In My Opinion
Star Wars Analysis Part 1
Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
Hello everyone on the internet! As you know Disney is in the process of making the seventh installment of the Star Wars saga, movies that I have loved since I was six. To prepare me for this new installment I have decided to dive back into the old movies and give my own analysis of each one. As you can tell by the title I've decided to watch the first prequel before I watch the first original because unlike the original I haven’t seen the prequel in years. For those of you who, like me, am a little foggy about what happens in episode 1 here is a link to the plot synopsis courtesy myturn21 on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/synopsis?ref_=tt_stry_pl
Now, I warn you, the above synopsis and this whole blog will contain major spoilers so if you haven’t watched episode 1 yet I urge you to do so in order to form your own opinions and critiques.
Now, without further ado, let’s take the first step into that galaxy “far, far, away” in George Lucas’s Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom menace.
(Star War’s awesome theme plays at sight of poster)
As I said in the title this is-or rather my attempt at-an analysis of the Star Wars movies and not an outright rant. If that is what you were looking for I’m sure you won’t have to look far. For everyone and their grandmother has trashed Episode 1 in blogs, parodies, and angry rants that echo throughout the cyberspace of the internet. In fact legend has it that the very first angry internet review was on this movie.
I don’t know if this is true but at the same time I wouldn't be shocked if it was. Up until Episode 1 the few fan-boy-films in theaters weren't bad enough in order to inspire the hair pulling frustration that can only be soothed by an hour long V-log. It can also be seen as the starting point of Hollywood’s trend of ruining beloved franchises.
(Soon, trinity of evil, soon)
Though I am not here to rag on this film allow me to give my two cents on the one aspect that everyone hates the most: Jar. Jar. Binks.
(George Lucas what were you on when you conceived this cinematic abomination?)
Before Episode 1 I thought C3PO was the most annoying Star Wars character. He was prissy, uptight, and despite warning others not to get into trouble he constantly got into trouble forcing the other characters to stop in their quest to save the galaxy from evil in order to rescue him! But after watching Episode 1 I realized something: Even though C3PO is annoying if you took him completely out of the movie you would notice.
He was the one who set up the basic exposition for the trilogy and even though his bitching was annoying it could sometimes be funny, especially when he had R2 to play off of. And even though he did need to be rescued a lot he does end up saving the day a couple of times.
Jar Jar Binks, on the other hand, could be erased from all three prequels and not make one bump in the films flow. In fact, I think the film would run much smoother! Some hate him because they think he is a racist interpretation of black people, others because of his annoying accent-whena missa find da person responsible for dis vernacular disaster missa m goin to shove a light-saber down his throat before toss him head first into a sarlacc pit!-and there are those who hate him because allegedly was the reason the Jedi were destroyed.
But I don’t agree with this because it is technically Qui-Gon’s fault for insisting that Annakin be trained even though the Jedi council said:
No, I don’t hate Jar Jar because of his potentially racist disposition. I don’t hate Jar Jar because of his ear-stabbingly-annoying dialect. I don’t hate Jar Jar because of his possible hand in the fall of the Jedi order. No, Jar Jar Binks is my most despised movie character of all times because: He. Is. Completely. POINTLESS!!!!!!
He contributes nothing to the plot and has shown no aspect of his construction-paper-dimensional personality that warrants him existing or even being missed in the films universe! Don’t believe me? Then please watch the scene in the movie where Anakin and Padme talk for the first time.
Now, would their terribly directed dialogue change one bit if Jar Jar wasn’t in the background screwing around with stuff? NO! Because when it was happening you were most likely doing your best to ignore him in the first place!
There are those who say that Jar Jar is supposed to be the movie’s comical relief but in order to be a successful relief you have to be comical and relieve the audience of the movie’s tension. Not make them wish that they could skip to the scene-WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER-where Anakin slaughters the Jedi younglings just so they can feel any other emotion beside disgust and shame that George Lucas’s would stoop so low! I hate Jar Jar so much that I almost hate Qui-Gon for stopping that Federal transporter from crushing the little annoyance.
(Why, Qui-Gon?! WHYYYYYYY!!!)
But other than that Qui-Gon Jin is a pretty cool character. Even though little is explained about him other than the fact that he trained Obi Wan-and handed the galaxy to the Emperor on a silver platter-the way Liam Neeson plays him gives you a glimpse at the rest of his personality.
He’s less of the wise old master we’re used to from the original trilogy and more of the cop who’s been on the force-I swear to god there is no pun intended-for a decade or two. I think Ewan McGregor did okay as Obi-Wan, giving us the young apprentice with a little more to learn and a peak at the wise mentor he will one day become, but I also found his performance too rigid. You see, one of the reasons McGregor was chosen for the part of Obi Wan was because he resembled the original Obi Wan, played by Sir Alec Guinness. McGregor took this a step further by spending months learning how to talk and act like Guinness and while I do appreciate his efforts this is what made him fall flat so many times in the movie. In fact, in some scenes it seems like he is physically trying to get out of the mold he'd been put in. This prevented him from adding his own personal touches and make the character his own. It also didn't allow me to connect with him properly and almost didn't leave an impression on me.
However this guy had no such problem.
(The face that shot the sale of extra caffeinated coffee through the roof)
According to reports when Lucas conceived the design for Darth Maul he wanted “a figure from your worst nightmares” a goal that was not only reached but made even more appropriate by the movie’s setting. You see, by the time Episode 1 happened the Sith had all been wiped out and were just a dark part of the Jedi’s past. To have Darth Maul suddenly popping up like he did would be like Freddy, Jason, or some other monster your parents told you were not real coming to life with the sole purpose of destroying you and everything you hold dear.
A monstrous nightmare. A demonic spector. A phantom menace?
Okay, okay I know that was corny but it’s still true. With his cold yellow eyes and distinctly Lufilian appearance Darth Maul spawned many dark dreams and was part of one of my favorite fight scenes.
The fight choreography, the pacing, and the amazing background score make this scene truly worthy of the Star Wars name and exposed the world to the awesomeness of the double lightsaber.
(Fuck pepper spray I want to walk around campus with this in my purse!)
I’m sure if there was more scenes like this one more people would have liked Episode 1. Whereas in the original trilogy the characters spent the majority of the time fighting and trying to get away from the newest threat the characters in Episode 1 spent a good chunk of their time dealing in the exciting world of politics!
...Yeah even though I've wondered how the government in Star Wars worked it’s pretty hard to focus on it when there is a full scale war on Naboo! It makes the film less the first part of a space opera and more of an Abraham Lincoln movie.
No, not that one
Not that one either, though both are pretty good and enjoyably cheeses. I was thinking more of this movie:
Even though I liked the portrayal of such a monumental event in US history-and thought that the actors did an excellent job, there came a point when I asked myself “When are we going to leave these poorly lit rooms and see some antebellum warfare?”.
And whether you love or hate Episode one you have to agree that some of the acting was pretty bad, especially this kid’s acting.
(Just keep in mind that this is going to become one of the greatest bad asses in history)
Forgive me if I sound like a bitch but Jake Lloyd is the worst child actor I have ever had the misfortune of viewing. I can literally remember at the age of ten cringing-yes actually cringing-every time he spoke, his words so flat they made a year old open can of soda have more fizz in comparison. Back then I just chalked it up to him being a bad actor but now that I've really sat down and thought about I realized that the reason he rubbed me the wrong way was because he was acting like he was in a movie.
Allow me to explain: You see a good actor(note the emphasis on the word good) will spend months and even years researching the culture, setting, and time period the character they have been chosen to play exists in as to get the proper mindset. If an actor is chosen to play a soldier he or she might spend time in a boot camp in order to grasp the stress and dedication that an actual soldier feels. If they’re doing a period piece they might sit down with a historian or read books on the subject.
This is all so that when they finally display their acting on screen the audience will go “Wow, that’s a slave owner played by Leonardo DiCaprio” and not “Hey, that’s DiCaprio as a slave owner.”
(By the way, who do I have to kill to get this man an Oscar?)
The way Lloyd plays Anakin I wouldn't be shocked if he’d come on set having learned he got the role a week before shooting and spent a few hours learning the script. He had as much connection with the other characters as you would with a theme park mascot and was trying so hard to keep that giddy grin over being in a movie off his face that he emoted as little as possible
(Also if you look closely at the reflection in his eyes you can see his parents counting the money from his check off set.)
But to be fair an actor is only as good as the person directing them which I doubt Lucas did little if not any. Which is strange because he directed A New Hope and did great in that one but here it’s like a where’s waldo book and you have to plaster your corneas to the screen in order to find him. In some scenes like the fights and the conversation Obi-wan has with Qui-Gon you’ll see some of his old magic but the rest Lucas might as well have been miles away on some sandy beach and phoned it in whenever it was absolutely necessary.
(Yes, this magical and mysterious power is actually caused by a bunch of parasites who live in the blood stream of living things)
All this makes Episode one a poor prequel to such great movies and a hollow film if it had to stand on its own. As for my feelings upon watching it again it’s the same as the first time, it’s a little heavy on the bad side but not enough to start a riot over. But re-watching has given me a new query: Why doesn't anybody put railings along walkways stretching over bottomless abysses in this galaxy? I mean during the construction process it never crossed anyone's mind that people could slip and fall?
(Yeah, maybe this wouldn’t have happened if the fucking safety regulations were up to code!)
Well what they were-or weren’t-thinking I’ll leave up to you. Right now I have a certain first part of a trilogy to look at.
Pics And Gifs Courtesy Of:
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