise, that
didn’t really start until Episode II; Phantom Menace uses a solid amount of
models and practical effects, like the Trade Federation battleship, the podrace
arena, and of course, fairly lavish palace sets. I must admit, parts of it
capture that level of detail that makes the original trilogy hold up in some ways.
And then there’s the soundtrack—and this is one aspect that
is unquestionably incredible. Chances are, you can start humming Duel of the
Fates right now. And John Williams, master that he is, knocks it out the park with
everything from the booming Trade Federation March, the mysterious and ethereal
theme that introduces the Gungan city, the parade music to the podrace opening,
and everything else in between. The movie’s initial reception wasn’t negative
off the bat, and the maestro of the London Symphony Orchestra partially made
sure of that. As such, Phantom Menace for me easily has the best score of the
prequels, and if I’m being honest, hasn’t been topped in this area by any of
the Disney-era films.
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| Didi-didi-didi-dan-dan-da-da-- |
But…yes, sooner or later, we have to talk about the rest.
The plot isn’t as straightforward to follow as the simple setup of A New
Hope; the younger me didn’t really care about the waffing about trade deals
either way, but later on, I can see what people mean about them. And though Liam
Neeson plays his role with the right gravitas, the rest of the cast is…yeah, slightly
flat, as some put it. There’s no down to earth audience surrogate like Han in
the originals, the closest being…yes, Jar Jar Binks.
I guess, to make a change, I could talk about how the mocap
technology that went into everyone’s favorite Gungan laid the groundwork for what
Peter Jackson used in his own little trilogy, along with ILM’s other advances. Or that…well,
I can personally attest that some kids did indeed like him. Otherwise, a lot of
the less than thrilled response to him at the time is understandable, but as we’ll
get into later, it went a little too far.
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| "It's no use, we can't repel internet hatred of that magnitude!" |
The rest of the flick is a weird mixture of the genuinely
effective and the genuinely stupid. The introduction to the podrace is a grand
parade with swelling, spectacular music…broken by a CGI camel farting into the
camera. The fighter attack on the Droid Control Ship has some decent shots and
tension for what it is, with Naboo pilots exploding left and right…and then we
get a kid randomly pushing buttons and trying spinning, because that’s a good
trick. The duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi has all that kinetic energy Ray
Park could bring, with that incredible
choral theme…and then it cuts to Jar Jar slapstick. All this means I don’t hate Episode I like some do, but neither would I defend as far as others will.
But while I see where the outrage came from, I have to touch
on the new phenomena of internet furor in 1999, solidified for good and for
ill. From here, movie productions had only ever closer relationships with their
audiences, but that meant the individuals among them could be singled out.
Sure, there’s much to criticize about Jar Jar, but as we’ve learned since,
Ahmed Best himself got enough spite that he contemplated suicide. Jake Lloyd
got bullied at school over his portrayal of young Anakin, and he doesn’t seem
to have recovered much to this day. To put it bluntly, as far as I’m concerned,
he is literally the only person in the world who can actually say the Phantom Menace ruined his childhood.
And ever since then, what we saw twenty years ago has only
been amplified. To hear it from some, the Star Wars franchise has been ruined
forever at least three or four times over. The Last Jedi is just the latest
apparent offender; to some, it was Force Awakens, or the Clone Wars series, or whatever.
Some say it was even ruined as early as 1978, but I’ve already dispelled those absurd rumors.
On to more pleasant things, however, and that’s all the
material that came alongside Phantom Menace and the rest of the prequel
trilogy. The podracing sequence, while having some stretches that definitely
could’ve used an editing down, still had some great sense of speed and
distinctive characters—all of whom would’ve made for a great game. And whaddya
know, they did. I remember countless hours zooming around the various tracks of
the Racer game—and enjoying the many other titles around this time. Some noted
that they felt that while the movies may’ve been worse, the games were better
than ever, leading to classics like Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront,
and Republic Commando. It really made the universe feel bigger, and
unfortunately, with LucasArts long gone, the state of the franchise in this
department is currently a little dismal.
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| 'Member fumbling around with that huge trident controller apparently designed for a giant spider? I 'member. |
And with that out of the way, I might as well give my
cursory thoughts on the rest of the prequels:
-Attack of the Clones: If you skip around to focus on just
the scenes with Ewan McGregor, it’s watchable. Otherwise, this one’s arguably
the weakest—much of it is just sort of boring, and it loses the visual vibrancy
of Phantom Menace, with washed-out tones and CGI backdrops still in their
teething stages. It has its moments, but they’re better off watched
individually.
-Revenge of the Sith: Now this one I can say I enjoy without
hesitation. Oh sure, it still has the common prequel faults of cheesy dialogue
and acting, but it’s the enjoyable kind of cheesy for this one—between General
Grievous overacting every word, and then the glorious, the magnificent, the
amazing spectacle of Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine cutting absolutely loose. It
has the most amount of actual genuinely effective scenes in this trilogy, be it
the declaration of the Empire, or the Order 66 montage. Yes, there’s silliness,
yes, Anakin’s fall could’ve been explained better, but I can still have fun with
it to this day.
I will say that with the prequels, what Lucas was aiming
for—namely, a galactic political thriller mixed with mythic tragedy—is
commendable enough, reaching far on paper. Perhaps he aimed beyond his reach,
but it doesn’t feel so much a bad thing when JJ Abrams tried too hard to
recreate past glories, even while proving superior on the texture side of
acting and dialogue. The thing is, what does make the prequels interesting is
that they’re all Lucas—and you just don’t get that sort of rogue director in
full control in the business for the most part these days, at least not for
this sort of production. Even if the prequels are nonsense, they’re at least
Lucas’ nonsense, and that does make them unique for good and for ill.
To close off, I still find both in real life and the Internet
those who look back on Phantom Menace fondly—those that grew up on it now firmly
come of age. A flawed Star Wars film, maybe, but their Star Wars film. Where others were annoyed by Gungans and
midi-chlorians, others still enjoyed the climactic duel, the podracing, and the
new worlds and material to explore. All valid perspectives, and ones that can
be explored in new ways as things move on and, let’s face it, people find new
stuff to kvetch about. Hell, after twenty years, they damn well better.
Everyone can ultimately agree on one thing—at least it’s not
that hypothetical seventies wookiee sitcom that doesn’t exist.
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