All right: so some of you are groaning right now, but as disappointing as this opening chapter in George Lucas' legendary sci-fi saga was, you have to admit that, being the first official Star Wars film in 16 years, this wasn't just a movie; it was an event. With its wooden dialogue and robotic performances (and I'm talking about the human actors, not the actual droids), The Phantom Menance pretty much disappointed everyone who laid eyes upon it. And then there was Jar Jar. "Meesa ruin your childhood memories!" Sigh. At least Episode III sort of made up for it - though that did happen six years later. Keeping with the theme of this article, it's probably best to discuss the movie's "legacy" ( if you can call it that). For better or worse, Star Wars: Episode I introduced the world to digital sidekicks brought to you by motion-capture technology. This would be made famous years later with Andy Serkis' brilliant performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy - and now The Hobbit Trilogy (will these movies ever end?). Director Peter Jackson proved in the Rings movies that motion capture wasn't necessarily a bad thing when it was to be accompanied by a fully developed character; not just in pixels, but in pages of the screenplay.
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
