Twenty years ago today, the most anticipated movie ever made, caused mass absenteeism at every workplace in the country. I hope all you "Avengers: Endgame" enthusiasts believe me when I tell you that the buzz surrounding the first(chronological) "Star Wars" movie was intense and inescapable from the moment the trailer dropped on Thanksgiving Eve 1998. Tears of joy were brought to the eyes of a generation that had been waiting since 1983 to witness the realization of a prequel trilogy teased by George Lucas around the release of "Return of the Jedi", and then quickly forgotten by the bearded maestro for over a decade("No more Star Wars", grumbled Lucas when pressed on the subject in the late '80s). It was a cinematic dream come true, and the box office was predictably massive- "The Phantom Menace" made $431 million domestically, and was the second-biggest moneymaker of the '90s, behind "Titanic". Something funny happened in the months that followed, though. Fans began discussing the film on the internet, and Jake Lloyd and Jar Jar Binks became our sworn enemies as we entered the new millennium. The previously-deified Lucas found himself defending his shiny vision from irate devotees that would have taken a bullet for him two years earlier. "Episode II" had some explaining to do in 2002, but there was just as much negativity as there was excitement waiting for Hayden Christensen that summer. Anakin never had a chance.
 |
| "Just don't go online, son". |
The real problem lies with aging fanboys that wanted "Episode I" to make them feel the same way the original did in 1977. Impossible. That was a very different time. There were zero expectations. Was Lucas the same filmmaker? Absolutely not. That twenty-two year break from the director's chair makes George more of a producer-mogul than an auteur like his old mentor Frances Ford Coppola. Those cuddly Ewoks were an early indication that pleasing children was a priority over at Lucasfilm. The 1997 rereleases of the OT revealed a fondness for unnecessary and distracting CGI. There was no Harrison Ford on set to fearlessly proclaim that "Stars Wars" dialogue could be typed but not spoken. We ignored the red flags that should have told savvy observers that "The Phantom Menace" WASN'T going to be the greatest movie off all time. But only a fool would suggest it's one of the worst, with a rad pod race, a legendary lightsaber battle, and a young(er) Liam Neeson constituting some of the series' best moments.
 |
| Admit it, Maul gave you an erection. |
The size, scope, and ambition of Lucas' serialized storytelling has inspired nearly every franchise in the 21st Century. In a way, he changed the business all over again. Nothing ever really ends, there's always another chapter, another layer, another billion dollars to be made in the sagas of Marvel, Harry Potter, Ethan Hunt, the Hobbits, Transformers, Terminators, and Jack Sparrow. We have an insatiable appetite for familiar characters and worlds, and the prequels' financial windfall proved it. Would Disney have paid $3 billion for a reviled property? The Mouse House knew that "SW" fans are like masochistic sports fans, that tune in next season NO MATTER WHAT. What's the point of all that complaining, if you're still going to pluck down $15 to see every additional episode in IMAX anyway? You're just pissing in the wind. This fanbase is morphing into something I'm not sure I want to be a part of. I'll still see the movies, I just won't bother discussing them with other 'fans'. They suck the fun out of it. "The Phantom Menace" never deserved your relentless derision. There's REAL people with REAL feelings behind this thing, and they're not all invincible multimillionaires(see Ahmed Best). Bite your tongue about the Trade Federation during the next "SW" holiday marathon. Besides, you've got "The Last Jedi" to beat up on now.
No comments:
Post a Comment