Folks, you can count me proudly (and sadly) amongst that contingent of fans who firmly believe that Star Wars – under Disney’s wrath of terror – is pretty much dead.
Now, let me qualify this for the readership: this isn’t meant to say that I haven’t eeked some enjoyment out of series like The Mandalorian, The Book Of Boba Fett, The Bad Batch, Andor, and Ahsoka because that would be far from the truth. When you watch programs the way I do – always trying to find some silver lining here and there – then it becomes easy to see glimmers of ‘a new hope’ in random spaces. The problem is that the quality of the writing has been so horribly, horribly, horribly inconsistent – along with certain elements of the production and performances – that I’ve been unable to make any emotional investment in these respective yarns. If I can’t connect on any level, then it’s hard for the show to truly resonate with me. Think what you may, but I believe this is how a vast portion of Star Wars fandom feels about the current state of the Galactic Empire.
Still, I couldn’t (and didn’t) pass up the chance to take in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on the big screen as part of the annual ‘May The Fourth Be With You’ Celebration. Yes, I’m aware that this re-release also tied in with the movie’s twenty-fifth anniversary – do you think yours truly lives on an island? – and so I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect (in review fashion) on this particular Menace. While this won’t be a full-fledged review the likes of which regular patrons to SciFiHistory.Net get with each and every release I cover, I believe these modest observations do ‘fit the bill’ close enough that I wanted to share them in conjunction with this special occasion.
In case any of you are wondering, yes, I was there when this one was originally released in theaters back in 1999; and, yes, I was one of the long-time Star Wars fans who was thrilled to see George Lucas finally getting around to continuing the star saga in that galaxy far, far away. While I fully understood that Luke, Han, and Leia weren’t even a twinkle in anyone’s eye at this point of the mythology, I desperately wanted answers to how the Republic got to such a lowly state that it transformed into the Galactic Empire. This is precisely want audiences were promised; and – like so many – I was a bit underwhelmed.
Again, I feel the need to clarify: this isn’t to suggest in any way that I disliked The Phantom Menace. Rather, it kinda/sorta confused me.
In talking about the project both back then and even today, I’ve long maintained that it’s perfectly fine as a film but it doesn’t quite involve me as a story. (I know, I know … hang with me a minute, and I think it’ll all become clear.) As works of art, films don’t have to be perfect to be beloved; they merely have to be made and serve as an inspiration to those who discover it. Stories – on the other hand – should either intellectually engage or challenge those who tune in, unspooling their peoples, places, and events in such a way as everything adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts. So … it’s pretty clear to even those who loathe Menace that few can argue about its technical wizardry and visual flair: nothing quite like it existed in our universe at the time, and it arguably took audiences someplace that they hadn’t been in that fictional world. But as for the peoples, places, and events? Well … it was more than a bit flat.
Now, let me qualify this for the readership: this isn’t meant to say that I haven’t eeked some enjoyment out of series like The Mandalorian, The Book Of Boba Fett, The Bad Batch, Andor, and Ahsoka because that would be far from the truth. When you watch programs the way I do – always trying to find some silver lining here and there – then it becomes easy to see glimmers of ‘a new hope’ in random spaces. The problem is that the quality of the writing has been so horribly, horribly, horribly inconsistent – along with certain elements of the production and performances – that I’ve been unable to make any emotional investment in these respective yarns. If I can’t connect on any level, then it’s hard for the show to truly resonate with me. Think what you may, but I believe this is how a vast portion of Star Wars fandom feels about the current state of the Galactic Empire.
Still, I couldn’t (and didn’t) pass up the chance to take in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on the big screen as part of the annual ‘May The Fourth Be With You’ Celebration. Yes, I’m aware that this re-release also tied in with the movie’s twenty-fifth anniversary – do you think yours truly lives on an island? – and so I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect (in review fashion) on this particular Menace. While this won’t be a full-fledged review the likes of which regular patrons to SciFiHistory.Net get with each and every release I cover, I believe these modest observations do ‘fit the bill’ close enough that I wanted to share them in conjunction with this special occasion.
In case any of you are wondering, yes, I was there when this one was originally released in theaters back in 1999; and, yes, I was one of the long-time Star Wars fans who was thrilled to see George Lucas finally getting around to continuing the star saga in that galaxy far, far away. While I fully understood that Luke, Han, and Leia weren’t even a twinkle in anyone’s eye at this point of the mythology, I desperately wanted answers to how the Republic got to such a lowly state that it transformed into the Galactic Empire. This is precisely want audiences were promised; and – like so many – I was a bit underwhelmed.
Again, I feel the need to clarify: this isn’t to suggest in any way that I disliked The Phantom Menace. Rather, it kinda/sorta confused me.
In talking about the project both back then and even today, I’ve long maintained that it’s perfectly fine as a film but it doesn’t quite involve me as a story. (I know, I know … hang with me a minute, and I think it’ll all become clear.) As works of art, films don’t have to be perfect to be beloved; they merely have to be made and serve as an inspiration to those who discover it. Stories – on the other hand – should either intellectually engage or challenge those who tune in, unspooling their peoples, places, and events in such a way as everything adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts. So … it’s pretty clear to even those who loathe Menace that few can argue about its technical wizardry and visual flair: nothing quite like it existed in our universe at the time, and it arguably took audiences someplace that they hadn’t been in that fictional world. But as for the peoples, places, and events? Well … it was more than a bit flat.
As a story, Menace really has no narrative center, and a suitable argument could be made that it’s like a series of events strung together only to introduce some of the blandest players in an otherwise colorful stew. There’s no foundation under all of its images and sequences; and its characters at times seem to exist solely because Lucas both crafted and put them there to advance some piece of a grander saga he was trying to weave. The opening crawl – a technique that truly sets the stage for audiences in this world – discusses things like ‘trade routes’ and ‘taxation’ as if that’s what brought fandom to their feet; and it’s all a bit too nebulous to provide the level of definition that might elevate a ‘Phantom Menace’ to the point of our collective understanding. ‘Turmoil’ is even the first word, and I dare anyone in any day and age to get excited much less sympathetic or interested in ‘turmoil.’
Because Menace invests an awful lot of screen time never quite quickly and painlessly introducing audiences to any characters other than Qui-Gon Jinn (played by Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), nothing coalesces around any particular lead. I remember thinking to myself, “Whose story really is this?” as several points the first time I watched in on screen; and that’s honestly how I felt about it when I re-experienced it over the weekend. The first forty minutes (or so) are particularly messy, haphazardly brushing over practically everything, a technique that leads me to believe it’s entirely unimportant.
Lo and behold, that’s the dirty little secret to so very much of Menace: in the grand scale of Star Wars mythology, it’s damn near irrelevant.
Practically everything covered in any detail in the picture bears little to no narrative weight on anything that occurs later in the saga. Naboo gets revisited largely because Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) continues to be a key player in galactic affairs as well as the personal affairs of Anakin Skywalker (the young Jake Lloyd gets recast with the much older Hayden Christensen for obvious reasons); but there’s hardly any interaction with the world’s people, its symbiotically-linked races, or any other of its bits and pieces. Yes, I realize that Coruscant, the Jedi Council, and a few other important faces earn a bit of screen time; and yet there’s still so very little of what transpires anywhere in the picture that couldn’t have been somehow introduced either in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones (2002) or Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (2005).
Because Menace invests an awful lot of screen time never quite quickly and painlessly introducing audiences to any characters other than Qui-Gon Jinn (played by Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), nothing coalesces around any particular lead. I remember thinking to myself, “Whose story really is this?” as several points the first time I watched in on screen; and that’s honestly how I felt about it when I re-experienced it over the weekend. The first forty minutes (or so) are particularly messy, haphazardly brushing over practically everything, a technique that leads me to believe it’s entirely unimportant.
Lo and behold, that’s the dirty little secret to so very much of Menace: in the grand scale of Star Wars mythology, it’s damn near irrelevant.
Practically everything covered in any detail in the picture bears little to no narrative weight on anything that occurs later in the saga. Naboo gets revisited largely because Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) continues to be a key player in galactic affairs as well as the personal affairs of Anakin Skywalker (the young Jake Lloyd gets recast with the much older Hayden Christensen for obvious reasons); but there’s hardly any interaction with the world’s people, its symbiotically-linked races, or any other of its bits and pieces. Yes, I realize that Coruscant, the Jedi Council, and a few other important faces earn a bit of screen time; and yet there’s still so very little of what transpires anywhere in the picture that couldn’t have been somehow introduced either in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones (2002) or Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (2005).
Some of this structural weakness could be owed to the fact that Lucas himself is on record (in a few places) in talking about how he wanted the Prequel Trilogy to ‘echo’ thematically to events that had already occurred in the Original Trilogy, strongly suggesting that the entirety of this particular story would in some ways be history repeating itself. I’ve always taken issue with that idea: while it sounds poetic – in practice – it also kinda/sorta cheapens both Anakin’s and Luke’s respective struggles if, ultimately, they were identical on a textural level. As a character, I’ve always seen Luke’s journey as being focused on achieving what his father failed to accomplish, thus redeeming a family legacy in the process; the fact that he winds up saving his father’s soul in the finale of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi is just icing on the cake. But Anakin’s path revolves empathically around failure or failing, so I take issue with anyone – even Lucas – suggesting that both men were inevitably on the same path in any way.
Where Menace does have some legs to stand on – and this is where I do diverge in thinking with most of fandom – is with the appearance of young Anakin. Though I’ll concede that there may’ve been some acting issues here and there, I kinda/sorta ‘dug’ having a kid fall smack dab in the center of the galaxy far, far away, mostly because we never saw one before in the Original Trilogy. This gave the production a new perspective – one that I understand audiences may not exactly have fallen in love with – and the freshness rings true in a few small ways. Could it have been written better? Sure. Could it have been performed differently? Of course. Still, there’s no denying that Anakin’s character was reaching to be the center around which Menace unfolded once he was introduced; and I’m thankful that, at least, this was a ‘beat’ Lucas got right. (Imperfect? Sure.)
In fact, I’ve often argued that Menace is a film that is too long especially given the fact that – as I stated above – so little of it resonates in the rest of the ongoing saga. It’s theatrical cotton candy, if you will, and it could’ve been better served by being a bit shorter, trimmed strategically here and there. (Producer Rick McCallum famously observed in an interview that no one involved knew quite what to make of it after seeing the first cut, and I wonder if this isn’t exactly the same sentiment I felt only phrased a bit differently.) Losing the opening set-up on Naboo could’ve vastly helped the film’s plodding pace in those early moments; and I don’t think anything would’ve been tragically sacrificed in the process.
I’ve written about this suggestion before, but here’s the thrust of how I’d alter the flick:
Where Menace does have some legs to stand on – and this is where I do diverge in thinking with most of fandom – is with the appearance of young Anakin. Though I’ll concede that there may’ve been some acting issues here and there, I kinda/sorta ‘dug’ having a kid fall smack dab in the center of the galaxy far, far away, mostly because we never saw one before in the Original Trilogy. This gave the production a new perspective – one that I understand audiences may not exactly have fallen in love with – and the freshness rings true in a few small ways. Could it have been written better? Sure. Could it have been performed differently? Of course. Still, there’s no denying that Anakin’s character was reaching to be the center around which Menace unfolded once he was introduced; and I’m thankful that, at least, this was a ‘beat’ Lucas got right. (Imperfect? Sure.)
In fact, I’ve often argued that Menace is a film that is too long especially given the fact that – as I stated above – so little of it resonates in the rest of the ongoing saga. It’s theatrical cotton candy, if you will, and it could’ve been better served by being a bit shorter, trimmed strategically here and there. (Producer Rick McCallum famously observed in an interview that no one involved knew quite what to make of it after seeing the first cut, and I wonder if this isn’t exactly the same sentiment I felt only phrased a bit differently.) Losing the opening set-up on Naboo could’ve vastly helped the film’s plodding pace in those early moments; and I don’t think anything would’ve been tragically sacrificed in the process.
I’ve written about this suggestion before, but here’s the thrust of how I’d alter the flick:
- Keep the opening crawl as is, but end with the sentiment that this conflict was going to spread to the galaxy at large very quickly.
- Open with flashing, fever dream images drawn from what happened on Naboo as well as some hints of what would happen in the final act; and all of this would slowly emerge as a Force dream young Anakin Skywalker was having in his bed. He wakes up, goes outside, and sees a ship setting down just over the horizon. (This would be Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Padme, and JarJar arriving.)
- Anakin would be joined by his mother; and they’d have a brief conversation about the dream waking him up – he’s been plagued by Force dreams, not knowing what they are. This sets up the obvious tie-in that the young boy is destined for other things than being a slave on Tatooine. He goes back to bed at his mother’s urging, and she could have some knowing glance at the horizon before she, too, goes in to bed.
From here, pretty much everything else that takes place in the current draft of Menace would, functionally, be the same. Granted, there might be some edits and minor dialogue fixes; but such a structural change would turn the existing film from one with fluctuating centers and shifts of focus to one wherein it’s entirely Anakin’s story. This gives it the necessary footing around which everything else can unfold; and it also dramatically shortens the flick to a length respectfully of the fact that most of its contents vanish into the fictional ether. Lastly, it gets audiences to the podrace much more quickly; and that’s a huge, huge plus, given the fact that it’s debatably the story’s centerpiece.
But, hey … as I always ask … who am I? I’m just a lowly critic. Unpaid, too! What do I know about making a big budget motion picture? Absolutely nothing. What I do know, however, is that Menace never quite worked as a story for me – as I said, it’s fine as a film – and I can only hope that I’ve clearly explained what I feel are obvious weaknesses. Tightening a few of its strongest strings might’ve made for a tapestry worth hanging on the wall for the theatrical ages; and I’ve tried to offer my suggestions with the right spirit in mind. I care … and I want it to be better or maybe even just a bit less imperfect.
I still cherish the film over the Sequel Trilogy. I’ve only seen each of those installments a single time, and I’ve absolutely no personal or professional interest in re-experiencing them at any point in the remainder of my lifetime. That’s how disappointed I was in them.
Anakin deserved a stronger introduction, especially given how all six films revolve around whether or not he was meant to deliver Balance to the Force or not. Given him such an unbalance first adventure hurt but thankfully didn’t kill the franchise. That’s how powerful the Menace was and continues to be for audiences today.
May the Force be with us.
Always.
-- EZ
But, hey … as I always ask … who am I? I’m just a lowly critic. Unpaid, too! What do I know about making a big budget motion picture? Absolutely nothing. What I do know, however, is that Menace never quite worked as a story for me – as I said, it’s fine as a film – and I can only hope that I’ve clearly explained what I feel are obvious weaknesses. Tightening a few of its strongest strings might’ve made for a tapestry worth hanging on the wall for the theatrical ages; and I’ve tried to offer my suggestions with the right spirit in mind. I care … and I want it to be better or maybe even just a bit less imperfect.
I still cherish the film over the Sequel Trilogy. I’ve only seen each of those installments a single time, and I’ve absolutely no personal or professional interest in re-experiencing them at any point in the remainder of my lifetime. That’s how disappointed I was in them.
Anakin deserved a stronger introduction, especially given how all six films revolve around whether or not he was meant to deliver Balance to the Force or not. Given him such an unbalance first adventure hurt but thankfully didn’t kill the franchise. That’s how powerful the Menace was and continues to be for audiences today.
May the Force be with us.
Always.
-- EZ
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