Yesterday was May the 4th, aka Star Wars Day, and I wasn't going to put a Star Wars movie on here just yet. I was actually going to wait until the next Star Wars movie came out, but just recently I found out it's not going to open until December 2015 (that's 19 months from now!). So I figure, why wait? Why not do just a couple of them or maybe one of the trilogies?
I'm gonna start with the first in the trilogy, according to the timeline. To most people and Star Wars fans, the first film is 1977's A New Hope. Sure, it's true, but chronologically in the story, Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the first. This was the movie that was the most anticipated of all time; after all, it was 16 years since the previous Star Wars film. I'll never forget the people camping out and waiting in line hours before tickets were sold for this movie back in 1999.
Coming into this film (back in '99), I had only seen A New Hope, but I did know what mostly happened in the other two movies (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi). I also knew this was the beginning of the rise of Darth Vader, but he went by his given name, Anakin Skywalker. He would be not only the main villain, but the father of Luke and Princess Leia as well as the husband of Queen Amidala. This was our first look at how he became the madman he was.
Of course, in the first one, he's a nice boy. He is a slave who lives with his mother, Shmi, on the planet Tatooine, the only planet on the galaxy where slavery still exists. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his mentor (Liam Neeson), both Jedi Knights, make a stop on the planet while en route to planet Coruscant from Naboo, to save the Queen. The queen's assistant (or, later the actual one, played by Natalie Portman) joins them. The trio befriend Anakin and try to get him out of his situation. Darth Maul is the main antagonist in the film.
I could go really deep in writing the plot; but as always, I like to keep it short and sweet. This is also not to 'give it away' to those who haven't seen it. So what do I think of it? I thought it was a fresh new beginning of a trilogy story at a time, but it also raised several questions for me. Like, why Jar Jar Binks, being one of them! I did give it a median score since I don't consider this friendly enough for 'the average movie watcher', which is something I fit into. But I do enjoy all the Star Wars movies, so it does get some from me in return. For those who haven't seen the original trilogy, you may feel a bit lost with the names, places and the characters. Still, an enjoyable film. And of course, the only time you'll ever see Darth Vader as innocent as he can be.
My rating: 6 out of 10
Tomatometer: 57%
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