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Are you sure this movie is worth 2 cents???

209.197.193.126

Posted by Audiophilander on June 4, 1999 at 11:58:42

In Reply to: My 2¢ on Star Wars:The Phantom Menace posted by Tom S. on May 26, 1999 at 10:08:47:

Sorry, but this was the most disappointing film from Lucas since Howard the Duck, IMHO. My wife and I didn't see a critical review until after we saw the flick. After we saw it however, we compared our views with the pro's and both felt that many of the negative reviews were actually kind, even soft-ball. Perhaps pre-pubescent kids and videogamers will like this entry in the "new" trilogy enough to support it through repeated viewings, but by comparison with the original this effort suffers badly in my estimation.

For one thing, the moppet playing the future Darth Vader was far too young to be believable as an action hero; my suspension of disbelief was shot from the get-go. Not to mention the fact that Yoda assessed the obnoxious little brat to old to be trained as a Jedi! C'mon, give me a break! BTW, I'm weary of Lucas excusing these implausabilities by saying that the Star Wars series is *just a fantasy*. To paraphrase Yoda from "The Empire Strikes Back" (i.e. the "there is no try, either do or don't do" speech): there's no try, calling it a *fantasy* doesn't excuse logic flaws, it is either a good film or it isn't!

Whether you're willing to see them as such or not, the racial stereotypes were all over the place, from the Jamaican Stepin' Fetchit "Jar-Jar" to the hook-nosed alien slave owner with a Yiddish accent. I guess in Lucas' zeal to produce a thirties style action serial he got carried away with some of the less palatable conventions of film-making from the period. Of course all of this is within the film's subtext and no doubt an unconscious act on Lucas' part, but these observations were made by more than a few, and not simply crackpots or over-reactive critics paid to form dissenting views.

Finally, the new trilogy has few characters the audience can actually grow to care about, and this is a fundemental flaw in "idea" movies where characters take a back seat to spectacular effects or an underlying moral conviction held by the filmaker. Unfortunately, since this kind of motion picture is based on a very simplistic good vs evil theme to begin with it MUST have strong characters to carry it along or the story falls apart (i.e. as it did here).

So, my final conclusions: Is the movie worth seeing? Well, maybe, ONCE. Personally, I recommend movie goers slip around the corner to a screen showing The MUMMY (i.e. one of the best action films I've had the fortune to see in a long long time!). In other words, if you haven't seen it already, by all means go! Hey, it's certainly more fun than SW/EpI, and it holds up well on repeat viewings to boot. Simply put, Brendon Fraser pulls off the serial-style hero role with panache; better than anyone since Harrison Ford! Also, if you're into effects, this pic has 'um big time! What more can you ask from a well rounded popcorn flick?

Good viewing,
AuPh

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