Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Review 1 of 3)

Star Wars Episode One: Part One of Three review

Ask anyone out in the street about his or her thoughts on Episode 1, you’re likely to get mixed feelings about the movie. When George Lucas began to write the movie, the hype machine started to grind on and everyone had high hopes for this movie. When the movie was finally released, many of the fans felt let down, and some were shocked. Fanboys everywhere were pissed. They wanted an epic story with dark overtones, this was what the marketing people promised, but it wasn’t what fans received. I, for one, wasn’t disappointed, because I knew going in that Lucas was heading in a different direction, a direction he started with the kid-friendly Return of the Jedi. So, I was aware that the movie wasn’t going to be dark or character driven. So, basically I’m saying that part of the let down from the fans came from Lucas, while the other part was from the fans expecting too much from a guy who sold out years ago.

And, despite all its flaws, I can look back at the movie and say that it wasn’t that bad. It is absolutely miles ahead the mess called Return of the Jedi. There are many flaws with the movie, but no one can refute that the movie was beautiful to look at. Lucas filled the screen with amazing landscapes that he couldn’t have created back in the 80s and the characters he crammed on the screen in this movie went beyond the poorly masked background players in his older films.

Lucas brought back many of the creative people behind the 1st trilogy. ILM became a powerhouse after Star Wars IV and the FX shows that they were busting their collective Asses in this film. The Naboo ship is worth noting. With Lucas, he had the best sound and FX, yet there was something missing within this film, and most people watching EP1 knew it. That’s what I’ll get into in the second half; the reasons why EP1 doesn’t work.

Useless Fact: Keira Knightley (Pirates) had a part in this movie

Snakes in the Jedi Council Chamber!

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