![]() Regardless of all the secondary characters, moments of comic relief and other distractions, the plot is essentially a simple one: it’s the story of Anakin Skywalker, and how a once promising Jedi is twisted into becoming the evil Darth Vader. In an otherwise superb fight sequence, in which Qui-Gon falls to Maul’s crimson blade, the villain’s abruptly sliced in two by Ewan McGregor’s young Obi-Wan Kenobi. A split-second later, Darth Maul, the face that sold a legion action figures, is plummeting down the shaft of a melting pit and out of the trilogy for good. For this writer, Darth Maul’s exit was the biggest mistake George Lucas made in any of the prequels.Ĭonsider the overall plot of the Prequel Trilogy. Thanks in no small part to Ray Park’s skills as a martial artist, the combat scenes between he and Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) were arguably the best in the entire Prequel Trilogy. Even as the plot heaved through a sequence of Trade Federation blockades and Jedi Council meetings, the fleet-footed Darth Maul – along with his double-bladed lightsaber – thrilled in every scene in which he appeared. He brought agility to the Star Warsfranchise, too. ![]() Intimidating yet utterly mesmerizing, thanks to his black finery, red-and-black flesh, and crown of horns, this new Lord of the Sith was arguably as fearsome a screen presence as Darth Vader. ![]() In many ways, he was just as we were promised in that 1998 trailer: he appeared only sparingly, but cast a long shadow over the film. Many complained about the seemingly endless discussions about trade agreements, while the late Roger Ebert praised the film as an “astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking.”Įxactly where George Lucas did or did not go wrong with The Phantom Menace has been discussed repeatedly and at length, but there’s surely one aspect of the film that pretty much everyone could agree on: Darth Maul was a magnificent villain. Rolling Stone magazine described Jar-Jar Binks as a “scene stealer,” and ranked The Phantom Menace above Return of the Jediin terms of quality. A vocal percentage of internet commenters laid the blame squarely at Jar-Jar Binks’ webbed feet. On its release in 1999, audiences and critics alike seemed divided as to why the film didn’t quite work. Perhaps inevitably, The Phantom Menace didn’t live up to the weight of expectation. As Yoda tells us, “Always two there are.” Just from this brief glimpse of The Phantom Menace, the setup was clear: Darth Maul would be the loyal and physically imposing apprentice to Darth Sidious, reprising the Vader-Palpatine dynamic in the original Star Wars trilogy.
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