It's tempting to look at The Phantom Menace as a result of hubris: after the extraordinary success of the original trilogy and the growth of the Star Wars fandom in the years since their release, George Lucas' stock was at an all-time high. He was, and to some extent still is (insofar as every director since has felt the need to bring him on-board for a set visit to signal some sort of implicit approval even as they keep him at arms' length), considered the master of everything in the franchise.
The indulgence that he was afforded as a result of this is clear to see from the beginning of this bloated film. In contrast to many, I actually like the angle that the film takes regarding a galactic crisis arising from something as banal as a tax dispute—it seems, to me, to ground the scenario in something a little more reality-based, but I will concede that it can seem out-of-place in a franchise that focuses far more on spectacle than on the nitty gritty details. One of the good things about the film is how beautiful it frequently is to look at, even more than twenty years after its release—great care went into everything we see on screen and particularly Tatooine has a gritty, lived-in feel that's satisfying to look at.
Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh the positives. The tonal dissonance between more adult aspects such as characters debating taxation blockades and the concessions that Lucas felt necessary to make to the film's younger audiences—primarily in the shape of the rightly-loathed Jar Jar Binks, but extending to many other areas of the film too—sit uncomfortably together. Darth Maul is a fantastic villain, one of the best the series has had, and it's disappointing that the film's best scenes have to sit alongside so much dross. (It's encouraging, although I haven't yet seen how it's handled, that the writers of future instalments chose to bring him back.)
The film's various caricatures border and sometimes stray into the outright racist; this makes the film an often difficult and uncomfortable watch. This goes far beyond what could be argued as coincidence; Watto's status as an anti-Semitic trope machine seems written into the plot as well as his characterisation and mannerisms. This is hard to overlook upon viewing and is easily the most regrettable aspect of the film now.
Other much-maligned aspects such as the midichlorians didn't upset me as much; elements like this are clearly de-emphasised and so it's far easier to dismiss them here. Ultimately, I don't have the kind of investment in the lore that would warrant getting irritated about the exact origins of any given character's force sensitivity.
There is great inconsistency, too, between the fight choreography on show here and that shown in the original films; this doesn't bother me as these are often the most exciting parts. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's encounters with Maul are, along with the podracing sequence, what Lucas got very right and credit is due for that.
Looking back at this now, it's clear that this is a flawed film, perhaps not worthy of the hysterical reactions it provoked at release, but certainly not a strong example of a film in this particular franchise or generally. What it does have, thankfully, are the seeds of elements that will be taken up and developed further along—Maul, Obi-Wan, more exciting fight choreography, interesting and varied set design and so on.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2020-03-27T14:25:44Z
It's tempting to look at The Phantom Menace as a result of hubris: after the extraordinary success of the original trilogy and the growth of the Star Wars fandom in the years since their release, George Lucas' stock was at an all-time high. He was, and to some extent still is (insofar as every director since has felt the need to bring him on-board for a set visit to signal some sort of implicit approval even as they keep him at arms' length), considered the master of everything in the franchise.
The indulgence that he was afforded as a result of this is clear to see from the beginning of this bloated film. In contrast to many, I actually like the angle that the film takes regarding a galactic crisis arising from something as banal as a tax dispute—it seems, to me, to ground the scenario in something a little more reality-based, but I will concede that it can seem out-of-place in a franchise that focuses far more on spectacle than on the nitty gritty details. One of the good things about the film is how beautiful it frequently is to look at, even more than twenty years after its release—great care went into everything we see on screen and particularly Tatooine has a gritty, lived-in feel that's satisfying to look at.
Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh the positives. The tonal dissonance between more adult aspects such as characters debating taxation blockades and the concessions that Lucas felt necessary to make to the film's younger audiences—primarily in the shape of the rightly-loathed Jar Jar Binks, but extending to many other areas of the film too—sit uncomfortably together. Darth Maul is a fantastic villain, one of the best the series has had, and it's disappointing that the film's best scenes have to sit alongside so much dross. (It's encouraging, although I haven't yet seen how it's handled, that the writers of future instalments chose to bring him back.)
The film's various caricatures border and sometimes stray into the outright racist; this makes the film an often difficult and uncomfortable watch. This goes far beyond what could be argued as coincidence; Watto's status as an anti-Semitic trope machine seems written into the plot as well as his characterisation and mannerisms. This is hard to overlook upon viewing and is easily the most regrettable aspect of the film now.
Other much-maligned aspects such as the midichlorians didn't upset me as much; elements like this are clearly de-emphasised and so it's far easier to dismiss them here. Ultimately, I don't have the kind of investment in the lore that would warrant getting irritated about the exact origins of any given character's force sensitivity.
There is great inconsistency, too, between the fight choreography on show here and that shown in the original films; this doesn't bother me as these are often the most exciting parts. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's encounters with Maul are, along with the podracing sequence, what Lucas got very right and credit is due for that.
Looking back at this now, it's clear that this is a flawed film, perhaps not worthy of the hysterical reactions it provoked at release, but certainly not a strong example of a film in this particular franchise or generally. What it does have, thankfully, are the seeds of elements that will be taken up and developed further along—Maul, Obi-Wan, more exciting fight choreography, interesting and varied set design and so on.