The Phantom Menace is a Stand Alone movie

There is this commonly restated belief that of course A New Hope is the ONLY Star Wars movie that can truly entirely work as a stand alone film, because everything else is derivative of that.  But Lucas always intended that film to feel like jumping into a series in the middle, while the film he called Episode I should, like any good first episode of a film series, be the one that most stands on its own.  And it does.

When you look back at how the film was marketed, yes the teaser focused on Anakin and Obi-Won and the fact that it was a prequel, but the main full trailer doesn’t mention Anakin and barely gives Obi-Won any attention, because the main plot isn’t actually about Anakin at all.  As a stand alone film it’s about Queen Amidala’s dilemma but also told chiefly from the point of view of the Jedi Knights sent to help her.  And in terms of how things are resolved it’s also about reconciling the relationship between the Naboo and the Gungans which is why Jar Jar Binks is important.

Now you may respond “okay it has a stand alone main plot, but isn’t the time devoted to Anakin a waste when viewed through that lens?”  Well no and here’s why.

First of all, think about the part of the first act where they’ve finally escaped Naboo with the Queen.  No good fantasy adventure story would actually allow them to be able to go right to Coruscant, cinematic tension and drama demand something delay them and force them to stop somewhere else along the way.  If the medium of this story were a video game or something serialized then multiple stops would probably be made, 3-7 most likely, but a film with only 2 hours to work with only has time for one.  And the conventions of this genre would also demand each stop add a new member to the party, and it’s even normal for that new character to become the focus during this section, and then that party member should also contribute something at the climax/resolution so that everything feels like it mattered.

Those are the Genre convention reasons for the role Anakin and Tatooine plays in the story, but what about Themes?  What about how it helps tell the stories of the main characters?

Padme encountering the existence of Slavery on Tatooine and the fact that the Republic is doing nothing about it is her first reality check that the Republic isn’t all she thought it was, and it prepares her for the more directly relevant to her situation reality check she shall receive when they reach Coruscant.

And the new party member added being a Force Sensitive potential Jedi allows us to learn more about the Force and the Jedi and how their order works, thus providing context to help us better understand our POV protagonists.

Now the film does have some blatant sequel hooks at the end, but so what, The Godfather in its last act has a few moments that at least in retrospect feel like set up for Part II, they don't make that film not a stand alone film.  Any good Fantasy Adventure story should leave potential for more stories, even if lack of success means they don’t get made, that just allows the viewer to use their imagination.  

A New Hope comparatively leaves far more unresolved with The Empire still standing, Vader most likely still alive, Luke having even less of a start to his Jedi training, and the bounty on Han still being a Sword of Damocles over his head.  None of those kill the ability of that film to stand on its own and the same is true of anything you can say about The Phantom Menace.

Now maybe someone will turn around and say “well that just makes it a bad first episode of the Saga if the ultimate main character is of little importance”, but no it doesn’t.  It’s like The Ring being a small side plot in The Hobbit.  And in MrSundayMovies recent Symbiants video he observes how the main plot of the movie which Anakin is mostly watching from the sidelines is essentially his first lesson in how The Force works.  So it does all tie together.