Last time I saw this was 10 years ago for the 3-D re-release. My thoughts pretty much remain the same. The film sucks. The script is pretty bad (although Lucas started writing around 1994, so he had a good 2 or 3 years. You’d think with that amount of time he’d be able to really fine tune it), the plot is exceedingly boring, confusing, and uninteresting ( taxation of trade routes and politics. “Fun”. Doesn’t help the film just drops you right into the middle of things and expects you to keep up.), the character work is pretty weak, and for fucks sake they replaced puppet Yoda with CGI for the 2012 remaster!
The parts that pissed me off back then still do ( Jar-Jar remains infuriating, Anakin’s role in the final battle is insultingly stupid, and Midichlorians remain a bastardization of The Force). One thing that really stood out is just how terrible a Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn is. If you really wanted to, you could pin Anakin’s fall squarely on his shoulders. The Dual of The Fates/ The Darth Maul fight and The Pod Race remain the sole highlights and are the saving graces for the film. I don’t blame the actors for how poor the film and performances turned out. Ewan MacGregor, Liam Neeson, Kiera Knightley (as the Queen’s decoy), and Samuel L. Jackson are all great actors but there’s only so much you can do with a poor script and incompetent direction.
Surprisingly, Ian McDiarmid reprising his role of Palpatine might be the strongest actor here. You know he’s evil, but the way he plays his character you can see why people would believe he’s a good guy (the same cannot be said about his performance in Clones and Sith). Darth Mail is another bright spot. He is given nothing to do but look menacing and have that final fight. He looks and acts like a bad-ass, and his character design is iconic and unforgettable (Ray Park’s pissed off glare is great!).
There is a decent mix of practical and CGI, though these elements don’t usually play off of each other well. The CGI is actually stellar at times, but there are plenty of moments where it’s sub-par or distracting. When all is said and done, Phantom Menace might be more technically competent than Clones, it might be closer to being a real film, but it’s also painfully bland. Phantom Menace clocks in at 2 hours and 10 minutes (compared to Clones’ 2 hr and 16 minute running time), but it feels like a 3 hour film with how much it drags and how boring it is.
Despite all my complaints, I still have to find time to reluctantly praise George. Before the prequel trilogy, if you asked anybody who the protagonist of Star Wars was, the answer would be Luke. In making The Phantom Menace and the prequels, George recontextualized and reframed everything. Now, the story of Star Wars is that of Anakin Skywalker, his rise and fall/corruption, and his eventual redemption through his complicated relationship with his son. George also ushered in new technology with the prequels, and while it’s sloppily executed other, better films would perfect the tech. Long story short: George failed upwards.
I managed to find the screenplay for Phantom Menace online, and decided to study it in an attempt to more fully understand this odd film. Below are my thoughts: The screenplay structure here is incredibly convoluted, messy, and confusing. There’s also almost a mini-movie with Anakin in the middle of this one (“The B plot” or the TRUE story of Phantom Menace, and where in the screenplay it begins to seem like Lucas is getting into the groove and enjoying himself. Also seems like he is having fun writing Jar-Jar).
The A plot involving taxation, trade routes, and Palpatine’s rise to power is important, but not what audiences came to see or is something most would find interesting. Was Lucas inspired by novels? It’s written almost like a novel. First act sets up the universe and backstory, 2nd act introduces Anakin and his story, third act wraps up the backstory “A plot”. It feels like Lucas was feeling the pressure and didn’t know exactly what to write. He likely knew the ending of this new trilogy, and maybe knew some specifics about the beginning but in general did not know how or where to start. He seems unsure of what he is writing.
The screenplay itself is also pretty poorly written ( sentences in the location tag will include poor descriptors like “the sinister battleship”, or will describe characters as “ugly” and that’s it.). There are lots of interesting things going on here, if at all you are interested in Palpatine’s rise to power. Unfortunately, most things involving the Govt./Galactic Senate, the trade blockade, and the general politics of this world are either given poor/confusing explanations or none at all.
It’s a Herculean task pinning down who the protagonist is. It can’t be Anakin because he’s introduced after the 35 minute mark and he has very little agency. I doubt it’s Obi-Wan because he’s poorly defined and isn’t focused on much. Doubtful it’s Palpatine,He is seen throughout but very little screen time is devoted to him. That leaves either Qui-Gon Jinn or Padme.
Qui-Gon’s dramatic need (to train Anakin) isn’t introduced until the 2nd act, so Padme might make the most logical sense. Only issue is she experiences no real change or growth. I suppose you could argue she’s more worldly and experienced after the events of Episode 1, but that doesn’t really show. Qui-Gon doesn’t experience any real growth or change either, though he does die at the end (not sure that really counts as change though).
Another issue is the characters don’t have arcs, don’t experience growth or change, and some don’t really have a dramatic need. Lucas was probably approaching this trilogy as if all 3 films were really one big film, therefore character arcs would be developed not over one film but over multiple. I can appreciate the idea/approach, but it doesn’t work in reality. conclusion: I have begun to feel, looking back, that the prequel trilogy would have worked better as a series of novels. That the screenplay makes for a more entertaining and informative read than the film does a worthwhile watch only confirms this in my mind.
In the end, the answer to which Star Wars film is the worst is up to personal opinion. For myself, Phantom Menace wins that award for the brain-cell killing slog that it is.
1 STAR
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