Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace: Lucas's Folly?

The Phantom Menace is not a bad film. It’s not a good one either. Its “meh”. Described by Screen Junkie’s “Honest Trailer” series as “The biggest letdown in movie history” the film has received a reputation as an abomination, proving that Lucas either lost it or never had it in the first place and got lucky because he was forced to work with people who could keep him in check. And this movie is a letdown. I still feel let down every time I watch it. Compared to the original trilogy it is incredibly subpar—filled with bad decisions on the part of the writer. 

The movie stars with a Jedi investigation into a trade blockade over the planet of Naboo. The blockade soon turns into an invasion and the Jedi are forced to flee the planet with the queen. Landing on the planet of Tatooine for repairs they encounter Anakin Skywalker: a young slave who is unusually strong in the force. Heading back to the capital of Coruscant, the Queen finds that the senate is corrupt, incompetent and unable to aid her planet. After calling for a vote of no confidence in the chancellor she heads back to Naboo in an attempt to liberate her people. Bringing together an army of Naboo security officers and native Gungans she leads an attempt to retake the capital from the Trade federation and their secret patrons the Sith. 

Just reading the description would wouldn’t think there was anything particularly wrong with the movie. The fault lies more in the execution. The choice to make Anakin a prepubescent child often means his dialogue and role in the story come off as awkward. The choice to include the “likeable” fool Jar Jar Binks as a main character mires the story in juvenile humor. Everything about Queen Amidala is weird, the fact she was elected ruler of a planet at age 13, the makeup, the sub plot where she poses as her own handmaiden, it’s all weird. Perhaps the worse choice in the movie was how horribly underused Darth Maul is. We get one brief fight, one much longer fight and almost no dialogue. Contrast to Vader who is constantly menacing everyone throughout the original trilogy we can see how the opportunity was lost to use this fan favorite. All these things could be fixed with only minimal changes to the story itself. 

The Star Wars prequels of notorious for their CGI. There actually are some practical effects in this film but the movie does have a digital sheen to it that sometimes gets in the way of enjoying it. This is yet another weakness that has revealed itself with age. Much of the CGI just does not hold up. The robots and ships are fine but CGI life forms are so obviously fake that they look out of place with the real actors. Ironically Jar Jar is the most glaring example of this. He sticks out like a sour thumb from the moment he appears. 

The acting is alright. Most of the actors are trying, but were given lines which no one could make natural. Many attacked Jake Loyd for his performance of Anakin Skywalker but the kid didn’t do bad considering what he had to work with. Most of the bad acting could have been fixed by better directing and an editor taking an axe to some of the dialogue. 

The biggest weakness of The Phantom menace is pacing. The movie starts out fast paced but quickly slows down once they escape Naboo. Anakin isn’t introduced for a half hour and Tatooine drags on for nearly an hour without any fighting. This leaves a big boring hole in the middle of the movie. Coruscant has even more talking and exposition, but unlike most I found the political theater interesting, and while some mindless action would have helped to focus my interest this segment of the movie wasn’t nearly as boring. The pod race scene on Tatooine was interesting, but far from my cup of tea. IN my opinion it just doesn't make up for the rest of that segment of the movie.

On the plus side Phantom Menace does have great fights. Light sabers are a lot more fun to watch than blaster battles. The light saber fights were also expertly choreographed. The battle of Naboo pales in comparison to the battle of Yavin or Endor in terms of impact it is at least at least watchable. Also on the plus is some of the design and music decisions which really add to the movie. The ships look cool, the fight music is excellent.  The peripheries were strong. The universe was set up perfectly for an epic movie. it was the follow through that failed: a lesson that great world building and effects does not a great movie make.

Overall The Phantom Menace is watchable. If it hadn’t come from the creator of the original trilogy it would even be something to be proud off. Unfortunately it just doesn’t live up to moves like The Empire Strikes back and A New Hope. It’s manly the contrast with these masterpieces which is so disappointing. It’s worth watching, if you like Star Wars otherwise just leave it be.

6 out of 10

-Gedaemon

Episode II

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Dragon Ball Super Ep. 96: Hype and a Half

I don’t know how Toei can top this tournament. Maybe make up multiple groups of universes?

Several of the gods finally get a chance to inspect the arena. They are pleased with what they see but wonder if it will hold up to the fighting. The grand priest appears and assures them that it will. He made it out of a material stronger than the katchin mined in Universe Seven and invites the Gods to try it out several of the Gods of destruction take up his offer under the tournament rules they fight. Not much happens however as the grand priest calls and end to the fighting and tells the gods of destruction to repair the damage they caused. 

Meanwhile in Universe Seven the team welcomes Freeza. Vegeta in partucalar almost immediately picks a fight with him, and Tenshinhan asks if Goku is really going through with this but Goku assures him he can keep Freeza in line. Meanwhile Yamcha observes this from behind a corner. Puar expresses his regret that Yamcha wasn’t chosen but Yamcha doesn’t seem too upset.

The supreme Kai wants to do some planning, Vegeta objects saying they just have to take out whoever looks strong, but Piccolo Goku and Gohan convince him to settle down and participate. The Grand Kai advances them to stay together and use numbers. Goku and Vegeta do not like this so Piccolo and Gohan decide by themselves that they have to keep control of the group. 

Then, joining hands they teleport to the arena. Initially the team is shocked by the world of the void. Looking over the side they are started at the long drop. Vegeta points out they can fly but Whis says they probably can’t. Trying it, Goku finds he indeed cannot fly.  Restrictions have been placed on the area around the arena. Each warrior feels the weight of their birth planet and only those who can naturally fly can.

Feeza and Frost notice each other. The Saiyans from universe Seven and Six also meet. The Saiyan interactions are amusing but in the shadows Feeza and Frost plot to work together.

Finally the Universe eleven’s team arrives. Goku wants to continue his fight with Toppa but he and the entire team tell him to get lost—and Jiren takes Goku’s back unnoticed. 

Deciding to finish up construction the Gods pick up their pace and the assembled warriors are forced to dodge. But Jiren doesn’t even move, having read the movements. Goku takes notice.

Finally we get a look at the teams. And Zen oh graces them with his words. The tournament is ready to begin. 

This was a transition episode, but I liked it. It was relatively streamlined, the jokes were funny and the art was good. It also did its job of building up anticipation for the tournament. I do wish we could have gotten more out of the fight at the beginning but that’s a small quibble. 

It’s impressive how much the art has improved lately. I don’t know if they have been given a bigger budget, a new art director or something but someone has really upped the standards. Let’s hope that continues through this arc and into the next.

-Gedaemon

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Dragon Ball Z Abridged Ep. 59 Review: Cell's Existential Crisis

Team Four Star is back on their game.

Goku and Cell are still at it. After exchanging words cell destroys the arena and the fight continues. Goku begins charging his Kamehameha and as Cell cheers him and his friends panic, Goku teleports right in front of cell and blows off the top of his torso. But Kuririn’s count out is premature as Cell regenerates

The fight begins again, but Goku is winded. Trunk’s suggests a senzu bean but Vegeta chastises him, saying Goku’s Saiyan pride will cause him to fight to the end. Then Goku gives up. This makes Cell angry but but Goku calls on Mr. Satan to replace him. But Mr. Satan claims to have diarrhea so he calls on Gohan. Gohan and everyone else are apprehensive but with Goku pushing for it he goes in anyway, thinking he might have an advantage because cell is still beat up from his fight with Goku. He thinks that until Goku gives Cell a senzu bean to make the fight fair. This does not help Gohan.

This is the episode I have been waiting for…so I probably hyped myself up to much, but it was a step up from the last few episodes. It was fast paced, the jokes were funny, and it had a few memorable moments and twists. I about lost it when Goku called on Mr. Satan to step in for him instead of Gohan. Some might be offended by the double entendres and other off color humor, but if you are you should have given this series up a long time ago. 

I don’t have any real criticisms. It still doesn’t have the laughs per minute of season 2 and early season 3 but it is funny. It had some laugh out loud moments too.

The next few episodes will be crucial. How will Team Four Star handle Gohan Vs Cell: the high point of Gohan’s role in the series and a fan favorite near the level of Goku vs Freeza.  I expect a lot considering their past work. 

-Gedaemon

Knights of The Old Republic: Programing is the Dark Side

“Knights of the Old Republic” is a classic Star Wars game. Despite not featuring any of the familiar characters from the movies it has worked its way deep into Star Wars lore (until Disney decided all that lore is no longer cannon. Sorry.) Yet despite its iconic status amongst hard core Star Wars fans, some aspects of it have aged better than others.

Knights of the Old Republic, or KOTAR for short, is set four thousand years before the Clone Wars. A Sith army as appeared from seemingly nowhere, led by Darth Raven and his apprentice Darth Malak. But since then Malak killed Raven and has taken control for himself. The main character finds himself on a beleaguered ship above the outer rim world of Tarsis. After a battle you find yourself crashed on the planet and on a quest to locate the Jedi Ballstila whose special abilities are key to winning the war. Eventually you gain your own Jedi powers and begin searching the galaxy to clues to the origin of the Sith army’s resources. 

The interesting thing about KOTOR is throughout the game you are given a series of moral choices. These choices influence your alignment with the dark or light side of the force. What is interesting about these choices is that they often change elements of the story. Also interesting is that always doing what is right or wrong does not always benefit you. Sometimes helping people gives important information, other times the dark side is a path to easy credits and experience points. At the same time many powers are only accessible if you choose to embrace the light or dark. All of this adds a layer of complexity to the emphasis on stark moral choices in the game and Star Wars as a whole.

The writing in KOTOR is very good for a videogame with only a few silly concessions to the format. The most notable thing is the many side quests scattered throughout the galaxy. You can choose to complete these quests in a number of ways. Which adds to the games replay value, and given that there are both light and dark side endings the game is worth at least two good playthroughs.

The combat system is somewhat fun but also somewhat repetitive. You pause the game to enter commands and you control whatever character you are using, otherwise the computer takes control of things. This makes combat either very easy or absurdly hard depending on the enemy. That said watching the light saber fights and force powers play out can be very entertaining. It all looks right--except for the part where enemies and party members alike shrug off blaster bolts and grenades exploding in their faces—it is a videogame after all. 

The graphics are nothing to write home about, but considering the game is sixteen years old they’re ok. I admit being more impressed when I was a teenager, but the graphics were not bad for a retro game. In fact the in game movies actually still hold up. 

What has not held up is the programing. It took a lot of work to get the game to run on my modern operating system. I had to add values to the games registry, and that was just to keep it from crashing. It was still very glitchy. Characters often stopped moving after combat forcing me to switch party members or save and reload. One time I even had to take my characters gear off to get him to load properly into a cut scene, thus stopping the game from crashing. Why this worked I have no idea but it did. All of this understandably deeply decreased my enjoyment of the game, though I was able to work around it. 

While Darth Raven and KOTOR are no longer cannon, they do hold a dear place in my heart, and the hearts of many hardcore Star Wars fans. Hopefully someday the characters will be reestablished in the new cannon. Until then we only have a classic Star Wars game which is still very much worth playing.

9.0-10

-Gedaemon

Review of Dragon Ball Super Ep. 95: Freeza Is Somewhat Untrustworthy

The assassins have surrounded Baba’s place and while Baba and her ghost attendant look scared out of their minds Freeza look excited. The assassins proclaim they aren’t from a weak universe like Seven and challenge Goku and Freeza to a fight. Goku warns Freeza not to exhaust himself but Freeza states that his time in hell was mental training and he can now fully use his golden form. He demonstrates this by rapidly killing assassins. The killing angers Goku but Freeza says there is no difference between being killed by him and having their universe erased. 

Put on the defensive the assassins try to take Baba hostage. Goku intervenes—yelling at Baba to hide and beating up the assassins. He then interrupts freeza’s killing spree. But while they argue the head assassin prepares to use the Hakaishin energy he was given by Sidra. Freeza notices the surprise attack however and challenges him to attack him with it. Freeza easily counters the first attack but it was a bluff. As the assassin throws another energy attack it is destroyed as well. Freeza gloats only for a third energy ball to his him from below. But the divine attack fails to have any effect. Instead with great effort Freeza controls the energy and kills the head assassin. 

Examining the ball Freeza concludes the energy comes from a God. Goku gives the assassins a good natured plea to settle things in the ring—which Freeza uses as an opening to hit Goku with the divine energy. 

Meanwhile the stage for the tournament of power is complete. Zen’oh congratulates the high priest on his work. 

Cutting back to Universe Seven Freeza explains he was thinking about killing Goku, telling him to hurry and escape the energy ball, however Goku struggles with this. With Goku indisposed Freeza Takes care of the rest of the assassins. 

In Universe 9 Sidra and Roh await word from the assassins. Instead they are contacted by Freeza who stole the assassin’s communicator. Freeza points out they now have proof of Universe Sevens duplicity but instead of telling on them Freeza wants to switch sides. Having trapped Goku there is no way Universe Seven can win so if Universe Nine resurrects him he will fight for them.

Roh is hesitant to take this deal and while he and Sidra argue Beerus and Whis show up. Freeza declairs that time is up and destroys the communicator. 

Beerus easily frees Goku and asks what happened. Freeza says the energy isn’t a big deal but Beerus has seen though him—asking if he has been trying to make deals with other universes. As Goku  Beerus and Whis argue Freeza thinks to himself that the tournament is a perfect opportunity to manipulate the Gods. 

Before they wrap things up however Goku wants a match with Freeza. Beerus and Whis humor him—again. Whis declares that whoever lands the first punch wins. Goku says if he wins Freeza has to commit to being their companion for the tournament. Freeza says if he wins he gets to do what he wants. While in hell Freeza fully concentrated on imagining his revenge on Goku and is convinced he will win. The two come right at each other and land their hits at the same time. Both are knocked out and fall into the water. 

This episode almost makes up for last week—almost. We got some good, mindless action. We also learned about what Freeza has been up to, he is stronger than ever and is even with Goku in his Super Saiyan Blue form. We also see Freeza’s potential duplicity. He has already tried to defect once. Will he do so again? Between the fighting, plot progression and the character building we got a decent episode.

The tournament begins next episode. Will it live up to fan expectations?

-Gedaemon

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