We went to our preferred theater last night for the movie, and there were maybe 20 people there, which I thought was a surprising amount for a Monday 6:30pm showing. A couple small groups of very apparent nerds, and then some individuals. Many were talking pretty loud before the movie and even during the previews, but were completely quiet for the film!
For something that is 25 years old, I think it has aged really well. The first part of the film, pretty much everything up to encountering Jar Jar, is some of the most solid Star Wars you can find. Naboo is still beautiful. The droid forces are still an excellent design. The podrace is a great idea, and perhaps drags overall, but it was unlike anything seen before. Coruscant in all of its glory seems so big and overwhelming, with the Jedi council feeling cold and unwavering, perhaps not unlike Anikan’s point of view. The final battle, combing an all out war on the ground, a space battle above, and a perfectly choreographed lightsaber battle still brought me excitement all these years later. And the costumes are amazing. Seeing the detail on the Nemoidians’ robes, the Queens wardrobe and everything in between…Just an excellent execution.
The more critical takeaways are that Jar Jar should have stayed practical. You can see in a few scenes were people are interacting with him directly and their line of sight goes right past the CGI model. He should have also been toned down. You can barely understand half of his lines and he has too many antics. Anakin should have never been a little boy. As a slave, he could have been 15-18, a little more rough around the edges, and sore about the world around him and his inability to escape it. That would have helped introduce his future wife into being interested in him, as she would have probably never encountered anyone like that before in her upbringing. The Padme switching back and forth as Queen Amidala seems like it is still lost on the audience. I think a casual viewer would think Padme and the Queen are two separate people. I was going to quiz my wife and see what she thought too.
Speaking of Padme, she is still my crush apparently. When I was 10, I thought she was so cute. At 33, I still think she is cute. She has command and leadership. She is cunning and wise. She navigates difficult situations and conversation with directness. And she’s cute. Did I mention that? Her smile when she is in the peasant disguise still makes me have that crush. I had honestly forgotten.
Overall, My wife and I agreed that we both enjoy the film more now than we did as kids. As a kid, I liked each movie as they came out. After the prequels were done being released, I probably would have ranked TPM the lowest. Now, in adulthood, I think TPM is probably the best of them. It’s not overran by CGI, it’s a good introduction to a completely new era, and I can compare it to the absolute trash sequel trilogy that is absolutely a dumpster fire. Looking at the elegance of this film (and the OT) and comparing it to those ST movies, you’d have no idea it was even the same franchise.
I do wonder if Disney does an even worse set of films post-ST, will that make me like the ST more? Judging a 2/10 to a 1/10 or something like that…
