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Well, I did a superb job of lowering my
expectations, went in to see The Phantom Menace and had a good
time.
I was actually surprised at how much more
natural the script sounded than in any of the other movies. It
was unforced, and far less stilted. No phony attempts at humor
that you laugh at only from politeness, if at all. I don't wish
for a single moment to imply that the script was good, of course.
It was dreadful. But for some reason, I found it much more
unobtrusively banal than any of the first three. (See JarJar
caveat, below.)
Downsides:
- Jake Lloyd, the kid who played Anakim--the
lad with more mela-whosa-whatsit in his body than any other
person recorded, who grows up to be the biggest, baddest, meanest
villain in any five galaxies is far less imposing than the kid
Robert Preston chose to save the planet in The Last Starfighter.
Hideous casting and even worse characterization. No sense of the
mystic, no sense of budding power, nothing. Just your average
goofy kid.
- Jar Jar Binks and all the various racial
stereotyping that went on. Bleah. I mean, BLEAH. Disgusting. And
even *if* you could look beyond the stereotype of Binks, it wasn't
even a tad funny. And the Asian chopsocky bad guy voices were
very "jar"ring as well. (sorry.)
- While the pod race is getting good press,
I think everyone should run out and rent the original that Lucas
ripped off with no attribution that I've seen. It is far more
brutal, and infinitely superior. In fact, it shows up on TNT
quite often and even if everything *else* is chopped up beyond
recognition, the chariot race of Ben Hur is always shown in
letterbox format, uncut. I was unimpressed and pissed off, since
it was the one of the two components of the movie that I had
allowed myself to await.
Upsides:
- The laser swordfights--the other
component I'd allow myself to await--did not disappoint.
- The music. Apparently, Williams saves
his worst shit for Spielberg.
- The underwater sequence was superb, with
a nice little throwaway line.
- The visual effects were AMAZING!!!! I
simply couldn't take my eyes off of Liam Neeson. His presence,
his strength, his agility--hell, his *hair* was an effect worthy
of an Oscar nom. Ewan McGregor was gorgeous, gentle, and lithe.
Watching the two of them together onscreen is a triumph of
technology that should be applauded. Magnificent.
All in all, I enjoyed this movie *on first
viewing* more than I enjoyed any other SW movie other than the
first. There is no question it is better than Return of the Jedi.
It is probably not better than The Empire Strikes Back once I've
viewed it a couple more times, but I was very annoyed with ESB
the first time it came out--I dislike cliffhanger endings--and so
it suffers in comparison.
I do not wish to say I recommend it. But it is
a gorgeous movie, and within the parameters that Lucas sets--let
it be known by one and all that he can't write or characterize in
the slightest, and has little sense for a good story--it does a
far better job than I had allowed myself to expect.
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