DJSJ
Well-Known Member
Guys, I watched The Phantom Menace last night, and it's actually pretty good. Sure it has it's flaws, the biggest of which being the clunkiness of the plot and how that makes the film feel twice as long as it is. Let's be honest, the prequel trilogy really should have been 4 films in order to really fit the scope and details it needed, and TFM does a hell of a job carrying that weight as the first of the actual trilogy. Jar Jar is not the best comedy relief, but it's really needed in a film where the main conflict is a blockade regarding trade disputes. When it comes to the characterization and performances of the main cast, it's stellar. Ewan McGregor's young Obi-Wan fits in so well with what was already canon in the Jedi Apprentice series of books; he's so light hearted compared to what comes after, the most important being his coming-of-age moment at the end of the film.
The music is so good! Not just Duel of the Fates, the whole score is goddamn fantastic.
Jake Lloyd's performance is not great, but man is that a hell of a role for a kid to play, he has some serious lines. I don't even blame him for his "Woohoo!"'s. They were in the script. I blame Lucas for not doing takes without them. Liam Neeson is a brilliant Qui-Gon; you don't learn too much about him but the bits he does drop fit in perfectly as an invitation to his character in the books and comics (which if you know my view, is really what makes Star Wars so great). Really the whole cast is great, Lucas just badly needed a Filoni type to check him on certain decisions (midiclorians) and be another directing force.
It's definitely a better movie than AOTC. That one suffered the most from "the prequal problem" I talked about above, but then The Clone Wars show came along to help with that. Although that show has it's own massive problems with re-writing canon...
The music is so good! Not just Duel of the Fates, the whole score is goddamn fantastic.
Jake Lloyd's performance is not great, but man is that a hell of a role for a kid to play, he has some serious lines. I don't even blame him for his "Woohoo!"'s. They were in the script. I blame Lucas for not doing takes without them. Liam Neeson is a brilliant Qui-Gon; you don't learn too much about him but the bits he does drop fit in perfectly as an invitation to his character in the books and comics (which if you know my view, is really what makes Star Wars so great). Really the whole cast is great, Lucas just badly needed a Filoni type to check him on certain decisions (midiclorians) and be another directing force.
It's definitely a better movie than AOTC. That one suffered the most from "the prequal problem" I talked about above, but then The Clone Wars show came along to help with that. Although that show has it's own massive problems with re-writing canon...
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