Somnopolis

Folks it is ten years since The Phantom Menace was released. Funny hunh. Seems so long ago.

An impression perhaps reinforced due to the divorce between our expectations of the film and the eventual result. This abiding sense of disappointment has become something of a joke in years since, with pop culture shows often riffing on the fanboy rage that followed. Everything from Tim Bisley’s anti Jar-Jar rant in Spaced, to Liz Lemon interrupting a date to express her distate for  Attack of the Clones in 30 Rock, is testament to the bemused contempt with which the Star Wars prequels are now viewed.

Simon Pegg has always been a very vocal critic of the films, using Spaced as something of a platform for his love/hate relationship with the franchise. So it is no surprise that he was behind my discovery of last night. Retweeting a message from Lost’s Damon Lindelof containing a link to a youtube video said to be ‘life changing’, I found a seven-part review of The Phantom Menace, released by Mike from Red Letter Media.

The identity of the reviewer himself is never revealed during the video – for reasons that become apparent later – which is composed of multiple freeze-frame gags and scenes from the prequels narrated in a monotonous voice, dripping with weary contempt. Scifiwire.com gives an early article on the proceedings here.

As the ‘review’ progresses, which is more a diatribe on Lucas’ seeming inability to recapture his glory days and his failure as writer/director to establish such basics as plot, character and structure within the prequels, disturbing hints as to Mike’s identity emerge. He makes reference in his deadened voice to several bizarre acts and a troubled family life, until we discover he is a fully fledged homicidal sociopath.

At this point the review is transformed into an all-out satire on Star Wars fandom and the excesses encouraged by Lucasfilm itself. Footage of fanboys screaming as they launch themselves into the cinema screening the first prequel is all-too-reminiscent of Twifans. We also have samples of interviews from Rick Baker and Lucas himself discussing the seeding of background characters in the films, for later toy-franchising. Then we cut to a younger, trimmer Lucas in the 1970’s discussing how special effects should only be used as a tool and that the importance of story is paramount.

The comparison is clear. The earlier films are again and again shown to be the product of passionate imagination and a desire to tell a story that is compelling to audiences. The prequels, fatally, focus on expanding the franchise, with a plot composed more out of box-ticking exercises, thinly fleshing out the mentions of Obi Wan and Anakin’s penultimate duel, or the often-speculated upon Clone Wars.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. This is a poison letter that was ten years in the offing. Watch all seven episodes, they are seventy minutes of surreal wonderment.