"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" - January 2023 review

As I begin a journey on a path I have not yet taken, the first step starts here.

It's been far too long since I've seen this film.  There were actually quite a few details I didn't remember.

Awww, the Fox logo and accompanying fanfare.  It's really not the same without them.

I really liked the battle droids the first time I saw them.  Simple, clean, and "roger roger".  I still hold a fondness for them.

So this started a question I've had ever since, as far as the rules for using the Force.  I believe this was the first instance we saw of a Force push.  Cool, right?  But there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when they choose to use the Force in this way and in when they *can* use the Force in this way.  For the brief amount of time that I was playing computer adventure games, I got used to the idea that when you used magic, it took away points, and you only had so much to use, so if you cast a spell, you had to build back enough energy to cast another spell.  That doesn't seem to be the case with the Force.  There doesn't seem to be a time (at least that I recall) when a Force-user runs out of energy by using the Force too much, other than when they're being drained of energy because they're under attack and sustaining injuries.  If that's the case, why don't they just use the Force all the time for everything?  Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn fight the battle droids with their lightsabres for a bit, and then Obi-Wan just uses a Force push on a trio (?) of them.  That happens in a later fight as well.  Well, if the Force push works, why go through the time and trouble of using lightsabres (though I do like the bounce-your-blaster-bolt-back-into-you trick) where you're basically dispatching them one at a time?  A Force push can take out three or four or probably more at once and is much faster.

I love Qui-Gonn using his lightsabre to carve a C into the blast door.  I have a toy that depicts that scene with the indentation in the door.

Destroyer droids!  Or as they call them, Droideka.  The first time I saw those things, I absolutely loved them.  So cool-looking.  I can't remember which exhibit it was, but I saw a life-size one at one of the Star Wars props exhibits.  Amazing.

Ahhh, the much maligned Jar Jar Binks.  I'm less concerned with him now than when I first watched the movie.  Part of my frustration with him was that I had trouble understanding what he was saying.  His syntax and speech pattern was more difficult to figure out than Yoda's jumbled words, and his "accent" was hard to make out for me.  I still had that problem this time but for the most part, he doesn't have a lot of vital stuff to say, so I just hear him, understand him or don't, and move on.  In discussions, I always find it amusing when people say there's been no one more hated in Star Wars history, and when I reference the ewoks, so many people either have no memory of when "Return of the Jedi" came out, or they weren't born yet or at least not old enough yet.  The vitriol that was directed at the ewoks was pretty epic.  I felt that same energy when people talked about Jar Jar.  As I've thought about it more, and as I've seen the various movies more, I've started to see a lot of C-3PO in Jar Jar, and not in a good way.  On many occasions, 3PO is actually pretty annoying.  He complains a lot, and he's often yelling at R2-D2 about something, even things that R2 isn't responsible for.  I've found myself often being less and less interested in seeing / hearing 3PO.  Jar Jar evokes the same feeling in me in that he complains a lot, especially in times of fear and battle, so I ignore those too.

It's really nice to see Liam Neeson in this role, something he hadn't really been doing at the time.  He was doing mostly "serious" roles, so it was great to see him bring that kind of ability to a Star Wars film.

And boy, look how young Ewan McGregor was back then.  (Yeah, we've all gotten older.  I can't believe it's been more than 20 years since this film came out.)  I love seeing the little padawan braid on him, and watching as Obi-Wan maneuvers through walking the line between being respectful of his Jedi master and mentor, and expressing his opinions based on his own understanding and teachings of the Force and the Jedi ways, when Qui-Gonn goes against them.

Boss Nass, head of Gungan City, is an interesting character but another one I have difficulty understanding.  I would be interested in learning more about how that whole city works, how he came to be in charge, and what his backstory is.

I didn't remember that Jar Jar was indebted to Qui-Gonn because Qui-Gonn saved his life.  Gungans have a life debt obligation like wookies do?

"There's always a bigger fish."  I've always loved Qui-Gonn's line.  So true.

I remember having such a hard time trying to figure out when it was Queen Amidala's double and when it wasn't, but I didn't know who Natalie Portman was then.  I think it took me until the third or fourth time seeing the film to figure it out.  Now, of course, it's very obvious to me when it's her and when it's not.  But even knowing that her double is played by Keira Knightley (Since her credit is as "Kiera", I'm wondering if they spelled her name wrong or if she changed the spelling for some reason.), I'm not seeing her as clearly.  I don't think we get a good look at her when she's simply a handmaiden, unlike with Natalie Portman, so it may be that the makeup masks her more.

I always laugh at the battle droid who has been cut in half but the legs are still wobbling around.

It's always hard to watch the scene where the droids are on the surface of the Naboo ship trying to fix the shield generator, and they're just getting picked off by the ships attacking them.

Yay, R2!  One of the unsung heroes of the rebellion.  (Yeah, he didn't get a medal for any of his contributions either.)

I've always thought Watto was an interesting character.  That's the first time we've seen where the Jedi mind trick influence doesn't work on some people.  Obi-Wan told us that the Force can have a strong effect on the weak-minded, but we haven't seen anyone strong-minded enough to withstand that.  We see in "Return of the Jedi" that it doesn't work on Jabba the Hut either.

Awww, tiny little Anakin.  Some of his mannerisms actually remind me of Luke from the first Star Wars movie.

Pit droids!  I love them, especially the "bonk the nose" part.  I love how they're used in the video in the queue of Star Tours, as they're trying to attend to the Starspeeder.  And that they also show up in "The Mandalorian".  A good all-purpose droid is always a good thing to have around.

Speaking of tiny little Anakin, seeing the age difference between him and Padme is why it's creepy knowing about the coming romance.  They wanted him to be young enough to be impressive with the podracing and skills and such, but she had to be old enough to be queen.  And it still might not have been so bad if they'd met later, when their age differences wouldn't have mattered.  But it's hard to watch her see him as a little boy that she almost feels the need to take care of, when we know they're eventually going to be a couple and have children together.

Shmi is a very accommodating mom.  Her kid comes home with some random strangers, and she welcomes them, not knowing anything about them.  Was this something Anakin did all the time?  Or maybe she knew that since everyone knew that she/they belonged to Watto, no one would start any trouble with them.

I've always said that even given all the murder and destruction that Vader was responsible for, the worst thing Anakin did to the galaxy was building C-3PO.

It's interesting that the concept of slavery is so easily slid into the Star Wars universe, and involving a character that we've known from the very beginning.  Who knew that the commanding, dominating, terrifying Darth Vader was once a child slave himself.  Is that what propelled some of his actions in the future, wanting to be in control?  But he then didn't seem to think twice about subjugating others.  And the Jedi don't blink at finding out that slavery still exists.  That should have told us something about the Jedi order in and of itself.

The pod racing segment was fantastic and always a lot of fun.  My favorite bit, of course, were the Tuscan raiders taking potshots at passing competitors.  But Sebulba cheats, and everyone *knows* he cheats, but he continues to race and win?  I guess since Jabba is in charge, if Jabba doesn't care, then everyone can do whatever they want.  And he's not cheating Jabba, just the other racers, so I guess Jabba wouldn't much care.

I forgot that Qui Gonn bought Anakin's freedom by betting on Anakin in the race.

Anakin's goodbye with Shmi was just heartbreaking.  I would love to know more about her story.

That Senate chamber was pretty cool, and at some point when I was at the Dolby Theatre, it reminded me of that chamber.

Padme is still young and mostly trusting, and she is manipulated by Senator Palpatine to vote out the current Chancellor.  I can't remember if we ever get her reaction when she finds out that Palpatine is the Emperor, because that has got to be fairly devastating.  But I guess not as devastating as your husband turning into a Sith lord.

So in my previous viewings, I'd missed these lines from Obi-Wan to Qui Gonn:  "If you would just follow the code, you would be on the Council." and "Do not defy the Council, Master, not again."  Oh, so we know that Qui Gonn has gone rogue before.  Seems like being that defiant would go against the Jedi teachings, wouldn't it?  Surprised they continued to allow him to have padawan, to pass along his errant outlook.  But they appear to continue to allow the behaviour, because even though they initially deny his request to have Anakin as a padawan, they eventually give in.  I would be curious to know if there's an official story on what Qui Gonn's prior deeds and defiance to the Council were.

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." - Yoda's well-known line describes the path that leads Anakin to the dark side.

One of the candidates for being the new Chancellor is Bail Antilles from Alderaan.  Was that supposed to have been Bail Organa?  Did they just decide to throw in a random reference to an Antilles there?  I can't remember where Wedge is supposed to have been from.

The Trade Federation people keep saying that they need to capture Queen Amidala so that they can force her to sign the treaty.  And how exactly are they going to force her to do that?  Are they going to tie her down and just manipulate her arm?  Are they going to threaten people?  They're already threatening and imprisoning her people, and that's not working.

I appreciated Padme's approach to appealing to the Gungans for help.  Never mind that she's Queen, but she humbles herself to them.

Those racks of battle droids were pretty impressive looking as they unfolded.  Did they ever release a toy like that?  Because they should have.

How amazing was the reveal of Maul with his double-bladed lightsabre?

Duel of the Fates - The song and the entire segment were amazing.  One of my favorite Star Wars bits.  On a side note, I remember being at a John Williams concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the first time they performed the song live, with a full choir behind them.  Incredible.

We saw the small fight between Maul and Qui Gonn earlier, but it's full scale *on* when Maul is fighting both Qui Gonn and Obi-Wan.  First time we see a major fight between fully trained users of the Force in their prime.

So, that hallway that Maul and Qui Gonn run through and that Obi-Wan is trapped in - what is that for?  Is it some kind of weird security measure?  Why does it need to be structured so that you can't make it all the way through and have to hang out in those little partitioned sections?  It's like that scene in "Galaxy Quest":  "Why does this room exist?"

The absolute anquish of Obi-Wan having to helplessly watch as Maul kills his master.

Maul flings Obi-Wan's lightsabre into the abyss.  Where did it end up?  Does someone have it?

Anakin climbs into a Naboo fighter, and the helmet happens to fit his tiny head?  All the other pilots are adults, so presumably, the pilot whose ship Anakin climbs into is also an adult.  Just one with a tiny kid head?  Of course, it's funny that Anakin stays in the cockpit because that's what Qui Gonn told him to do.  I believe that's called "malicious compliance"?

Anakin is the one who takes out the Trade Federation ship which then disables all the droids.  I guess that's the risk you run when there's one off switch.  On a different note, was anyone complaining then about how he was a "Mary Jane"?  Probably not.

Poetic justice that Obi-Wan kills Maul with Qui Gonn's own lightsabre.

I don't think we focus enough on the fact that Obi-Wan's responsibility for Anakin was forced on him by Qui Gonn.  This was not a decision that Obi-Wan chose, and it wasn't a path that he even approved of for Qui Gonn.  But when it's your Master's dying wish, how do you say no?  At the end of it all, Obi-Wan feels that he failed Anakin, but it's actually Qui Gonn who failed them both.  There's no indication that Qui Gonn would have done any better had he been alive to train Anakin.  But the biggest trauma of Obi-Wan's life is inflicted on him by the burden that Qui Gonn forces on him.

So is Anakin the Chosen One, the one who was to bring balance to the Force?  If not, who is?  If so, is that saying that his turning to the dark side was necessary because there needed to be balance to the Jedi, which is an interesting concept.