The Phantom Menace - Episode 1: The Native perspective

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MOVIE REVIEW

Rating: three feathers out of five

I remember when I was as small as R2-D2, I would watch all three Star Wars movies over and over, the trilogy made me believe that Ewoks lived in my back yard, and that Darth Vader was my father.

With nothing but reserve dogs to play with, kids like me needed Star Wars to make their own little fantasy world come true. And I sure did. I imagined Red Earth, my reserve, was a planet, and all the kids were droids and Jabba Da Hut was my big uncle. Everyday, I would play outside with my wooden stick like it was my light phaser and hit other kids like they were evil droids of the darkside. I can't remember how many kids I injured, I just remember the little reserve dogs who yelped everytime I swatted them with my light phaser. When it rained I would play inside with all my Star Wars toys and make my own little plastic army men.

Anyway, when I look back I can't help but laugh at myself. What a crazy imagination I had. But I guess it turned out into a good thing. It gave me more creativity, helpful in being a writer.

So it is from this wild imagination that I bring you 'the Native Perspective on Star Wars.'

The prequal - The Phantom Menace - Episode 1 - hit the theatres on May 19, earning more than $100 million in its first week. That would beat last years smash, Smoke Signals, by far. Even the CBC-drama Big Bear couldn't match up. Promotion had a lot to do with the success of its first week. With KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut coming together and merchandise being sold everywhere, there's no telling how big this movie could get.

Three feathers out of five is my rating for the Phantom Menace. Why so average? Well, there are many reasons why it didn't meet my expectations. When someone says, I'm going to tell all my friends to watch this movie, I say, May the force be with you, because by then most people will have seen the movie and might have a different perspective. For those of us who were as young as Analien Skywalker when the first Star Wars came out, we were introduced to a new world of science fiction that opened our eyes to what kind of creativity could come out of Hollywood filmmakers like George Lucas. This time around, George Lucas presented us with a story line that really didn't matter. All that mattered to most young viewers was the special effects. The older generation looked at The Phantom Menace as an exciting film, but with a plot that we could already predict.

Unless you've been living in a teepee all your life and haven't got a clue about the entire Star Wars history, you know the Phantom Menace is based around young little Anakan Skywalker who is soon to become the evil Darth Vader. In the Phantom Menace, we find out how R2-D2 and C-3P0 are discovered. We also witness the first attack by the federation. The opposing party is out to have Queen Amidala sign a treaty after invasion is set on planet Naboo. Throughout, it is the job of the Jedis, Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Won Kenobi to protect the queen and defeat the darkside.

The movie has its ups and downs. The most exciting parts of the movie make it more enjoyable. Such as the pog race where Anakan Skywalker races to beat other creatures in an attempt to be freed as a slave from the planet Tatooine. The battle between the sea-creatures and droids and the sword fights of the Jedis and the evil Darth Maul makes it all the better.

However, Lucas' idea of comic relief just doesn't make me laugh. He uses the geeky annoying amphibian, Jar Jar Binks throughout Episode 1 to say and do stupid things. The character says things like 'yousa' and meesa' for 'you' and 'me'. He of course is the most hated character by Star Wars fans who think 'Jar Jar Mussa Die.'

Star Wars websites and fans are all in agreement in favor of a festive Jar Jar-B-Q. The amphibian, as one of the critics says, "looks like a goofball at best and a racial stereotype at worst." What if Jar Jar had a stereotyped Indian accent wit a buckskin outfit with face paint and used a bow and arrow (which he does in the movie) to fight? Do you think the Native community would be happy?

The film just doesn't provide the audience with enough space ship fights, kind of like what we hoped for in Big Bear when we didn't see enough cowboy annihilation. Like the other three movies, we just couldn't get enough of watching space ships blow up, this time we only get to see about 11 ships explode. Not enough battles and too much time wasted on the planet Tatooine, not enough time to discover planet Coruscont ( a planet which is one big city) and too long of a boring conclusion made Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace a good movie, but not a great one.