I would put a summative review here, however, I feel that is highly unnecessary. Star Wars is a household name; a classic that everyone knows the basic story, so I'm just going to jump ahead into the reviews if that's alright with you.
Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace
I remember seeing this film in theaters; a true treat because we didn't go to many movies. This one, however, was important. I can't think of anything that my step dad loves more. He is a HUGE Star Wars fan and turned me into one also for a while. Now, however, my experience in Lucas's franchise is limited to the LEGO Star Wars games. The theater was completely filled, so we ended up in the handi-cap role. Mom, Josh, and Dad were in three seats, and I was over in the next three-seat group. Dad held my hand the entire time to make me feel safe. It was one of the sweetest things he has ever done for me. I appreciated it greatly.
To me, the most important thing in these prequels is the characters. The plot, to a certain degree, is partially written because the audience knows where it has to end up for A New Hope. Thus, the focus of films 1-3 will be directed primarily at the characters.
I'm starting with JarJar Binks because I cannot stand him -- not even a little bit. In Fanboys (review to follow soon), one of the characters has a tattoo of JarJar because he'll be the coolest new character in the new film. Obviously, they were kidding in this movie because most (if not all) people hate JarJar with a firey, burning passion. If he never opened his mouth, he could possibly have survived. But seriously, can anyone be more annoying? Uhm . . . no. It's the voice and the word-order of his sentences. It makes no grammatical sense and it's plain obnoxious. A "little odd" doesn't even be to describe him, C-3PO.
It's nice to see Obi-Wan Kenobi younger, but nothing is nicer than seeing him played by Ewan McGregor. He was C-U-T-E cute. And that's saying something because I don't really do the celebrity crush thing (except for Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal), but I fell in love with him because of this movie and have some-what followed his career, leading to Big Fish and Moulin Rouge becoming some of my favorite movies of all time. Anyway, I thought he played the role brilliantly: he was trying to do something new to an already established science-fiction character and he succeeded while still allowing for growth during Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
To me, the most important thing in these prequels is the characters. The plot, to a certain degree, is partially written because the audience knows where it has to end up for A New Hope. Thus, the focus of films 1-3 will be directed primarily at the characters.
I'm starting with JarJar Binks because I cannot stand him -- not even a little bit. In Fanboys (review to follow soon), one of the characters has a tattoo of JarJar because he'll be the coolest new character in the new film. Obviously, they were kidding in this movie because most (if not all) people hate JarJar with a firey, burning passion. If he never opened his mouth, he could possibly have survived. But seriously, can anyone be more annoying? Uhm . . . no. It's the voice and the word-order of his sentences. It makes no grammatical sense and it's plain obnoxious. A "little odd" doesn't even be to describe him, C-3PO.
It's nice to see Obi-Wan Kenobi younger, but nothing is nicer than seeing him played by Ewan McGregor. He was C-U-T-E cute. And that's saying something because I don't really do the celebrity crush thing (except for Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal), but I fell in love with him because of this movie and have some-what followed his career, leading to Big Fish and Moulin Rouge becoming some of my favorite movies of all time. Anyway, I thought he played the role brilliantly: he was trying to do something new to an already established science-fiction character and he succeeded while still allowing for growth during Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Because I am a girl, I was drawn towards Queen Amidala / Padme immediately because she was the only girl character around. Even still, I loved the character. She was strong, brave, lovely. She was fantastic, but I don't know if I fell in love with her personality or her wardrobe and make-up job. I loved it. Queen Amidala -- Love her, but more so as Padme. As queen, however, her costuming is gorgeous and I love her make-up. In fact, I even did my makeup like that sometimes. Of course, this was usually paired with a braid marking that I was a Padawan.. Lame, I know; but I thought I was hot stuff.
I don't necessarily care either way about Darth Maul. Ray Park, however, definitely captured my attention. It's not his look or anything -- how could it be? He was completely masked in red and black make-up (unfortunate because he is a bit cute also). His talent as a stunt-man, on the other hand, was not. He's is so talented. It amazes me how he can move and do all these stunts. I could never do that, but he makes it look so free, easy, and effortless -- like he was born doing all this stuff. He's absolutely wonderful and I'm highly jealous that I can't move like that.
Seeing Anakin Skywalker as a child prior to being Darth Vader was essential and Jake Lloyd had quite a bit to offer to the psychology leading to Darth Vader. He believes that the Jedi do not die. He plans to come back and free everyone on Tatooine. He sees himself as destined to change his life and those around him by becoming a self-labeled superhero. But he is unable to do that. He may not realize that now because he is a child, but he is setting himself up fro failure. Plus, Yoda point-blank tells Anakin that "I sense much fear in you" and fear + setting impossible goals = Darth Vader.
What ever happened to the kid who played Anakin? He was cute. Absolutely darling. I only remember him doing Jingle All the Way, but that's it. Same as Hayden Christian Anderson. Being Anakin apparently kills your acting career.
And now to the best part of the film: Pod Racing. Is there any sport cooler than this? Quidditch is definitely awesome, but Pod Racing is too awesome for words. I even had a shirt with Anakin pod racing on it. And the pod racing game on the Nintendo 64 is nothing short of epic. I loved it and I'm not much of a gamer by any means.
Huh . . . I never noticed before, but the Gungan force field thing looks like the same thing in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. But I guess that should be the other way around seeing as this came first.
And because it makes me laugh . . .
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