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Review:Star Wars:The Phantom Menance
Is it everything the world has hyped it up to be? Of course not. Is it a good movie? Yeah. Are we (the old school Star Wars fanatics) going to be happy? Not all of us... maybe not even most of us. The thing to remember is that in the last 20 years a lot has changed. Standards have risen, and we've read more into a few simple movies than any of its creators ever imagined. 3 movies that were pretty good. Flawed to be sure, but entertaining. And this movie is no different.
The plot loosely follows a pair of Jedi: The Master (Liam Neeson) and The Apprentice (Ewan McGregor) off to save the planet Naboo. There's a sidetrack to Tatooine where a kid (anakin, duh) is discovered. There's There's some daring do, a big battle scene, intergalactic politics, a kick ass bad guy, and a happy ending with a big question mark.
The movie is a fun ride, but it is flawed. Jar Jar Binks is one of the most annoying charachters to grace the silver screen. But does he ruin the movie? Well... no more than Mark Hamil in Star Wars. Remember that movie? Do you remember how annoying he is? Welcome to George Lucas directing. Annoying charachters just happen to be Lucas's dark side. Frankly I wish he would have been edited out, reduced, or at least given a less obnoxious voice. The whole audience seemed to cringe during any major Jar Jar sequence. It was painful.
But most of the other charachters are pretty cool. Obi Wan and Qui Gonn are both cool. The Queen is pretty excellent (and actually quite believable, except when she's holding her blaster) Anakin seems to be taking a lot of criticism, but he does a good job:a few "Yippees!" and cute little boy facial expressions could have been edited out, but as a whole he does a good job. R2D2 and C3PO are in there and pretty cool. Palpatine is dull and predictable, and Darth Maul- while even more predictable, is truly a joy to watch in battle.
Another common criticism is the mysticism overload. Its definitely there- and some of it is really campy. They've come up with a way to "measure" the force in people. Of course Anakin is off the charts. The worst part is the blatant references to the boy as a messianic charachter inserted so loudly that my brain was realing from the impact. But beyond those 2 glaring flaws, there was a lot of expansion of the Jedi myths that most fans will probably enjoy.
Visually the movie is astounding. Very colorful and detailed. The fx are largely quite astounding. The cursed Jar Jar is well animated in many scenes (less so in others). The senate is visually impressive- definitely added a lot to the political part of the film. The space battles are great.
The fighting rules. Watching Maul do battle with a pair of skilled Jedi is just awesome. That alone is worth the price of admission. Obi Wan vs. Darth Vader and Luke vs. Darth Vader is nothing compared to this.
So does Lucas have his masterpiece? No. Does he have a good movie? Yeah. And will he learn and round out his trilogy with a pair of stronger "Jar Jar Free" movies. God I hope so. But who am I kidding, I'll be there even if the second movie is "Jar Jar's Revenge".
jar jar wasn't as annoying the second time i saw it, so he doesn't ruin the movie, just gets in the way. that said, the movie is a LOT better the second time around. noticing the subtle differences in the queen... oh.. it was so well done.
being able to watch the movie, and watch the backgrounds is worth seeing it twice. you can't catch the depth of this movie in one viewing, its just not feasible.
the phantom menace DOES have the magic of the original trilogy, don't expect it to show up on the first viewing.
(Minor spoliers if you haven't read any reviews.)
1. Battle droids in a high tech galactic civilization where FTL travel is common have targeting systems inferior to those on a F-15.
2. Actually, their targeting systems are inferior to a spastic eight year old with a slingshot.
3. After the Jedi Knights have proven they can deflect laser bolts with their light sabers, the battle droids never think to stop firing.
4. Rather than having integral weapons systems, battle droids are cleverly designed to carry weapons that can be picked up and used against them by their opponents.
5. In the Star Wars universe, "Palantine" means "Clinton."
6. A Phantom Menace character's level of annoying goofiness is directly proportional to the number of action figures of said character Lucasfilms hopes to sell to small children.
7. The Planet Naboo has underwater Rastifarians, but not underwater ganja.
8. Darth Maul has a black robe, a black shirt, black pants, red eyes, a red and black face, a red light saber, and horns, but for some reason left his "I'M EVIL!" T-shirt at home.
9. The most futuristic starship in The Republic's fleet is an SR-71 Blackbird covered in chrome.
10. A light saber can evidently cut through anything.
11. If Annakin Skywalker built C3PO, you would think the droid might mention this to Luke Skywalker at some point during the first movie. ("Oh, by the way, your father built me and also happens to be Darth Vader. More tea?")
12. Training for being a Queen's Decoy evidently doesn't include acting lessons.
13. Play-by-play sportscasters are the same no matter what galaxy you're in.
14. Even giant reptilian blobs like to have scantly clad human women in their entourage.
15. Yoda's mustache makes him look like a 300-year old Wilford Brimley
16. If you took out all the scenes with direct equivalents in the first three Star Wars films, The Phantom Menace would be 15 minutes long.
17. Most of those 15 minutes would be plot holes and special effects.
18. All giant starships are required by law to have one point in the ship where a chain reaction can be started by a single laser blast from a member of the Skywalker family.
19. Using The Force allows Jedi Knights to jump as high as Jet Li did as Fong Sai Yuk, but with more justification.
20. Darth Maul's body falls and bounces exactly the way a lightweight dummy would.
- Lawrence Person
Only thing I can think of (as has been mentioned in Episodes 4-6, as well as the books) are clones.
:).
1. Cloning is asexual.
2. Could have been perfecting cloning equipment, techniques, etc.
3. Maybe the midi-chlorians could be cloned too (doubt it, but it's a theory)
4. Yes, if they had a clone army as back up (Anakin & Obi-Wan fought together in the Clone Wars...remember the line in Ep. 6 (I think after Yoda dies & Luke is talking to Obi-Wan's ghost)
5. Note the line in Ep. 1 when somebosy (Mace?) says "There can be only 2, no more, no less...a master and an apprentice"
6. Turning a light Jedi & having him hunt down and kill the Jedi
7. A clone. In the books, clones of Palpatine keep popping up (even read one were there was a clone of Luke).
8. Who knows? Hopefully, the turning scene (which has been much alluded in Eps. 4-6) will be one of the greatest moments in cinematic history (going into the pit as Anakin Skywalker but coming out Darth Vader).
Just my 0.02 dollars (US)
I didn't hate Jar Jar. I dunno that I loved him (although the graphics were impressive), but I didn't hate him.
I dunno if what follows is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen the movie, I recommend hitting ' back' quick and avoid this whole topic.
What I did hate was that The Force is apparently just a bunch of symbiotic critters that live inside your cells. This is HORRIBLE! I didn't WANT to know that; in fact, I don't really believe it. I was perfectly content with a mystic force that pervades the universe and has a Dark and Light side. That was enough.
But now we've got these symbiotic creatures, and so I suppose The Force cannot be where host creatures are not. Or something. Anyway, it just felt too much like Star Trek's constant impulse to explain everything in technobabble. I hated it, and I hope Lucus renigs in a later movie, where we find out that was just something they tell non-Jedi's to throw them off the scent.
--Chouser
--Chouser
"To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods." -LL
But look... ANH hooked a lot of kids, and in the first 45 minutes, a bunch of rebel defenders got killed by storm troopers, darth vader lifted a guy up by his neck and snapped it, and Luke's family got killed. And there were no muppets!
You can still make a movie that kids will like without becoming juvenile a la Disney. George Lucas just decided to go the Disney route. Notice the contrast between ANH and TPM... both appealed to children, but only one was excessively mired in juvenility.
-Dean
I liked Episode One. However, in mediating our expectations, we are told that we should remember that Episode One is "only a movie." If it was "only a movie", it would have been great! However, it is "not quite a movie." Things it functions well as:
:) And I still prefer the SW universe to the Star Trek Universe. :)
a) Commercial for action figures
b) Commercial for the upcoming Nintendo pod-racing game
c) VR Star-Tours-type ride at disney land
d) Teaser for Episodes Two and Three
Episode One is all these things, but it's less than a movie. If it had come out in '86, it would have been an interesting addition to the saga. However, after 16 years, I was hoping for a good, self-contained movie, and I couldn't help but think that all I got was "a special-effects extravaganza based on the Star Wars mythology." But perhaps this is just a slow puitch to generate merchandising revenue to finance Episodes Two and Three.
In any case, I am certainly going to see it again.
-Dean
I got a chance to see the press junket in NYC three weeks before it opened in theaters. This is my story:
1. Sat behind Roger Ebert
2. Sat next to the president of ILM. He looked 60 years old and his wife looked 25.
3. I had the best seat in the house. (My friend's dad is vice president of fox.)
4. I was wasted about two hours earlier and slowly coming down.
5. Before the movie starts there is some kind of announcement about not taking video camera recordings on the movie. A few seconds later lights go out and the movie starts. No trailers, just straight to the 20 century fox logo.
My comments on the movie:
1. Jedi's are so cool. There really aren't any cool Jedi's in 4,5 and 6. Yoda isn't exactly that tough and all he does is lift luke's space ship. Big fucking deal. Obi-wan gets his ass kicked really easily by Darth. He's 60+ years old, what do you expect. Epsiode 1 has great jedi and great fight scenes.
2. Why didn't the trade federation use storm troopers? It seems to me that droids would be much more difficult to maintain. Epsecially considering that they had thousands of them. And they never really killed anything. They just got their asses kicked. Remember the scene when obi wan is in the hanger and says "I'll take out the droids," and kills a dozen of them with no problem? You'd never see Luke or Han going after a dozen storm troopers. In fact, they ran like hell in Starwars when six or so came at them.
3. Anakin's mom is psycho. Would you let your kid fly a pod racer at 600 miles an hour with people shooting at you and other racers trying to knock you into mountain walls? Hell no!
4. The queen is hot. I never really thought princess Leah was hot. Maybe that was because I was 4 years old when starwars came out.
5. Lucas has some very fucked up family values. Just look at the relationships in his starwars movies: Luke and Leah - Brother and sister. Queen Amilda and Anakin - 16 year old and 9 year old. He's a pedophile incest lover.
6. Jar Jar - Could someone translate his dialog for me?
7. The popcorn I was eating: Provided for free by Fox but had butter on it. My fingers got real sticky.
8. Would I see it again? Definately. Sober? Probably not.
9. Would I buy it on DVD? Sure, when Lucas releases it to DVD in year 2013.
Thats my story.
Are you kidding? I'm afraid of kids going to school and re-enacting the light-saber fights with their sporks.
Jar Jar was not for kids (they won't understand 10% of what he was saying anyhow), he was just for comic relief, just like C3P0 in the original series (about the only useful things 3P0 did was interpret for Jaba and awe a bunch of overgrown teddy bears). He was overdone, I think most people acknowledge that. Oh well, let's hope Lucas learns his leason and tones the comic relief down in the next episodes.
But I wouldn't change Maul a bit. He uttered his one mysterious line (revenge for what?), then proceeded to act as the silent, personal assassin of Sidious, as he was supposed to be. We're not supposed to care about Maul as we were about Vader, just that he's a ruthless fighter full of hatred for the Jedi and intent on their downfall. If we're supposed to think of Maul as a ferocious Sith warrior bent on the annihilation of the Jedi and the servitude of his master Sidious, then how would a dialogue between him and Qui Gon help out any? I like the silent efficiency of Darth Maul. What we don't know about him adds to his character, not detracts from it.
--
Aaron Gaudio
"The fool finds ignorance all around him.
"Every man is a mob, a chain gang of idiots." - Jonathan Nolan, Memento Mori
(I'm trying to keep it spoilerless, but no guarantees.)
Even in my younger days I knew the Trilogy had flaws. I mean, the Death Star gets taken out, along with what must easily be a few hundred million occupants ("heading for that small moon"), after rescuing exactly ONE falsely imprisoned civilian from cell block 2187 (meaning cell blocks 1 - 2186 were full). Nobody bats an eye. Everyone CHEERS. It's never explained how many planets had to be mined dry to come up with enough metal to build that thing.
Luke Skywalker drives us NUTS with his whining, all through SW and Empire. C3PO takes the whining and doubles it through SW and Empire and even Jedi for good measure.
We have to sit and WAIT through most of Star Wars for the action to get underway - watching those two hunks of junk wandering around the desert, listening to Luke whine, watching Luke eat dinner, watching Luke stare at the sunset, etc.
Do we now complain about the lack of character development? Obi-Wan was underdeveloped well up until Jedi where he finally explains his motivations to Luke (until then he's just the generic old guy). Chewbacca was NEVER really developed. Leia's 'princessness' is never explained. Boba Fett has six lines. And there's a million generic characters. Didn't stop me from watching ANH about 70 times. Didn't stop some of you from watching it several HUNDRED times.
Do we now complain about the pace? We watch people wander the desert in ANH, wander the tundra and wander the worm stomach in Empire, and wander the woods in Jedi. Didn't stop us from watching these movies enough times over to put them all in the top 10 grossing films of all time.
Do we complain about Jar Jar? Only if we also complained when Luke Skywalker did the same sorts of things. And Jar Jar actually has some character development - so if you complained about the lack of character development, stop complaining about Jar Jar. He has a REASON to be there - he provides a conversation piece for some of the characters (getting Anakin and Amidala talking), he provides the link to the Gungans, and he provides us with a focus inside the battle later on (nowhere else in the saga do we have a battle shown "third person" without one of the heroes actually in it). And those who say "Jar Jar should die" - yes, it would be nice if we could kill everyone in the world who annoys us.
Do we complain about Darth Maul's lack of screen time? Of course - we complained about Boba Fett's lack of screen time, so George gave us 30 seconds more in the remastered ANH, waving to the audience and saying "HI, I'm Boba Fett". Be careful what you wish for.
Do we complain about a certain, shall we say, "microscopic detail" regarding the Force? Sure, I guess we're entitled to complain about anything that makes the Force, or the Saga itself, anything other than what we've convinced ourselves over two decades that it should be. Timothy Zahn gave us something similar (the ysalamiri, animals that can block the Force) and instead of raising a stink, it raised lively debate about what the Force really is and how it works. I think this new revelation makes a GREAT explanation for why strong sensitivity to a ubiquitous energy field is a rather exclusive inherited trait. And it raises more questions than it answers.
Do we complain about Yoda? Yes, and we have every reason to: he looks like they cast another "actor" for the part, he acts like he stuck his lips into the podracer power beam like Jar Jar did, and he sounds like Frank Oz needs to actually WATCH Empire and remember how to do the voice. And his dialogue is some of George's finest - "more have you to say?" This complaint I grant you - but for all we know, he might "change" in the next two films to become older, his eyes might bug out more, his voice could deepen, and he might get off the painkillers, leaving him more like the Yoda we remember. Conversely, if TPM is the first movie you ever see of the saga, later Yodas won't seem quite right either.
Do we complain about the Nimoudians and how easily they were defeated? Remember what the film is REALLY about - and who was calling the shots in the blockade - they were never SUPPOSED to win. Watch the movie. Think about who stood to gain the most from the arrangement.
Do we complain about the kick-ass Jedi action, the adrenalizing 300mph pod race through the canyons, R2D2 cavorting outside the ship, the exquisite Naboo city, the sea monsters, the jawdropping Coruscant cityscape (I think ILM just took back the award for most ships onscreen), the Senate, the seamless droids-walking-among-the-prisoners effects, or the "red shield" thing in the end battle? No, of course not.
Do we complain about the director and how he composed certain shots? Fault his screenwriting and his ability to coax perfect performances out of actors, if you must - but his skill in actually putting pictures on film has NOT been diluted by the passage of time. It is still very much a George Lucas movie; he uses every square inch of the 2.1:1, he has a sense of motion that few directors have, and he approaches the visual effects as "this is the world, I'm showing you how cool it looks" instead of "these are our cool effects".
Complain about the merchandising, if you must - but if Taco Bell ever offers you a few hundred million for the right to advertise your work on a taco wrapper, you'll have to say no.
I admit: I'm an artist, which makes me a primarily visual creature - which means I can be suckered by a visually entertaining movie that lacks a few points in the plot department. But then, Independence Day didn't impress me, so clearly this film has SOMETHING more to offer.
So just shut up, stop looking for things to hate, and go WATCH THE MOVIE A COUPLE TIMES. You learned to tolerate the flaws in the other three, you'll learn to tolerate most of the flaws in this one, and with any luck, eventually you'll learn to appreciate what this film DOES have. Of course, it'll help when the marketing frenzy dies down, and Jar Jar is no longer smiling at you from every product in Wal-Mart.
Besides, if you don't like how George makes movies, make your own.
~ radiographite: art by john shepard
You're missing the point. If Jake Lloyd played a brooding pre-teen sociopath in TPM, then there would be no sense of tragedy in his subsequent seduction by the dark side. His innocence will be shown to gradually give rise to more nefarious person, and I can all but guarantee that this will lead up to a climax in Episode 3 in which he is lost forever to hate, fear, and evil.
Furthermore, it's time you realized that Jar Jar was a Disney character added to attract a Disney audience. All the 9 year olds I know loved him, including my brother with whom I saw the movie. This, I have no doubt, fits into the Lucas plan of milking this cow for all she's worth, as do the restaurant tie-ins and actions figures. The same kids that *love* Jar Jar will feed in a pirahna-like frenzy on Darth Maul action figures, Taco Bell promo cups, and the like. It's insidious, and alienates many of the true fans of the series, but it's almost a guaranteed billion for Lucas and company. Yes, it's pretty hard to miss the annoying qualities in Jar Jar, and to suggest that Lucas actually did is ludicrous. He knew damn well what he was doing, and what seems annoying to us is actually pretty entertaining to younger generations - the same generations that will beg their parents into spending untold millions on the merchandise. Do the Power Rangers ring a bell?
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
As I understand it, the Sith Lords originated somehow like this.
There was one of the Jedi order who was experimenting with the effects of anger and hatred in his use of the force.
When he tried to insist to the Jedi Council that his method was viable and compatible with the Jedi Code, they disavowed him. He fled with various followers to found the Lords of Sith. As an organization they are devoted not to preservation, but domination. They also have a grudge against the Jedi for the expulsion of the founder of the Sith.
Unfortunately, since they were devoting themselves to an "evil" cause, they eventually turned upon one another. Among the first to die was the founder of the Sith.
The Jedi merely sat back as the Sith Lords disintegrated as an organization and then mopped up the remainders.
Apparently some of the Sith survived. But, learning from the experience with their founder, the Sith now RARELY operate in groups of more than 2, master and apprentice, due to the frictions that evil people place upon each other.
The Sith are so hard to detect for several reasons. As Yoda implied, the Dark Side is difficult to see unless you're specifically looking for it. Usually the only people SPECIFICALLY looking for the Dark Side are Sith Lords and those in immediate combat with said Sith Lords.
In addition, like Jedi, Sith train to conceal themselves. Similar to the way Luke hid himself from Vader near the end of ROTJ. He couldn't necessarily conceal his thoughts, but he was able to conceal his actual whereabouts.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Definitely not the best, but there are parts that are much, much better than in the past. My biggest gripe is that it felt more like the opening moves of a chess match -- just getting the pieces in place. Nonetheless, a couple things I liked:
- The climatic lightsabre fighting was pure ballet.
- More diverse use of lightsabres -- not just slicing, but also stabbing. Also used similar to an acetylene torch.
The fight (and the FX) is worth the price of admission alone.
Christopher A. Bohn
cb
Oooh! What does this button do!?
Well anyway, in this game, there was a "boss" called, simply, Maul. Anyone remember that? Anyone see any strange similarites to Darth Maul from Episode I?
In the game, Maul was an evil Jedi who happened to only have an upper body (with some kind of cybernetic attachment that allowed him to float. Or maybe it was the Force, I dunno.) Now, compare and contrast this to what happened to Darth Maul at the end of Episode I.
Coincidence? Discuss amongst yourselves.
That is where the movie disappointed me the most, very little character development in comparison to the trilogy. It seemed like Lucas favored the special effects (not that they weren't amazing) to developing the characters. The characters are really what makes a movie enjoyable, especially an epic. And this is where I felt most let down by TPM.
Do we complain about Jar Jar? Only if we also complained when Luke Skywalker did the
same sorts of things.
Not so -- Luke's behavior never generated this kind of a furor. Besides, Luke's whining, like it or not, was an essential part of his character. He whined because the Princess didn't return his affections. He whined because he was asked to take on tasks that he felt were too difficult. He whined because he didn't understand his destiny, and didn't like his parent. Jeeze, these are things I can relate to. I don't like his whining, but I understand it.
I can't say the same for Jar-jar. He's an idiot. A buffoon. He'd be a sympathetic character if he were trying to change himself. That's one of the things that makes a character come alive: we see him struggle with himself, we can relate to something similar in our own life, and then we want him to succeed. Or we fail with him if he fails. This is the essence of good character development. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen much in TPM, and it doesn't happen at all in Jar-Jar. He's happy to just clown along.
Then there's the matter of proportion. Do you really find Luke annoying to the same degree as Jar-jar? I don't. They've taken annoying, overclocked it, given it steroids, turbocharged it, then added an afterburner. Please don't try to equate this with Luke Skywalker; the two are way out of proportion.
And Jar Jar actually has some character development - so if you
complained about the lack of character development, stop complaining about Jar Jar. He
has a REASON to be there - he provides a conversation piece for some of the characters
(getting Anakin and Amidala talking), he provides the link to the Gungans, and he
provides us with a focus inside the battle later on (nowhere else in the saga do we have a
battle shown "third person" without one of the heroes actually in it).
And he could have done all those things without being so damned annoying.
I can understand all these people falling over themselves to defend Episode One. You like Star Wars -- the whole concept, lock, stock and barrel. You like it and you're going to defend it no matter what. But keep things in perspective.
For example: what if Jar-jar were played by a human actor -- say, Jim Carrey in makeup and latex -- instead of being a gee-whiz piece of computer-generated technology. Would you really tolerate that kind of behavior from a human actor? You would not. You'd be lining up, every one of you, to declare that George Lucas had lost his mind. But make him a cute CG alien and you're accept him, to downplay him to merely as annoying as Luke Skywalker.
Hey, I'm glad you liked TPM. I don't have any problem with that. But don't expect me to buy these weak excuses, and don't expect me to accept the comparison to New Hope. No sale.
--JT
I could add way more to this list, but it seems to get at a lot of good points.
What a letdown this movie was. Unpolished story, retarded humor, annoying characters, bland dialogue, cheesy cameos, horrible acting, over-reliance on coincidences....where was the magic, the wit, the brilliance, the feeling of "family", of adventure, of danger, of mystery?
America seems to be trying to convince themselves that it was good.
The Emporer was wearing no clothes, and today my heart is broken.
W
-----
Found this list on Film Threat (www.filmthreat.com)
100 UNFORGIVABLE THINGS ABOUT EPISODE I
*** WARNING: MEGA SPOILERS BELOW! ***
1. The Midi-chlorian explanation
2. The Virgin Shmi and the "Immaculate Conception" of Anakin
3. Concept of Jar Jar Binks - Is this one of Joseph Campbell's archetypes?
4. Bad CG shot of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan jumping out of ventilation shaft at beginning
5. Weird, feral kids that are Anakin's friends, especially that weird Greedo kid
6. Prominent featuring of Warwick Davis in what appears to be his costume from Willow
7. Two-headed sports announcer with cliché voice (esp. line "That's gotta hurt in any universe")
8. Watto's wings flapping - very distracting from scene
9. Watto's line "you think you some kind of Jedi" - unnecessary cheap joke - pokes fun at Jedi, who should not be the butt of any jokes
10. Battle droids aren't threatening enough
11. The E.T.s in the senate - (Are the delegates from Duckworld there too?)
12. Lion King song at end of parade
13. Jive-dance by Gungans at parade
14. Ending shot is totally lifted from Star Wars
15. Star Trek touches, like beaming Anakin's blood sample on board
16. Weak "Running Man" plot device of having a transmitter implanted in Anakin and his mom so they can't leave Tatooine
17. Nicknaming Anakin "Annie"
18. Introducing the concept of slavery to the Star Wars universe - what are droids for then?
19. The Gungan City and underwater chase, which look like scenes out of "Little Mermaid", totally incongruous with rest of SW universe
20. Gungan Pidgin Language: "Exsqueeze me!" "You in Big Doo-Doo now!"
21. Bizarre dolly shot with Sidious's hologram talking to Viceroy on weird spider droid
22. Having Anakin be the creator of C-3P0 - adds nothing to other films and introduces an unrealistic coincidence - C-3P0 and Vader are NEVER in a scene together
23. Qui-Gon's wussiness - why doesn't he just take the part from Watto? - because they need a speeder race. He also runs away from Darth Maul and cuts a cool fight short
24. Story point of having to get money to pay for hyperdrive part - more fitting in an adventure game. Why doesn't Qui-Gon commandeer the part? What authority does he have? Aren't the Jedi supposed to be guardians of some kind?
25. Anakin's L.L. Bean knapsack
26. Darth Maul getting chopped in half - was it really necessary?
27. Boss Nass's warbling
28. Jar Jar stepping in poo
29. Jar Jar getting farted at by animal
30. Jar Jar B.O. joke
31. Jar Jar's constant moving and morphing (especially his eyes) distracts the eyes from the real
characters
32. Jar Jar accidentally destroying half the battle droid army
33. Gungan bubble shield - this is a device unlike anything we have ever seen in SW.
34. Batman grappling hook sequence in palace
35. Unexciting laser battles in palace
36. Unexciting space battle
37. Anakin's blowing the station up by accident
38. Weak invasion scene - just a couple of tanks rolling into the courtyard
39. Boss Nass' agreeing to help humans just cause they kneel
40. Qui-Gon requesting Jar Jar as a navigator then never even using him to navigate
41. Darth Maul never does anything evil - he just looks cool
42. Fake-looking plastic adobe huts on Tatooine - they looked much more convincing in Star Wars
43. Bad Nimoidian lip-synching
44. "Are you brain-dead?" line uttered by Nimoidian
45. Lack of explanation for the Prophecy of the One Who Will Bring Balance to The Force
46. Dumb-ass ESP test the Jedi give to Anakin
47. Token P.C. female pilot in Naboo fighter
48. Lack of activity for Jedi and Mace Windu - Why don't all the Jedi ever go and kick ass?
49. CG lens flare on Coruscant during sunset
50. Pixilated CG explosion at end when the Battle Droids blow up in the corridor after Anakin hits the core
51. ID4 plot device of having Battle Droids controlled by Space Station
52. Lame-ass foreshadowing, like Ric Olie teaching Anakin to fly fighter
53. Dumb-ass plot device of Anakin's ship being on auto-pilot to suck him into station
54. Confusing plot device of Queen and her double
55. Weird voice they dubbed onto Queen
56. James Bond "Thunderball" scuba mouthpieces that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan just happen to have -(Why would they bring those to a negotiation on a *spaceship*??? Do they carry them around in their utility belts???)
57. Terence Stamp being completely underused in just one mediocre scene
58. Absolutely no background given about Sith Lords - what was the "Mystery of the Sith"?
59. Lack of interaction between Obi-wan and Padme/Amidala and other handmaidens - Is he gay?
60. Convenient location of blanket near Queen (when Anakin tells her he's cold)
61. Lack of epic cliffhangers (a la trash compactor, space slug escape, walking plank of Jabba's skiff)
62. Lame crowd reactions in pod race
63. Centering a major section of the film around the pod race stalls the story
64. Jar Jar getting kicked in the nuts by pit droid
65. Jar Jar's cartoony dive
66. Yoda's defeatist attitude - no good explanation is given about his fears about Anakin. Wouldn't it be more troubling if Anakin wasn't afraid about his mother???
67. It's never made clear whether people were being killed on Naboo
68. Slapstick during Gungan battle undercuts drama of final confrontation with Darth Maul
69. Obvious and contrived maneuvering of Anakin into Naboo fighter
70. Leaving C-3PO on Tatooine
71. "Yipppeeee"- twice
72. Goofy, mistaken identity rescue sequence of the Queen by her double,
73. Pathetic attempt to create cool slang for Tatooine residents - "Wizard", "Slime-o", "Worm-o"
74. Jar Jar gets stuck to a Battle Droid's severed arm and shoots several other droids
75. Jar Jar unleashing cannonballs on enemy army would have been more suitable in a Flintstones episode
76. Serious underuse of Ewan McGregor
77. 2 scenes that are centered around Jar Jar's tongue
78. Illogical explanation that Jedi reflexes are based on their ability to see the future
79. Slapstick sequence of Jar Jar trying to eat a rubber fish
80. Underuse of Darth Maul
81. Concept of "Jedi Trials" for Obi-Wan is dropped by the end of the film
82. Extraneous scene about Watto's "chance cube" - and why can't they just call it a die? Han Solo refers to card-playing in Empire.
83. No reason is given for taking Anakin back to Naboo, into the middle of a war
84. Portrayal of Republic as ineffective and bureaucratic will reduce the significance of its collapse in upcoming films. Isn't this the film where we were supposed to see their civilization at its height?
85. Introduction of Battle Droids appears to be an attempt to reduce the number of deaths shown in the film, yet they are killed in an extremely violent and destructive manner. Also, use of such a device is inconsistent with the notion presented in the other films that droids have humanity.
86. Lack of a protagonist
87. Anakin fixes engine and wins pod race by flicking switches, apparently at random (and without any use of the force)
88. Why does Qui-Gon sense such power in Anakin? What does Anakin ever do to suggest he has powers? Wouldn't a demonstration be in order?
89. Design of all CG characters did not match anything we've seen before in the SW universe (except maybe in the Special Editions). They were totally incongruous.
90. Nimoidians' Charlie Chan dialect
91. No explanation for red force shields at end. It was cool, but confusing and contrived. Were the characters controlling them or did they time-on and time-off like in a video game?
92. Watto's stereotypical Jewish Shylock attitude and accent.
93. Captain Panaka's blandness
94. Lack of camaraderie among characters - they didn't seem like a team
95. No one really interacted with Jar Jar - he was in his own movie
96. Lack of conflict among characters (this was a problem in Jedi as well)
97. Enemy droid fighters are not memorable or interesting
98. Anakin's awful dialogue while blowing up the space station: "Take this... and take that!"
99. Jar jar offers to be Qui Gon's slave
100. Lack of any anti-hero to create character tension. Han Solo did this in IV, Lando did this in V, Vader did it in Jedi. In Episode 1, everyone did EXACTLY what was expected of them. No plot twists or surprises.
- Didisaurus@aol.com
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This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
There was one female jedi. In the background during a council scene. I agree with the overall point though...which is worse? A universe where everyone is white like Episode IV? Or one where the trade federation are asian, the merchant is jewish, and the fool/comic relief/infantile character is caribbean?
For the most part I agree with you Rob. However, after having seen the movie 3 times now, going again tonite, as much as I hate to admit it, Jar Jar is actually starting to grow on me. Granted, it's like a fungus, but I've caught myself laughing at him more than once. I do wish he had been toned down a bit, but I'm finding him actually far less annoying than 'Whiney Luke' of A New Hope. At least Jar Jar is an alien race, which theoretically at least COULD be that annoying. Also, the annoyance, in it's own strange way, explains some of the friction between the Gungans and the Naboo. In general I found the CGI to be breathtaking, except for in the great Gungan/Droid battle. During that scene, at many times I felt like I was watching a late 1980's Saturday morning cartoon... Anyway, I'll stop rambling and get back to work now. I obviously didn't have TOO many problems with the movie, as I've already seen it thrice, and going back again (Which won't be the last time either.)
Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda
Not necessarily... The Meta-Clorians are described as being more of a conduit of the force, not the force itself. That's like saying that a network is CAT-5. It's not CAT-5, but that is what allows it to be a network. Also, judging by Yoda's reaction to the readings, it sounds like using those as a measure of the force is a new and un-proven technique...
Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda
Why should Vader take notice of another protocol droid?
Why would C3P0 know that Vader and Anakin are the same?
Of course there's also the fact that C3P0 wasn't even complete when he's left behind on Tatooine! He doesn't have nearly all the mental and physical components installed that we know and see in the original trilogy.
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
I'll want to look into this when I see it tomorrow =)
However I hear that Jar Jar was using a live action stand in... so it seems to me you may be looking too deeply for flaws that don't exist. It would be hard to make a mistake like that if it was intentional...
But I'll look!
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
There's no reason to believe(yet) that Obi Wan should remember very much R2D2... Especially since he's just a droid!
It would be like remembering the license plate of your friends car, 15 years ago... Something you may have known once, but forgotten over time because it just isn't relevant.
AS
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
I'm more likely to believe that midi-chlorians as organisms are attracted to and flourish in the bodies of Force strong and sensitive people; it may even impart some level of ability or skill to the host, thus the symbiosis explanation.
I don't think midi-chlorians themselves are causes for the Force talents, just indicators.
Sort of like me having black hair doesn't indicate I'm Chinese, but that being Chinese means I have black hair.
AS
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
Um, I was under the impression that Anakin(and Luke) were talking to R2D2, and not themselves...
So when Anakin is screaming out all these these, it's because R2D2 is telling him one thing, like "Why aren't you in control of the ship?"
and Anakin is saying
"The auto-pilot is on!"
Likewise for Luke...
Perhaps I'm seeing too much, but it makes a lot of sense to me...
AS
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
Plot is another reason why there aren't female Jedi...
For main characters, it's obvious that Obi Wan has to be male. Droids are genderless. Jar Jar is an alien, and while I guess he's male, he could very well be hermaphroditic. Anakin has to be male. Qui Gon is the only one I could hazard as being replaced by a female... But in this case I don't think it's a sexist thing for trying to create a father/son thing between Obi Wan and Qui Gon. You mean bit parts and villians who are female?
Wouldn't that be as big a disservice as not having enough women anyway? What about the fact that Amidala/Padme is such a strong character? To the end?
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
One theory that I have, though, is that this Medichloridian stuff was around with the Jedi, but as all of the Jedi were wiped out but Yoda and Obi Wan, who were both very spiritual, the scientific side died out as well.
Anyway, it really bothers me that they would cheapen the force so much by using microbes as "communicators with the force." I guess he's not saying that they represent the force, but act as an intermediary. But then couldn't somebody become a Jedi master by getting a blood transfusion? I guess that maybe it's a way of setting up for the clone wars; it would allow for Jedis to clone themselves and easily give the clones their powers.
Also, it kind of bothered me that Qui Gonn didn't disappear when he was killed by Darth Maul like Obi Wan and Yoda did. I guess the explanation could be that he wasn't as close to the force as they were, and it's always neat to see a funeral pyre.
Also, I had a really neat idea- wouldn't it be cool if Senator Palpatine weren't really Darth Sidius? I mean, they kind of shove it down your throat that he is throughout the entire movie, so it'd be a huge plot twist (ala "Luke, I am your father.") if Darth Sidius turned out to be somebody else.
Overall, though, I really liked the movie except that Anakin's luck (or "Fate," if you must) was annoying, Jar Jar was annoying, Medichloridians were annoying, and there weren't enough space battles or mysticism. That and the pod race was too damned long. The movie moved like a bad Sci-Fi novel, with lots of choppy scenes in the beginning, an overly long and somewhat unimportant scene in the middle (it did nothing but establish Anakin's techno-knowhow and Jedi reflexes) and then a bunch of choppy scenes at the end. Worth the money, but Episode II (Braveheart with Jedi) and Episode III (The Empire destroying the Republic) are going to rock a lot if Lucas doesn't wuss out.
-- atomly
my only complaint with this movie is this...THERE JUST WASN'T ENOUGH. lucas tried to pack too much in the 2+ hours. don't get me wrong i enjoyed it. it was a very good movie (though not perfect) but there just wasn't enough of the things i wanted to see most. not enough space battles, not enough jedi, NOT ENOUGH MAUL (and for those of you who think lucas tossed a perfectly good character, remember next episode starts that trivial bit of technology known as CLONING) and not enough character interaction. it just seemed a bit rushed.
now about other peoples complaints. i didn't find jar jar binks that annoying (no more than threepio was in the first three movies.) and as for everybodies problem with anakin being "the chosen one" with off-the-scale force powers, it makes sense to me (i always wonder how vader and palpatine could've wiped out all the jedi, but now it makes sense...anakin/vader was the ultamite jedi/sith and it took his own offspring to defeat him) also, i thought jake did a fine acting job (give the kid a break) of course, the "stormtroopers can't hit anything" factor became the "battle droids can't hit anything" factor, but who didn't expect that?
the thing i liked most of all about the film was the jedi/sith fight, but there should've been more of it (and how about some lines for maul. i know he's supposed to be this badass sith that talks with his saber, but i expected some words to exchange between him and qwi-gon & obi-won) the space-battle didn't match up to the roj battle of endor, but it was still good (again, there just should've been more of it) so overall, i'd say lucas has given us a very fine film worth seeing more than once.
but that's just my opinion, i could be wrong
-ccure
First off, I LIKED this movie ... It's not the best movie off all time, not even the best in the past year (possibly not even this summer: enter EYES WIDE SHUT), but it is good. Go on and complain about everything you want, George had a reason for all of it I'm sure ... It's his film ... It's his art ... admire it or move on.
Having said that, my two cents on various complaints and stuff:
Jar Jar: I was pretty indifferent about him, but my wife loved him, I'm sure kids will too.
Mytothingies: I'm going to hold off judgement and see if they are explained any more later. I think we are reading way to much into their role in the force.
C3P0 and R2: I would have left them out myself, but how can you make a (pre)sequel without any of the original "actors" in it. I primarily have a problem with them being on Tatooine (they didn't seem to have been there before in A New Hope).
Darth Maul: He was somewhat cool, but he just couldn't be as strong as Darth Vader will become. If he was, why would Palpatine need Anakin later. Maul is just a first attempt at creating what would become Vader.
Politics: I personally think it's going to be interested in seeing the parallel rise to power of Palpatine and Anakin and you have to play politics to become emporer.
Now what did this movie give me to overwelm any and all of its flaws? Alot, all of it worth repeating:
Special Effects: Awesome, yet not too overpowering. My wife hates "the computer look", but did not even notice it in this movie. They advanced the plot, but did not overtake the movie.
Action: Some of the best I've ever seen. The underwater monster chase, the pod race, the final space battle and the final saber battle were all incredible.
Plot: As a single movie, it may have been a bit lacking, but as part of a larger work it has a lot going for it. I'm really looking forward to see how the relationships (Anakin and Queen Amidala, Anakin and Obi-Wan, Anakin and Palpatine,
Yoda and Obi-Wan, etc.) play out in the next two acts.
All in all, it was worth the 8 bucks, and I'm planning to go see it at least once again.
>Mace Windu: 3 lines, and none of them involved >the word 'muthafucka'
Anakin: "But Sir-"
Mace Windu: "I don't remember askin' you a GOD DAMN THING!"
Okay, here's what I think, if anybody cares.
1) The only Star Wars movie that stands on its own two feet is ANH. The others are fundamentally an extension of that movie, which is a really well-told story. Even ESB, good as it is, needs the movie before and the move after to really be good, to really be explicated.
2) ANH had real urgency to the story -- the Empire was basically invincible and evil, and had almost won. ("We have the readouts of the Death Star; several people died to bring us this information.") There was a real urgency to it -- everything was *almost* lost forever. TPM starts out with everything (basically) happy and nice. The only really bad thing with the action in the movie is that Naboo might be destroyed. Oh no -- Jar-Jar and all his kind are eliminated! Cry me a river. So TPM just didn't have the same urgency that ANH had. However, there was one really dire plot point in the movie: "Oh shit, the Sith are back."
3) The sword fighting was better than in any of the other movies. The classic trilogy had Jedi vs. Jedi swordfighting, which was a lot like samurai fighting. The style done by Darth Maul (and it pisses me off that he died; they better make another one of him in the Clone Wars) was closer to, say, the Kung Fu / Tae Kwon Do / Jeet Kune Do / whatever styles (i.e., it involved kicking). Very very cool.
4) The four-way orgy involving Darth Sidious, Senator Palpatine, Queen Amidala, and Queen Amidala's handmaiden was EXCELLENT! The classic trilogy was really lacking in the hardcode sex department. (Although according to that Newsweek Carrie Fisher interview, Boba Fett "could see all the way to Florida" in the Tatooine scenes of ROTJ.)
I think TPM was consciously made overly light and cheery, because the other two movies will have to be dark and brooding. Vader's story is a fall from grace -- he's got to start out good and pure to have a fall. I'm *really* looking forward to episodes 2 & 3.
"Whatever happened to fair use?"
-- Duff-Man
I'll preface this with the obligatory "I'm no cellular biologist" but...
/.-ers are not members, to just gloss over this.
from what I've read Mitochondria are believed to have originally been a parasite that grew to be in symbiosis with living cells, leading to today's condition in living things on earth. Very suspiciously similar to the discussion given in SW:TFM to how "The Force(tm)" works. Maybe they were just counting on the majority of the public, of which most
They're marching in a straight line down a straight corridor - no turns. The sun is out full-blast, the shadows are very pronounced. Problem is, sometimes they're pointing toward the back. Sometimes they're toward the front. Sometimes they're pointing to the right of the marchers and sometimes they're at a right 45 degree angle to the marchers.
Bleh! Great movie - but sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
My .02
Quux26
My
Quux26
www.crashspace.net
"Mitochondria: Small genetic particles in every cell that govern how it works."
That is not a valid description of mitochondria. Mitochondria are analagous to power generators, they produce the ATP which is used for intra-cellular energy transport. I forget some of the details, but I believe they are responsible for aerobic respiration, using oxygen and glucose as fuel to convert the spent ADP to ATP.
They have their own genetic material which is completely seperate from that of their host. They reproduce asexually (and, incidentally, do everything else) in response to chemical cues from the host cell.
Mitochondria do not govern the cell in which they reside, they are governed by it, and work as an organelle within it.
The genetic material within organelles has been a big deal in the press because it has been used to produce a (IMHO unreliable) estimate of the number of generations since "Eve" (a supposed common direct-line female ancestor of all humans). It was suited to this because, due to its seperate genetic material and asexual reproduction, the only changes throughout its otherwise static genome are due to mutation (unlike the nuclear DNA which is sexually mixed, so you have to isolate genes to find all but the most gross mutations).
Actually the Trade Federation is based around the Chinese stereotype. This said, the Jedi are of course the Japanese Samurai figures, and the Naboo are Tibetan figures right down to the handmaidens gowns.
Interesting twist if you think about it that way. The samurai fighting the evil chinese to free the tibetans.
Anyone else notice the complete and total lack of women in the film. Well if you didn't, let me enumerate for you. 6 with speaking parts, less than 15 shown in the entire movie.
Not only are there only 6 that speak, there are only 3 that have more than 5 lives.
Queen Amidala, one of her handmaidens and Shmi Skywalker. The other three that actually speak are one of the pilots of the Jedi's transport ship at the beginning, one of the Naboo fighter pilots and a woman in Mos Esba on Tatooine. Maybe a seventh in one of Anakin's friends, I don't remember for sure bout that.
Frankly, there needs to be a little more equality in the star wars galaxy. Between the racism and the sexism the movie was a travesty.
CRITICS LASH OUT AT LUCAS FOR MAKING A MOVIE THAT CHILDREN WILL LOVE
"I Wanted 'Citizen Kane'", Sputters Furious David Ansen
HOLLYWOOD, CA (AP) - Critics have been quick to levy criticism towards George Lucas' latest Star Wars creation -- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Blasting the film for having "too many digital effects" and "too little character development", critics seem to be treating the latest blockbuster as a modern-day Ishtar. Newsweek's David Ansen is among those critics.
"By God," fumed Ansen, "the children loved it. They were clapping and shouting in the aisles, and did not want it to end. To hell with the children, as far as I'm concerned. George Lucas has personally robbed me of a truly emotional film experience, and I for one will never, ever forgive him for it."
Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood magazine Variety echoed the sentiments put forth by Ansen. "I hope George Lucas rots in hell," he said, "for making such an empty movie that less snobby audiences love. Clearly, he is preying on the children's desire for pure fun, and paying no attention to the film critics' demands that The Phantom Menace be at least as good as The Godfather. No reasonable person likes a movie that is just fun to sit back and watch."
Jeff Craig, of Sixty Second Preview, expressed similar views. "Lucas seems to know that children will love this movie. Being the typical egomaniac, he places his desire to entertain America's youth in front of his desire to placate the film critic community. Well, George, let me be the first to say EAT SHIT. You and your digital effects don't impress anybody." Craig then spit on the floor and gave a four-star review to the wonderful Adam Sandler flick The Waterboy.
Lucasfilm is dismissing the negative reviews, saying that the critics are "out of touch with reality." While Lucas runs the very real risk of making millions upon millions of dollars for this movie, he doesn't hesitate to let the public know why he's doing all of this.
"It's for the fans," says Lucas.
We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
I think for reasons similar to the reason that Darth Vader was quite surprised and interested when Obi-Wan did. Anakin doesn't disappear either when he dies, and he kills the emperor!
Perhaps the disappearing requires a certain purity and non-compromise. Qui-Gon was a renegade who frequently skirted the code, Anakin, of course, is the tragic hero who falls to the dark side before committing the ultimate good (by killing Sidious). Maybe such flaws are sufficient to keep one out of Jedi heaven.
Nasty mythology if that's the case -- all your survivors get to know if you "made it."
Anakin, who will eventually be Darth Vader, shouldn't be yelling Yippee every five minutes. Anakin leaving home wasn't convincing at all; I think his fate as an actor is pretty much sealed. Looking forward to some Life cereal commercials is he, says Yoda.
The point of Anakin acting like a kid can be easily explained. HE'S A KID. He wasn't born Darth Vader. There's no reason to believe he acted any differently than any other kid. You're supposed to be thinking, "This kid's too cute to be Darth Vader!" His acting falls in line with the other films - campy.
Too many kids and disney-esque characters ruined it for me.
Seems like Jedi had plenty of childrens charactors. Jim Hensen wasn't hired for nothing.
Character development: nearly nonexistant. Mace Windu: 3 lines, and none of them involved the word 'muthafucka'. I was shocked. All in all I give it a 7 out of 10. Hope the Clone Wars has no children/ewoks/wacky cg characters in it, or I just may skip it all together.
Lucas never developed his charactors, this is part one of three movies.. This was the forward. Count on Mace Windu to play an important part in the next two episodes. You're rating is high based on your critique. Of course, noone will miss you at the next movie.
Many people are forgetting just how average the first three movies were. About the only things Lucas has going for him are: 1) classic good vs evil plot(lets face it, the evil is just getting warmed up in this one) and 2) special effects. I like the mythology of Star Wars, the charactors are supposed to be average.
This is probably what Lucas intended, but I can't believe how many people are taking the "virgin birth" thing hook-line & sinker. Sure, I was as stunned as everybody else when it first came up, but there really is a rational explanation for it if you think about it a little.
All of this, the "virgin birth" & the introduction of the metachlorian concept are interrelated and a set-up for some bombshells that will be dropped in Ep. 2.
Ask yourself a few questions...
1. Could there be a scientific explanation for a "virgin birth"?
2. What do you think the Sith have been doing all these years after their "extinction"?
3. What might cause an unusual physical characteristic, which is directly related to one's ability to be in tune with the Force, to pop up apparently out of the clear blue?
4. Do you really think after a millennium there are only 2 Sith? Would only 2 Sith "reveal themselves" to a veritable army of light Jedi?
5. If your answer to #2 is "no", how might they replentish their numbers?
6. If the Sith were almost extinguished (presumably by the light Jedi), what would their "revenge" be?
7. How can the Senator & Sidious be the same without being the same?
8. How might parallellism between Ep. 4-6 play out in 1-3?
If you think about these questions for a while, you'll see that Ep. 1 is the perfect setup for a lot of *big* revelations in Eps. 2 & 3.
I just had to stop laughing long enough to post a lengthy reply. I saw the movie on Tuesday night, after midnight, and I totally agree with all of your points. Anakin, who will eventually be Darth Vader, shouldn't be yelling Yippee every five minutes. Anakin leaving home wasn't convincing at all; I think his fate as an actor is pretty much sealed. Looking forward to some Life cereal commercials is he, says Yoda. Too many kids and disney-esque characters ruined it for me. Jar Jar was beyond annoying, to the point where I wanted to scream just to keep from hearing his retarded gibberish. I gotta give some credit to his voice actor though. It takes amazingly mad skill to sound that close to Roger Rabbit and even pull off Bill Cosby's 'going to the dentist' and 'mushmouth' (fat albert) impressions. Weak. Very weak. Fight scenes: incredible. Spaceships exploding: average. Jet pods: fast, and nice to watch tumble and explode at 300 mph. Character development: nearly nonexistant. Mace Windu: 3 lines, and none of them involved the word 'muthafucka'. I was shocked. All in all I give it a 7 out of 10. Hope the Clone Wars has no children/ewoks/wacky cg characters in it, or I just may skip it all together.
Other things I noticed:
Ok, all kidding aside, I think Lucas lived up to his legacy. The original starwars was not spectacular because of character development or plot. It was, simply put, a well told story. Menace is the same: a well told story.
In my mind, there is a difference between art and entertainment. Entertainment is simple and can be enjoyed by all. Art presses the boundaries, often to the pain of some. Lucas' art is his cinematography and vison... as illustrated in the ground breaking effects required by ANH. That is what the critics loved in ANH. His art, this time, was in the visionary world he created. I mean, how could they possibly do that wonderfull Jedi-Sith fight on the cat walks if it were not for computers? Of course, art also brought us pain in the form of Jar-Jar Binks.
But people love Lucas' stories. Lucas is, above all else, an entertainer. Looking for redeeming qualities in the plot, character development, or other element you learned about in your 9th grade literature class is to miss the true genius of Star Wars. Lucas masterfully told a compelling story about the attack, capture, and liberation of lovely Naboo. All the while he left room for the rest of the series.
As for other comments I've read here:
-Computers hate being anthropomorphized.
And "A New Hope" was made more than twenty years ago, and we all were much more smaller then. The technology of movie-making wasn't so advanced, so we don't expect so much as today...
We are seeking the feeling that we got when we first saw Star Wars, and shout like a spoiled little kid when we can't achieve it...
Sad but true.
Ok, so its pretty much accepted that JarJar was a freeking annoying character. In fact, he wasn't even necessary to the rest of the movie after the Jedi's met the leader of JarJar's race for the first time. Another problem was that Darth Maul wasn't really developed well. We _know_ he's bad, he looks bad, he wears all black, etc etc. But, how about if they had made him do something that would show his evilness?
Scene on Tatooine goes like this:
- Maul gets on his Space Harley and rides into town looking for evidence of the Queen.
- You see him moving through the crowds. Most aliens give him a wide berth. One gets in his way. This is JarJar. JJ says something stupid. A flash of red light and JarJar's hideously dismembered body is lying in a puddle of steaming green blood.
- Qui-Gon comes upon the scene shortly after, just seeing the back of Maul's cape disappear into the onlooking crowd. Realizes there is trouble, and hastens everyone's return to the ship.
So, this would have spared all of us the suffering of JarJar's unnecessary presence in the rest of the film, and serves to make out Darth Maul as a serious Bad Guy.
BTW - Anyone else notice how similar in design the Queen's starship was to the SR-71 Blackbird spyplane?