It's slightly unreal that it's a quarter century since The Phantom Menace was released in cinemas. I remember the excitement about a new Star Wars film. I had been reading loads of spin off novels and comics and had been buying packs of a collectible card game for most of the 90s, but a new film was next level.
Cathy and I went to see it in a cinema that no longer exists in Barry, and again in the brand new UCI cinema in Cardiff Bay (which is now about to be pulled down to make way for a new arena). We really enjoyed it. OK, yeah, there were a few things that weren't so great, but overall it 'felt' like Star Wars.
Subsequently it has become kind of cool among some people to sneer at The Phantom Menace and call it rubbish. I noted that back in 2012, and listed some of the problems with the film:
The Phantom Menace is almost universally derided among true fans, and yet I think it is still the best one of the three. True, it has no main protagonist. He should have toned down Jar Jar Binks a lot. Darth Maul was pre-hyped as a massive villainous character then had about three minutes of screen-time. The plotline is essentially feeble. But it’s a ‘set up’ movie – what would you expect?
There were two disasters, though. One was the ‘explanation’ of Anakin’s potentiality in the Force as being due to microscopic force-producing organisms in his blood called ‘midichlorians’ and the corresponding random decision to accord him a ‘virgin birth’ (seriously). The other was the repeated fudging of the monarchy issue. ‘Queen Amidala’ is a teenager, who has somehow been democratically elected queen. Yes, that’s right, the constitutional monarchist system of Naboo elects teenagers to positions of unquestionable power.
(That was taken from a post about how George Lucas needed to be kept away from Star Wars films. I got my wish, but have to admit now that I don't think George was the problem. Rogue One, The Book of Boba Fett, and The Rise of Skywalker have convinced me of that!)
But, honestly, I don't remember there being much immediate criticism when The Phantom Menace was released. The common opinion that the film was a dud wasn't voiced until later. I remember some criticism of JarJar as a character - but Lucas has always included some slapstick and physical comedy in Star Wars. (He kept the scene where a stormtrooper smacks his helmeted head on a door because he thought it was funny.)
What really stood out about the film was the CGI, which was ground-breaking at the time. It expanded the vision of the galaxy far, far away in ways that we would have been unimaginable when the original trilogy was filmed.
Some of the other problems I mentioned back in 2012 have been rectified. Darth Maul was too good a character to kill off after just one movie. The Sith warrior was brought back in The Clone Wars cartoon, fitted with mechanical legs but on a separate path to his former master, Darth Sidious. In canon, Maul went on to run Crimson Dawn, the galaxy-spanning crime syndicate. He made a surprise appearance at the end of Solo, in this role. If you want to see a final conclusion to his story, you'll find it in the Rebels cartoon series.
I'd also say that now, The Phantom Menace doesn't compare badly against some of the more recent glut of Star Wars product. There have been a few less-than-impressive films and TV shows. Compared to more recent grittier material, it's a brightly lit romp has retained a certain joyful innocence.. The Boonta Eve pod race remains one of the best sequences in any Star Wars film.
So, 25 years on, I'd suggest giving The Phantom Menace another watch and remember when Star Wars was meant to be enjoyable and not taken to seriously.
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