Review: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" in 3D

Almost 13 years after TPM first hit screens, it returns to the big screen, in three dimensions. Revisiting TPM over a decade later is an interesting experience. I've seen it multiple times since it came out, and my views on it have changed over time. When it first came out, there was a lot of disappointment. I was a staunch supporter of the film, likely fanboy-level support. I felt all of people's criticisms, from Jar Jar to the acting, were unfounded. Looking back, I can see why people were upset. Growing up with the OT, and then hyped for the return of SW, you're expecting something superb (or as Jar Jar may say, "bombad"). Instead, they had a more nuanced, political story, where by the end, not much really happens.

As a standalone film, TPM sucks. Which isn't a criticism of the film by any means. Someone who judges TPM as a standalone film should also judge the first 200 pages of "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" as a standalone book, the first half of "The Fellowship of the Ring" as a single, unconnected film, and the first third of "Game of Thrones" as a single novel. My point is, you can't judge TPM without seeing the whole tapestry at work. TPM is very much a part of a whole. When ANH came out, it was a standalone film, because the box office would determine plans for a sequel. In ANH, you have a central villain, a huge victory at the end, and things end on a good note. You see a major victory in a grand galactic civil war. In TPM, you see the end of the invasion of a trade organization of a small planet, because they were upset about trade route taxation. A jedi dies, a young kid becomes an padawan, and some dude gets elected chancellor. Overall, not an exciting or particularly meaningful ending by any means.

TPM is a seed-planting movie. The taxation of trade routes? Boring, yes, but even within the film, Qui-Gon questions why the Trade Federation is blockading Naboo of all planets. The key to the film is in the brilliant title. Sidious, seen as a phantom via hologram, but also very much a phantom in the story, working things from behind the scenes, was the star of the film. Yes, we see lots of Anakin and Amidala and Obi-Wan and Jar Jar and Qui-Gon. But the whole film was the start of the plan of Sidious, which would come to fruition in the next two films, with the start of the Clone Wars and the end of the Jedi Order. I read a fantastic review of TPM 3D atIGN, where they mentioned that this is how empires fall: with seemingly dull things like taxing trade routes. Lucas crafted a story not only about the fall of a single person, Anakin Skywalker, but also the fall of a republic. And not through a war, but through corruption and self-decadence. I always loved the analogy of the republic as a tree, seemingly stable and strong on the outside, but rotting away on the inside until it crumbles. TPM is where the tree begins to crumble.

I see why people have certain problems with the film, however. Jar Jar is totally unnecessary in the movie. I agree that he played an important role, but he didn't have to be a bumbling idiot, and we didn't need fecal and flatulance-related humor. The acting and dialogue also was not the strongest. Lloyd was sometimes not fully believable as Anakin, but the dialogue he had to spew out ("now this is podracing") were pretty bad. Lucas is a very good storyteller, but he should leave the writing to someone else.

The aforementioned IGN article states that ANH also had its flaws, and it's true. TPM is just a different type of movie. It's not an overt action film, with clear cut good vs evil, as ANH was. It's a more layered film, with political underpinnings and a whole lot of set-up for what's to come. Seen in that context, TPM is a strong film. TPM, and the PT overall, should not be directly compared to the OT, because it's telling a much grander story. Chronicling the fall of a galactic republic needs to be more nuanced and complicated than detailing the war between two opposing factions, in my opinion. I love SW, and I love the PT and the OT, but people need to see each for what it's purpose is.

Oh, and he 3D was decent. The LFL logo at the start was fantastic, and the opening crawl was nice. Most of the rest was decent, but SW does not need to be seen in 3D to be appreciated. That being said, I hope the rest are released in 3D, if only to see them on the big screen once again. I saw it at Empire 25 with one of my closest friends, who I happened to see it with on opening day, May 19th, 1999. The theater was maybe a third to a half full, but I went to AMC Empire 25, where the have some new ETX thing where the screen is somewhat bigger. It was a nice theater, the sound was fantastic, hearing Williams's music in theaters again was a treat. Seeing SW on the big screen is just a fun experience. Leaving the theater, we saw some fans near the Ripley's Believe It Or Not entrance, dressed as various characters, including a really tall Chewie, a jawa (utini!), TIE pilot, clone trooper, and a handmaiden. It was nice to see a bit of SW on times square. I love SW, and it was a treat to be able to see TPM once again and relive the memories of seeing it nearly 13 years ago.