In Defense of the 4th Movie - The Phantom Menace

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the 4th movie in the Star Wars saga. Kind of. A New Hope from '77 is actually titled Episode IV, so I guess in a way it could be considered the 4th movie. Otherwise the first of those Ewok movie spinoffs could also be dubbed the 4th movie. Or, if you take into account the Star Wars Holiday Special which occurred between Hope and Empire, that would make Jedi movie number 4.

In any case, we're going with 1999's wonderful Phantom Menace as the 4th movie. Yes, I know it, being far from the Franchise Killer, ushered in the next two movies to make up the Prequel Trilogy. Please, don't quote the prequels. But PM is the 4th and we're going with it.

We all know the bad: the dialogue, the acting, the plot, Jar-Jar, and baby Vader (whatever happened to that kid? He made the smash holiday hit Jingle All the Way and PM and then disappeared. Maybe George Lucas forgot him in Tunisia). You can ramble and argue about the bad all night long. Good for you. That's easy. But what about the good? The good is not so easy to come by, but it's there. Oh, trust me, it's there.

First off, it's Star Wars! That alone makes it awesome. You could put a Star Wars coffee mug in the microwave and tell me to watch it for 2 hours and I would, because it's Star Wars! We've got Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, two capable actors as Jedi. Granted, their not given the best material. And it would have been so much cooler if Qui-Gon Jin had the temperament of Neeson's character in Taken. Wouldn't it? Wouldn't it?

We got Yoda back, and still as a practical muppet! Samuel L. Jackson is a Jedi, as well. Yes, he doesn't do anything. But still, it's Sammy J. as a Jedi! There's tons of droids getting hacked and slashed and a zooming pod race. Come on, you know it was cool the first time you saw it. Plus, it helps if you change the audio to a foreign language so you can't understand all the stupid commentary the two-headed announcers are saying.

And we've got Maul, the coolest Sith since big bad Vader himself. The duel at the end of the film between him and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was awesome, you have to admit. Sweet moves, John William's Duel of the Fates pulsating in the background, and Darth Maul's two-sided lightsaber make for an exhilarating action sequence. Search your feelings, you know it be true.

But perhaps the most important reason why PM is good: it introduced all us Star Wars geeks to Natalie Portman.Yeah.

So how does it compare with the rest of the series? Is it the best? Hah! No way. What a stupid question. Well then, is it the worst? Hmm, maybe. I think most would say it is, but I'm going to reserve that condemnation for Attack of the Clones, mostly because baby Vader is still a way better actor than Hayden Christensen. It's close, though.

Best in Series: No.
Worst in Series: No.





6.8/9.9 Toddsperience