Liam Neeson, who played Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, looks back at the movie, lamenting how it hurt Ahmed Best’s (Jar Jar) career.
It’s no secret that the Star Wars prequels were highly divisive among fans. And the first movie in the trilogy, 1999’s The Phantom Menace, might be the most divisive of all. At the time, fans called it out for being boring, poorly acted, and in general less interesting that Original Trilogy.
However, younger fans who grew up with the movie have been kinder to it, and it’s having a bit of a renaissance. Recently, actor Liam Neeson, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi’s master Qui-Gon Jinn, weighed in.
Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn was a fan-favorite from The Phantom Menace, and the actor has gone on to voice the Jedi in multiple animated TV shows. Those shows add a lot to Jinn’s character development, in turn making the prequels more exciting.
Speaking to Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM radio show, Neeson gave his opinion on The Phantom Menace over two decades out. “I like the film. I’m proud of it and proud to have been a part of it,” he said. “I got to be a Jedi. I got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff. It was terrific, Andy, it really was.”
It sounds to me, more than anything, like he’s delighted to have fulfilled the classic childhood dream of wielding a lightsaber. And he did it alongside Ewan Mcgregor (Obi-Wan) in that fight against Darth Maul, which I believe is one of the more epic lightsaber duels in Star Wars.
Neeson also weighed in on the blowback actor Ahmed Best got for playing Jar Jar Binks, who became a sort of symbol for all the problems people had with the movie. Best did both voice acting and motion capture for the character. Neeson doesn’t think Best deserved such heavy criticism:
"I know a lot of fans and critics didn’t like it and my lovely friend Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks, came in for a lot, a lot of criticism. To the point where it really hurt his career. And I have to say when I was making that film, he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with. I remember calling my old ex-agent at ICM and said, ‘I think I just worked with the new Eddie Murphy.’ I still believe that…Truly, he is one of the funniest guys. He had all of us in stitches — including George Lucas. And then bam, the film comes out and he’s attacked, personally attacked by fans and critics for whatever reasons."
Similar to Neeson with Qui-Gon Jinn, Ahmed Best went on to do voice work for Jar Jar Binks in multiple Star Wars animated shows. He also hosts the Star Wars game show Jedi Temple Challenge:
Whatever you think of The Phantom Menace, there’s no denying that it’s now a pillar of the Star Wars universe, serving as an entry point for many newcomers. It introduced many important characters who have appeared in tons of comic books, animated shows, video games, and other movies, including Darth Maul, who had a terrific arc on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels.
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