the Mind’s Chew Toy

This movie was probably the most eagerly anticipated movie of the decade. With the phemonal success that the original Star Wars trilogy has become, everyone has been hungering for a new movie for years, but most thought it would never happen.

Now it has. Heck, now it’s on DVD! That’s more that can be said for the original trilogy, which isn’t expected on DVD until 2004. A lot of people were disappointed by this episode, but what could have met the enormous expectations?

The characters were well acted, for the most part. Lloyd’s Anakin was a bit of a disappointment, but the others, especially Natalie Portman in her dual role as Queen Amidala and Padme, make up for Jake’s cue-card reading.

This is also the first movie to have a completely computer-generated main character (Jar Jar Binks). A lot of die hard Star Wars fans hated him, but I thought he was okay. The language was a bit cheesy, but hey, you can’t have everything!

The plot was very involved, which is typical of a Star Wars movie. Each episode is an epic and stands alone well, but also contributes to the overall storyline. The plot is a main reason that Star Wars didn’t just turn into a Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)-type movie, where the special effects overtake and outdo the rest of the movie. With the involved plot, you have to pay attention to what’s going on, so you don’t lose yourself in the sights, so to speak.

The special effects are truly amazing. There are not many scenes (if any at all) where special effects are not majorly involved. They tend to be background stuff for the most part, letting the characters act, rather than just re-act. There’s every type of effect here, from a gigantic fish reminiscent of Jurassic Park, to a battle involving an entire computer-generated robot army!

The only place where the effects seem to fall a bit short is, inexplicably enough, in space. Some of the scenes are obviously in front of blue screens. You would think after the other three movies, most of the scenes of which didn’t look faked (and that was years ago), that they would be able to “do” space better. Things that make ya go hmmm, I guess.

If this hadn’t been a Star Wars episode, and the first one at that, this would have gotten better fan reviews. Even with the Star Wars mantle hung around its’ shoulders, the movie stands up pretty well. This is more of an updated version of Star Wars, rather than continuing in the same vein as the originals.

Imagine the original Star Wars with stars who are famous while the film is in theaters, and a bit of tongue-in-cheek attitude about the whole sensation that Star Wars has become, and you’ll be close to this movie.

Adding the tons of special features shoved into 2 DVDs, The Phantom Menace is a decent addition to any collection.