In honor of the 25th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace this month, the movie has returned to theaters. As requested by the editors of this magazine, I revisited the theaters to watch it on the big screen once again, just as I did for its 20th anniversary five years ago.
The Star Wars prequels – including Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – serve as a generational marker for me and my fellow millennials. Each anniversary reminds us of how young we were then, how old we are now, and the growing gap between those times and ages. Every generation has these cultural benchmarks, where parents are criticized for their outdated music and forgotten celebrities.
The Phantom Menace seems to evolve and age alongside us. When I last reviewed the movie for this magazine, the prequels were experiencing a resurgence of appreciation. Fans were realizing that George Lucas’ origin story movies were not as bad as originally thought. However, in the oversaturated world of Star Wars today, the film felt worse upon watching it again. The pacing and structure, not the dialogue, are the biggest issues, as there lacks a true protagonist and character development.
While The Phantom Menace may not be a great film, it does have its strengths such as the John Williams score and the lightsaber fight scenes. It remains better than some of the newer Star Wars movies that seem to rely on nostalgia rather than original storytelling.
The state of Star Wars reflects a larger trend in film and television, where franchises recycle the same ideas repeatedly without much innovation. It’s a cycle of regurgitating the past without moving forward. The advice to “let the past die” may be apt for the future of Star Wars and other franchises as well.
