- Sensibility: Some rather miraculous survivals from Anakin and Qui-gon are bothersome to the harsh critic as well as a planet with no defense or army, a strange capability for
blocking communications, a misuse of some grappling abilities, and an impossible double-reverse coup can make this film hard to swallow.
- Cinematography: Costuming and makeup are excellent and memorable, particular for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul. CGI is fairly impressive, particularly for the time but there are certainly moments where
the green-screen overlay isn't perfect. Also, the screen-wipe transitions are
glaring, and some of the choreography is a bit clunky.
- Energy: It's a fun watch full of very memorable moments. However, the film has a huge burst of energy during the pod-racing sequence and then lulls a bit getting to the
next moment of tension. People may find the poltical side of the story dull, but I think it does a good job of contextualizing the choices by the characters and is critical for setting up
the next two films in the franchise.
- Narrative: The lack of an army on Naboo feels like a ridiculous way to skip an initial battle sequence in the film.
Some unnecessary cliches, like the mystical boy born of a virgin, and some clearly racially motivated character design take away from the story. These kinds of films are already
fighting an uphill battle trying not to be corny, so creating deliberately corny characters like Jar Jar Binks makes it hard to bear at some instances. However, Darth Maul is great conceptually,
the pod-racing sequence is incredible and stirring, and the sequences on Tatooine felt like they capture the spiritual significance of the discovery of Anakin Skywalker for the Star Wars universe.
- T-Points: The film received three bonus points: one for the overall performance from Jake Lloyd who I think has a youthful earnestness that feels genuine and makes Anakin very charming, one for the podracing sequence and particularly the moment where Anakin uses a magnet to re-attach one of the engines, one for Queen Amidala's costuming
and one for the concept of the Queen's decoy, a feature which I don't think I've seen used as effectively in another film.
People hate on the prequels and particularly this film, but relative to the current onslaught of prequel and sequel slop we get each year, we really should have appreciated
how good we had it. Even though this is definitely the worst of the prequels, it's still a solid film which sets the stage for the next two well.
Number of Watches: 4
