Notes on a Movie
I watched (deep breath) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace last night--I dunno why, it was just the most appealing of my choices--and a few things occurred to me, as it's been long enough since I've seen it that it was sort of a new experience. There are spoilers herein, if anyone still cares at this late date.
For one thing, it's packed with fabulous actors; there are a few times when Ewan McGregor is essentially channeling Alec Guinness, and there's Liam Neeson and Ian McDiarmid (lots of Scots in this picture) and the woman who plays Shmi ("What is that, Welsh?") and I think Natalie Portman was nominated for an Oscar once for heaven's sake. Sadly, the kid who plays Anakin is not one of the fabulous actors; I don't know if it was bad directing or if he's just not that talented (or hadn't learned his trade yet when the movie was made, he's 19 now), but having the central role played by a kid who can't sell enthusiasm when he's in a Star Wars movie kind of sucks the life out of a lot of scenes.
Yoda's kind of a dick. I mean, we knew that from The Empire Strikes Back, but it's one thing to do this kind of crap to a grown man (which Luke is, for all his whining) and another to pull it on a nine-year-old. In the Jedi Council scene with Anakin, the dialogue goes like so (paraphrased):
Yoda: I think you're scared. How do you feel?
Anakin: No, just kind of cold, being from the desert and all.
Random Jedi Master: You're thinking about your mother though. (Which, by the way, nice way to eavesdrop on the kid's brain, buddy)
Anakin: Yeah, I kind of miss her. (Unspoken: Being nine and having just left my home planet on which my mom is still a slave.)
Yoda: Oh, well, then clearly I'm right because if you miss her you must be scared of losing her!
What-evvuh. (Also, would it not have been clever of someone to send a couple of apprentices back to Tatooine with some gold to buy Shmi from Watto? I realize Jedi aren't supposed to have families and all, but Anakin was something of a special case, being the Chosen One and also much older than the usual run of Jedi apprentices.)
So let me get this straight: You have thousands of Jedi and two Sith, and you think that "bringing balance to the Force" is a good thing?
At this remove I can't remember if I worked out the whole Padmé thing before the big reveal, but I noticed a nice bit towards the beginning, just after the Trade Federation has invaded: The Jedi are escorting the "Queen" and her handmaidens and trying to decide what to do; there's mention of a risky plan and the "Queen", before making her decision, looks at Padmé in her handmaiden dress. Padmé says, "We are brave, your highness"1, thus telling her stand-in to go with the risky.
Perhaps it's just that I've seen Eps. IV-VI so many time that I have them memorized, but is there anyone who didn't get that Palpatine and Sidious were the same person? Even discounting the name, which is not to the best of my recollection actually mentioned in any of the originals; he's always just called "the Emperor".
There's also the eternal question: when it comes time to introduce my hypothetical children to Star Wars, what order do I show them the films in?
1: Why did people keep calling a reigning queen "highness"? Should've been "majesty". The fact that it's an elective position doesn't make the titles change.