Director: George Lucas
Release Date: 1999
Running Time: 2hrs 16 minutes
Genre: Action/Sci Fi
Rating: PG
Format: DVD
Synopsis:
Two Jedi knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy may bring balance to the force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to reclaim their old glory.
Star Wars, a franchise so big that even kids to day are still absolutely loving it. Although it seems to go that you either love it or you hate it? Myself being a mixture of the two. If your pretty new to Star Wars, director George Lucas was also responsible for the hit movies "Indiana Jones", the man's got serious talent, however I'm not so sure when it comes to this particular movie. Starring Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson, it's no surprise really that these films were such a success, the acting however is not what's the problem with this movie. George Lucas was also responsible for writing all of the Star Wars movies, no easy task, but quite the responsibility when it comes to making movies that everyone will hopefully enjoy,
The Phantom Menace is essentially the story of how Anakin Skywalker became the person he is in the later films. Jake Lloyd who you may also recognize from the hit Christmas movie "Jingle all the way" delivers a pretty good performance, I like the level of detail that has gone into explaining his character and essentially why he becomes so powerful, but it's lacking something too. Star Wars, the movie that put Natalie Portman on the Hollywood planet....I'm not going to lie, I can't stand her performance in this movie, I don't particularly think her acting is great, everything is very monotone and deadpan. She's seriously lacking characterization. Personally her performance just ruins it for this movie. George Lucas didn't particularly write the best storyline, I love that he's gone into a lot of detail with Anakin as a child, but personally I think there should of been more a backstory and gone straight into present day of him as an adult. The storyline just drags.
The pacing and the speed of this film is too slow, there are so many moments that just drag, characters sat in a room chatting, not necessarily explaining anything important to the audience either. The dialogue between characters isn't too bad, I love the relationship that Anakin has with Qui Gon Jinn (Neeson), Anakin admires him and it really shows on screen between the two actors, I do however think perhaps Lucas should have gone into more detail about the two of them and Jinn really teaching Anakin on how to become a great Jedi, instead there are some truly boring scenes that just let this movie down.
Visually all of the Star Wars movies look absolutely incredible, the CGI is amazing. It is however not quite as good as the others. The use of colours are beautiful, the costume designs are amazing especially of those worn by Natalie Portman. I love the creativity that went into creating her character and how she looked. It works beautifully alongside the storyline and acting. The movie itself is beautifully shot, Lucas might not have written the best story, but he really knows how to make a movie look good. Production designer Gavin Bocquet has done an incredible job at creating very convincing looking set designs, I'm not too sure if he was in control of designing a light saber, however none the less, everything looks convincing and real and goes into great detail.
The most disappointing thing about "Phantom Menace" is the action, there isn't an awful lot of it, I respect it's a story explaining more about a character, then anything massive particularly happening like a war for example, however I do think it could be what this movie is lacking, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot going on, the only really good scene in the whole movie is a race that goes on between Anakin and a few other characters. It really lets the film down. The special effects are amazing however there isn't anything that really stands out compared to the other films. It still looks pretty awesome on screen though.
Episode one is easily my most least favourite in the franchise, it just isn't all there for me personally. Perhaps I like that characters have grown and developed in later movies? Personally Lucas could have written a much more action packed storyline. You really do love Star Wars or you hate it. It's a no from me.
2/5 stars
Running Time: 2hrs 16 minutes
Genre: Action/Sci Fi
Rating: PG
Format: DVD
Synopsis:
Two Jedi knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy may bring balance to the force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to reclaim their old glory.
The Phantom Menace is essentially the story of how Anakin Skywalker became the person he is in the later films. Jake Lloyd who you may also recognize from the hit Christmas movie "Jingle all the way" delivers a pretty good performance, I like the level of detail that has gone into explaining his character and essentially why he becomes so powerful, but it's lacking something too. Star Wars, the movie that put Natalie Portman on the Hollywood planet....I'm not going to lie, I can't stand her performance in this movie, I don't particularly think her acting is great, everything is very monotone and deadpan. She's seriously lacking characterization. Personally her performance just ruins it for this movie. George Lucas didn't particularly write the best storyline, I love that he's gone into a lot of detail with Anakin as a child, but personally I think there should of been more a backstory and gone straight into present day of him as an adult. The storyline just drags.
The pacing and the speed of this film is too slow, there are so many moments that just drag, characters sat in a room chatting, not necessarily explaining anything important to the audience either. The dialogue between characters isn't too bad, I love the relationship that Anakin has with Qui Gon Jinn (Neeson), Anakin admires him and it really shows on screen between the two actors, I do however think perhaps Lucas should have gone into more detail about the two of them and Jinn really teaching Anakin on how to become a great Jedi, instead there are some truly boring scenes that just let this movie down.
The most disappointing thing about "Phantom Menace" is the action, there isn't an awful lot of it, I respect it's a story explaining more about a character, then anything massive particularly happening like a war for example, however I do think it could be what this movie is lacking, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot going on, the only really good scene in the whole movie is a race that goes on between Anakin and a few other characters. It really lets the film down. The special effects are amazing however there isn't anything that really stands out compared to the other films. It still looks pretty awesome on screen though.
Episode one is easily my most least favourite in the franchise, it just isn't all there for me personally. Perhaps I like that characters have grown and developed in later movies? Personally Lucas could have written a much more action packed storyline. You really do love Star Wars or you hate it. It's a no from me.
2/5 stars
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