Doesn't live up to the originals but good..

Ok, I am just going to go ahead and admit that I still really like this film now despite it was one of the films that I grew up with as a child. However, as I have grown up I have noticed that the first prequel does have its flaws and, in all honesty, there are quite a lot of crucial ones. I am going to start with those flaws first and then say the good side of the film. Ok, here goes. The most obvious one: Jar-Jar Binks!! He is one of the top characters if not the best character to totally ruin a film! He was funny to me when I was a kid but now I just think he is an absolute idiot and serves literally no purpose in the film whatsoever, Jake Lloyd is a lousy Anakin Skywalker, the skinny droids for the Trade Federation are pretty much funnier versions of Stormtroopers in the Empire and the directing from George Lucas was lousy as was the editing and most of the screenplay.


Now, the good points of the film is that the special effects were absolutely amazing, I really liked how they involved a much younger Obi-Wan and back to when he was an apprentice and I did like Qui-Gon's character too. Darth Maul was one badass, evil and mysterious villain (like Vader was in the first two original films) but too bad we don't see enough of him. The duel towards the end was epic as was the podrace and I did like the plot but could have perhaps adjusted a few bits and started it off a bit better.


Set in The evil Trade Federation, led by Nute Gunray is planning to take over the peaceful world of Naboo. Jedi's Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to confront the leaders. But not everything goes to plan. The two Jedi's escape, and along with their new Gungan friend, Jar Jar Binks head to Naboo to warn Queen Amidala, but droids have already started to capture Naboo and the Queen is not safe there. Eventually they land on Tatooine, where they become friends with a young boy known as Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon is curious about the boy, and sees a bright future for him. The group must now find a way of getting to Coruscant and to finally solve this trade dispute, but there is someone else hiding in the shadows. Are the Sith really extinct? Is the Queen who she really says she is? And what's so special about this young boy?


Another reason why expectations were high was because of the two leading actors. One who portrayed an amazing performance as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List and the other as Renton in Trainspotting. Liam Neeson was, in my opinion, brilliant as Qui-Gon Jinn! I did really like the Qui-Gon character and he was to Obi-Wan and Anakin in Phantom Menace to what Obi-Wan and Yoda were to Luke in the originals: not just a master who is training you but also a mentor and a friend. Ewan McGregor perhaps is the only actor who could have possibly portrayed a younger Obi-Wan seeing as he looks a lot like Alec Guinness who played Obi-Wan in the originals and there wasn't very much Obi-Wan in this one but I still liked his performance anyway. After her amazing performance in Léon as a little girl, Natalie Portman rises to fame once again with the Star Wars prequels but her performance was about average to satisfactory. Jake Lloyd made Anakin Skywalker look like an utter muppet! Anakin should have been a teenager in Phantom Menace and why he was called 'Ani' which made him seem innocent is beyond me! Hello? That's Darth Vader in the future! Was great to see Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (well he was inside R2-D2) and Ian McDiarmid from the original films back again, though!


George Lucas, you may have directed the podrace scene pretty well and made it exciting but the rest of the directing felt empty and rushed. I mean, no the prequels didn't need to be made but one (especially the creator of a classic trilogy) needs to be prepared of what is required and what needs to be worked on. Yes, he did have a lot on his shoulders but I am afraid to say that his directing, editing and sometimes screenwriting is bad! I can't even understand why George got Jar-Jar Binks involved but was a good job that he got rid of him after this film. I mean, despite it isn't as good as any of the originals, I think people should at least appreciate that times have changed and there are going to be some CGI added and there are going to be new characters seeing as The Phantom Menace is set almost 30 years before A New Hope.


It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects but was a contender for a few Razzie awards too. It won Worst Supporting Actor (Ahmed Best as Jar-Jar Binks and rightly so!) but was nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Director (George Lucas), Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Jake Lloyd), Worst Supporting Actress (Sofia Coppola), Worst Screen Couple (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman).


Overall, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a childhood favourite of mine and is a Star Wars film for entertainment like the first two Harry Potter films are before anything gets serious. I have almost no problem with the story but I think if the film was better directed, written and edited, Anakin was a teenager not an innocent little boy (which does mean Jake Lloyd to not be in the film), more Darth Maul and most of all: Jar-Jar Binks wasn't involved at all, it would have been a great success critically like it was regarding box office takings!