Film Review: Star Wars — The Phantom Menace (1999)

After being introduced to the overall world of Star Wars in The Acolyte, I was excited to start a rewatch of the main saga. Although The Acolyte is one small story in a galaxy full of different adventures, the nine central films of Star Wars, known as The Skywalker Saga, aims to tell the story of how the Galactic Republic was overthrown by the Empire, and the Rebellion that would eventually fight against it. The Skywalker Saga begins with a film called The Phantom Menace, which was initially hated by most of the Star Wars fan base, but has had over twenty five years to be reconsidered. As always, I will leave a brief summary of the film, sprinkled with some of my thoughts. Be warned — spoilers are ahead.

Drew Struzan’s poster design for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace — via Wikipedia

The Phantom Menace takes place roughly one century after the events of The Acolyte. Osha, Qimir, Mae, and our band of Jedi Masters from that series are no longer present. The story begins with unrest in the galactic senate, brought on by extreme taxation to outlying Star Systems. One of the affected systems, Cato Nemoidia, which is home to the Trade Federation, responds by holding the planet Naboo hostage with a blockade of battleships. In secret, the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic dispatches two Jedi Knights to negotiate dismantling the blockade with the Trade Federation. The Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) are taken by surprise when the Federation orders them killed. They fight against a few droids, attempt to capture the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, but accidentally stumble across an invasion army which is headed for the planet. They sneak down to Naboo, befriend a local creature named Jar Jar (played by Ahmed Best), and are taken to an underwater city, where the Gungan leader (unwillingly) provides them with a transport to get to the city of Theed. Once there, the Jedi apprehend the Queen of Naboo (played by Natalie Portman, and on occasion, Kiera Knightley), who has been taken hostage, and attempt to get her to Coruscant, the galactic capital. On the way, their ship is damaged, and they are forced to land on Tatooine, where Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, Padme (the queen’s handmaiden), and the Queen’s droid R2-D2 come across a young boy named Anakin Skywalker, who had been sold into slavery with his mother some years ago. The Trade Federation begin talking with Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord (the ancient enemy of the Jedi Knights). Sidious sends his apprentice, Darth Maul (Ray Park) to find the Queen so they can re-capture her and force her to sign a treaty which will legitimate their occupation of Naboo.

On Tatooine, Qui-Gon discusses a deal with Anakin’s owner for ship parts to get them to Coruscant, but does not have the correct currency to make the purchase. Anakin offers to put the group up in his home for the night, where we meet his mother Shmi and his unfinished droid C-3PO. The group hatches a plan to get the parts they need: Anakin will participate in a pod-race, a form of sport in the outer rim territories where all manner of creatures race pods (essentially floating race cars with engines tethered to the cockpit rather than built into it), and win them the prize money for the parts. Qui-Gon, sensing that Anakin must have Jedi reflexes and strengths, starts suspecting the child may be strong in the force. He sends a blood sample of Anakin’s to Obi-Wan, who is still on the ship with the Queen, and the test reads that Anakin’s midichlorian count (Microscopic life-forms that allow the Jedi to communicate and manipulate the Force) is higher than any Jedi in current existence. Qui-Gon then barters with Watto, Anakin’s Owner, for Anakin and Shmi’s freedom, but is only able to take Anakin after Watto loses a bet on a tossed dice. Anakin wins the pod race and gets the money for the parts they need. He learns that his mother will not come with him to Coruscant, resulting in one of the most emotional and heartbreaking scenes in the film. Anakin and Qui-Gon are attacked by Darth Maul on the way back to their ship, which Qui-Gon must then report to the Council on Coruscant.

When the group arrives on Coruscant, the Queen prepares herself for a Senate hearing, in which she will plead her case to Chancellor Valorum. Meanwhile, the Jedi discuss Qui-Gon’s attacker, which Qui-Gon deduces is a Sith Lord. The seriousness of the accusation causes the council to deny the validity of the claim, yet they do believe he was attacked by someone Force-sensitive and brandishing a lightsaber. Qui-Gon then states that he has encountered a boy strong in the Force and claim that he could very well be the Chosen One from an ancient Jedi Prophecy. The Jedi agree to let Anakin be tested.

The Queen pleads her case to the senate, but after failing to reach a result, she moves for a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor, which is approved by the Senate. The Queen’s political advisor, Senator Palpatine, is nominated to succeed him. The Queen and Jar Jar have a heart-to-heart about the fate of their planet, and Jar Jar reveals to her that the Gungans have a well hidden army that they can use to engage the Federation. With this, the Queen, the Jedi, and Anakin, who the Jedi Council refused to train despite his strength in the Force, head back to Naboo in order to liberate the Queen’s palace from the Trade Federation. The Queen reveals herself to the Gungan leader as Padme Amidala, the young handmaiden that accompanied Qui-Gon to Tattooine, which secures the trust of the Gungan Army. The Gungans engage the droids in battle, while Padme and the Jedi return to Theed to take back the palace. A group of pilots takes to space to attempt to knock out the Federation Command Ship that is still stationed at the planet. During the assault at the palace, Anakin takes cover inside the cockpit of a fighter, which he then pilots into battle up above. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan engage Darth Maul, who is protecting the Viceroy under orders from Darth Sidious, in a battle of their own. Sadly, Qui-Gon is gravely injured during their fight, but Obi-Wan overpowers Maul by cutting him in half and watching his body fall down a large pit. Qui-Gon dies in Obi-Wan’s arms, his dying wish being that Obi-Wan train Anakin in the ways of the Force. Padme and her team capture the Viceroy, and Anakin finds the weakness in the Federation Command Ship, destroying it, and by proxy, the droids on the planet below. Obi-Wan discusses Anakin’s fate with Yoda, one of two leaders of the Jedi Council, who reluctantly agree to let Anakin be trained as Jedi. At Qui-Gon’s funeral, the Jedi conclude that Qui-Gon was right about the warrior being a Sith, and that there must be another one out there, due to the Sith’s ancient Rule of Two. The film ends with Senator Palpatine being elected Chancellor, and a celebration on Naboo, in which the Gungans and the Humans declare peace between their two societies.

I will preface my thoughts by saying I have loved this film since I was a kid. I have the benefit of not being alive when the original trilogy was released, so therefore I was able to bypass all the fan hate this movie got back in 1999. To me, this was just the first Star Wars movie, and I was extremely happy with it. However, it is not without flaw. Some of the character dialogue in this film (particularly the romantic lines written from Anakin to Padme) are very cheesy, and I think that the ending of this film relies heavily on our characters getting extremely lucky, rather than overcoming odds due to their skill. My favorite characters in this film by a mile are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme Amidala, and this is largely due to the fact that they are the two characters in the film who overcome odds on their own merit (technically Padme has an assist from her decoy in overtaking the Viceroy, but it was a team led by her that managed to take back the palace and get back to the throne room.) My least favorite characters in this film are (by no real surprise) Jar Jar Binks and Anakin Skywalker. This is not because they have poor personality traits. I do find Jar Jar to be genuinely funny at times, despite the fact that his humor is very forced, and I love that Anakin has a desire to see the galaxy beyond Tatooine. I think the issue with them stems from the fact that they just fall into super serious roles solely by being rather unaware. This takes place primarily at the end of the film when Jar Jar surrenders at the Battle of Naboo (something that should honestly lower his public opinion in future installments, but does not), but then the droids all die anyway due to Anakin blowing up the ship. On that note, I do not think there is any conceivable way that Anakin would be able to blow up that ship on his own. He managed to fire a torpedo from his ship by randomly hitting a button on the control panel, and then he just so happened to hit the main reactor of the entire command ship. It’s a fun ride, but none of it was meant to happen on purpose. The odds of them winning just seemed too great for me to call it good storytelling. However, most of the film is amazing up until that point.

The score in this film is absolutely breathtaking. Veteran film composer John Williams delivered an absolutely beautiful, updated rendition of his classic Star Wars opening theme from the original trilogy. The score in the pod race puts you on the edge of your seat, but the creme de la creme is “Duel of the Fates”, the piece written for the epic battle between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn. If you’ve already seen the film, you know what I mean. For those that haven’t, I am rather surprised you read this much, but I also hope you stop everything you’re doing and pull it up on Disney + (Or your Blu Ray Collection, if you’re like me.)

The visual and audio effects, while they pale in comparison to The Acolyte due to a 25 year difference in release, were revolutionary for the 90s. Jar Jar Binks was one of the first characters in cinema history to be fully computer-generated and play a main role in a film. The sound design for the lightsaber battles, pod-race, and Gungan ground battle are among the few examples of the greatest bits legendary sound designer Ben Burtt has ever made.

Overall, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace will get a 6.5/10 from me. I think it has more memorable bits to take away when compared to The Acolyte, but is still lacking some elements story-wise. I consider it an awe-inspiring film and would suggest anyone watch it first if they are looking to get into Star Wars.

Be sure to look out for my next review, which will be over Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.