{"id":2246630,"date":"2024-05-17T05:50:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T09:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-phantom-menace-at-25\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T05:53:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T09:53:48","slug":"the-phantom-menace-at-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-phantom-menace-at-25\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Years of The Phantom Menace"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-phantom-menace-at-25%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2246630&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The 25th anniversary \u2063of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace\u2064 brings the film back to theaters. Reflecting \u2063on its impact, the prequels serve as generational markers. Despite changing perspectives, the\u2062 movie&#8217;s pacing\u2064 and character development are criticized. While flaws exist, its music and iconic \u2062lightsaber fight stand out. The film&#8217;s reception remains polarizing amidst the evolving Star Wars saga.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of <em>Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace <\/em>this month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>the film<\/a> has returned to theaters. And at the behest of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/issue\/may-14-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>editors of this magazine<\/a>, I returned to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/theater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>theaters<\/a> to watch it on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2440163\/the-viral-short-story-cat-person-hits-the-big-screen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/8-hollywood-celebrities-who-actually-back-the-blue\/\" title=\"8 Hollywood Celebrities Who Actually Back The Blue\">big screen<\/a><\/a> once again, as I did for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2629489\/the-phantom-menace-at-20\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>its 20th anniversary<\/a> five years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The Star Wars prequels \u2014 that is, <em>Episode I: The Phantom Menace<\/em>, along with <em>Episode II: Attack of the Clones <\/em>and <em>Episode III: Revenge of the Sith<\/em> \u2014 represent something of a generational yardstick for me and my fellow millennials. Each anniversary milestone it hits, we are reminded of how old we were then, how old we are now, and the ever-growing gulf between those ages and times. Each generation has these cultural yardsticks, of course. Every parent has heard how old and lame his or her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/music\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>music<\/a> is, how bygone and forgotten his or her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hollywood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>starlets<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>athletes<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor in Star Wars: Episode I \u2013 The Phantom Menace. (LucasFilm\/Allstar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of the oddities of <em>The Phantom Menace<\/em>, however, is it seems to age and change right along with us. When I last watched and reviewed the movie for this magazine, the prequels were enjoying something of a renaissance of appreciation. In between the releases of <em>Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi<\/em> and <em>Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker<\/em>, fans and audiences were realizing the much-maligned origin story movies George Lucas had returned to tell were not, in fact, as bad as it could get for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/star-wars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Star Wars<\/a>, and perhaps the prequels were better than we had all collectively decided they were. While that second return of Star Wars to the big screen engendered some rosy reflection, five years on, there has been nothing but \u201cnew\u201d Star Wars. Gone are the times of \u201cwhen they seldom come, they wished-for come.\u201d Star Wars has ceased to be an exciting and infrequent visitor and fully moved into the media landscape, leaving its toothbrush and beard trimmings on the sink. And like a friend crashing on the couch well beyond the weekend, I\u2019d much rather it take its stuff and leave already.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps due to the series\u2019s oversaturation, perhaps due to my increasing age, I found <em>The Phantom Menace <\/em>a much worse film than I left it. The biggest problem with the film (even more so than the dialogue) is its pacing and structure. Whereas the original trilogy traces the hero\u2019s journey through the progression of Luke Skywalker, <em>The Phantom Menace<\/em> lacks any true protagonist. Anakin Skywalker, whose fall into the Dark Side is central to the story of the prequels, does not appear in Episode I until past the 40-minute mark. Characters with the most screen time, such as Liam Neeson\u2019s Qui-Gon Jinn, Ahmed Best\u2019s Jar Jar Binks, and Natalie Portman\u2019s Queen Padm\u00e9 Amidala, are impactful to the plot but mostly static, with little to no character development in terms of arc or personal growth. And though Ewan McGregor\u2019s Obi-Wan Kenobi does have something resembling character progression, he is shunted off-screen for most of the movie. One could reasonably argue that the protagonist is actually Sheev Palpatine (yes, that\u2019s his first name), who goes from scheming Naboo senator to Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, all while secretly being the evil Sith Lord pulling the strings. But most of his machinations are naturally happening in the background. <\/p>\n<p><em>The Phantom Menace<\/em> is left with something of a jumbled mess lacking any real anchor. This results in some truly odd pacing, as the movie rushes through quick, choppy scenes in the first act, relying on only the most perfunctory dialogue, just to languish in distractions in Act 2. Act 3 wraps everything up in a finale consisting of four concurrent but separate battlefields, as we jump from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/capitol-officer-killed-friday-to-lie-in-honor-family-releases-statement\/\" title=\"Capitol Officer Killed Friday To Lie In Honor; Family Releases Statement\">lightsaber duel<\/a> to palace infiltration, to the robot battle front lines, to Anakin saving the day in a space battle above the planet. As Lucas famously remarked, sunken-faced, when watching a test screening of the movie\u2019s final act, \u201cI may have gone too far in some places.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>While the film is not \u201cgood\u201d by any means, it is not altogether bad. The John Williams score throughout remains fantastic. The climactic \u201cDuel of the Fates\u201d is among the composer\u2019s best work. Episode I also boasts the best lightsaber fight in the whole series, which counts for something. More importantly, however, I find <em>The Phantom Menace<\/em> much better than what has come after. Trade disputes leading to the destruction of a sclerotic senate, its grubby bureaucrats, and arrogant overseers might strike general audiences as a bit dry for a series with \u201cStar\u201d and \u201cWar\u201d in the title, but at least Lucas was telling his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/audio-call-between-president-trump-and-ga-elections-official-reveals-msm-misquoted-the-45th-president\/\" title=\"Audio call between President Trump and Ga. elections official reveals MSM misquoted the 45th President\">original story<\/a> for the purpose of telling that story. He was not sifting through someone else\u2019s work to cash in on the easy intellectual property recognition for the sake of <em>more<\/em>. Which is what we have now. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With the singular exception of <em>Andor <\/em>and one-half season of <em>The Mandalorian<\/em>, Disney Star Wars has been a colossal failure of both vision and execution, pilfering the successes of the past to jangle \u201cremember this\u201d keys in front of a diminishing audience. Little wonder Disney has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/carolinereid\/2024\/04\/14\/disneys-star-wars-box-office-profits-fail-to-cover-cost-of-lucasfilm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>failed to turn a profit<\/a> on its purchase of the franchise when \u201ca galaxy far, far away\u201d keeps seeming to tell less and less coherent stories about the less and less interesting periphery of the same core story. <\/p>\n<p>The state of Star Wars is representative of the state of Marvel, of Lord of the Rings, of every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disney-cancels-gina-carano-over-tweets-while-ignoring-far-worse-from-others\/\" title=\"Disney Cancels Gina Carano Over Tweets While Ignoring Far Worse From Others\">live-action remake<\/a> or gender-swapped blockbuster redo, of film and television writ large: More of the same, over and over, a culture composting itself without end. As Kylo Ren says unheeded in one of the forgettable, innumerable new Star Wars movies, in advice the Disney bosses ought to take to heart before greenlighting another live-action <em>Lion King <\/em>or another episode of Skywalker family drama \u2014 or, for that matter, another theatrical release of <em>The Phantom Menace<\/em> in five years \u2014 \u201cLet the past die. Kill it, if you have to.\u201d If only.<\/p>\n<p><em>Grant Addison is a deputy editor for the <\/em>Washington Examiner<em> magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To mark The Phantom Menace&#8217;s 25th anniversary, the film is back in theaters this month. I revisited the big screen, as I did for its 20th anniversary, at the editors&#8217; request<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":2246631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/LA.Culture-1-1024x591.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2246630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/LA.Culture-1-1024x591.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2246630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2246631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2246630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2246630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2246630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}