For almost twenty years, the world has waited for a follow-up to the highly successful Star Wars trilogy. For almost twenty
years, the knowledge that there would be another trilogy loomed in the minds of people, and the time span between then and now has created has created a feeling of extreme awe towards
The Phantom Menace. The long-range time span and the incredibly awesome trailers have created the biggest hype for any movie, a hype too large for a movie to fulfill. But even with a sense of disappointment,
The Phantom Menace is still an exciting and visually-effective film.
I went into the theater, on May 20th (yes, I waited an extra day), expecting a movie not quite as large as the trailers made it seem. The early critics who so selfishly published early reviews bombed it, but that didn''t scare me a bit. Fellow classmates who saw it on opening day said it was awesome, which strengthened my optimism. And when I saw it in a two-thirds filled theater with a half-heartedly enthusiastic film (they were more favorable after the ending, though), I was left a little disappointed, but mainly enthralled.
First off: screw those stupid critics who released their stupid reviews early. They''re worthless. The first, original Star Wars was bombed, and didn''t have any more plot than The Phantom Menace supposedly lacked. In the original, Luke and Han and the rest set out to save the Princess, destroy the Deathstar, and stop the spread of evil. They succeed. In The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn (slightly more complicated names) set out to save the Princess, destroy the bad Federation occupation, and stop the spread of evil. They succeed, or so they think: One of the final scenes shows a powerful image of Palpatine (the future Emperor) rising in power as Yoda and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) discuss whether Darth Maul (Ray Park) was the apprentice or the master. It was one of the greatest foreshadowings ever.