Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Movie Review:


So that's what the first two episodes were for. This thought occurred to me because, while walking into “Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,” I realized this was the movie everyone was waiting to see. It's the film where Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) becomes Darth Vader, and that's all any of the fans really wanted out of the prequels, never mind Vader as a boy or Vader falling in love.

But after watching Episode III, I understand how necessary the previous movies were. Having that background makes everything happening in the final installment of “Star Wars” that much more tragic. This is especially true since the first two movies were relatively upbeat and pretty. Those were the good ol' days. Now everything's going to go wrong, and it's going to hurt that much more. I actually felt depressed in anticipating the tragedies to come, and I sat engrossed by the ones I didn't see coming. If the first two movies were all setup, this one is all payoff.

“Episode III” benefits most from being streamlined in its story -- it's clear and concise, and its conflicts are illustrations of one focused theme: the human difficulty of maintaining discipline in the face of emotional crisis. What makes this outing particularly interesting as an isolated episode is how it repeatedly depicts people failing at this without any signs of upcoming redemption. The film can afford this approach because we know the redemptions will arrive in later episodes; thus, this one is freed up to show the worst of a human loss of control. And packaging it all in a two-and-a-half-hour block proves to be quite impactful -- it's as if the movie was designed specifically to make you lose your faith in people.

We're given many examples shown at various levels. “Revenge of the Sith” highlights the dangerous vulnerability of the public trust during times of crisis. It's practically a direct warning about people instilling too much trust in their leaders when their judgments are ruled by their passions. Here, Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is the figure who takes advantage of this, as he's the one who has orchestrated the crisis in the first place.

Meanwhile, Anakin is a singular character representative of the confused mindset between thinking about what's right and acting out what's wrong. It's actually really lovely -- and, as one might expect, archetypal -- what “Star Wars” creator George Lucas has set up with Anakin's conflict here. One is reminded of the stories of priests who know they must devote their spirit to their faith but give in to the human weakness of the flesh. It's an unending conflict of humanity -- to rise above what makes us human in order to attain a higher spiritual plane. Anakin faces this, and what makes it tragic is that we already know he loses. The entirety of the prequels have shown us what is at stake.

There are more examples of even the most high-minded people facing an emotional moment and losing. We get two scenes where a criminal's life is at the complete mercy of his captor, and the difference between the two captors only highlights the weakness both of them share as inherently emotional beings. In other scenes, we see love blinding judgment -- as universal a situation as there ever needs to be, naturally -- and how our regard for loving others easily leads us to question the necessity and wisdom of living at a higher plane. Now we all know that eventually Darth Vader arises and leads a life of what we call evil, but here for once we can actually feel pains of sympathy for how he caved in to his weakness.

Convincing him, of course, is Palpatine, whose arguments are persuasive, thanks to the unique situation Lucas has set up. The Jedi order can now be seen as, well, Buddhism with benefits. Enlightenment is achieved through the rejection of human desires, but with the Jedi there's the bonus of attaining great powers along the way. Palpatine uses this point to argue that the motives of the Jedi are at heart really not much different than the motives of any person who covets power. And even though he is actually perpetuating a lie, he seems to have a valid point. (Think about it -- if you fantasize about being a Jedi, do you crave the discipline or the power of The Force?) Emotional human desires are always going to be at odds with civility. And although the movie is overtly a criticism of siding with emotions in the first place, I'd like to think that it's a warning of the danger to ignore that basic part of us. We overestimate our own ability to think with a clear head because we want to render insignificant the potential of our weaknesses. For Palpatine, knowing this is the key to his success.

As a classic conflict given the weight of five movies and as an extravaganza of action, “Revenge of the Sith” is fantastic. But it still contains the weaknesses of the first two episodes, namely stiff expository scenes featuring awkward acting and dialogue -- and these are more pronounced early in the movie. The prequel trilogy has always been too concerned about saying everything out loud, so that we make no mistake about what every character is thinking or feeling. It creates an inescapable feeling of clumsiness that has practically become a trademark of these movies.

But once the movie gains steam, it reaches racing velocity and never slows down. On top of it all is a stellar performance by none other than McDiarmid. (Is it too much to say that Ian McDiarmid, as Palpatine, rocks? Because if it isn't, I just want to say that.) His performance is the glue that makes this whole thing work. Inspiring, insidious, wise, weary, charismatic, treacherous, and murderous -- Palpatine is all of these things, the ultimate embodiment of one of life's scariest figures: the wicked, self-serving politician. His portrayal links this fantasy movie to realities that can hit a little too close to home.

And a closing note: I'll be the first to admit I may be showing a lot of bias here -- after all, 1977’s “Star Wars” was what got me into movies in the first place. The magic of being transported to whole new worlds is something that isn't easily forgettable once it's been experienced. Of course, when we get older, we appreciate more serious works about humanity, but it would be a shame if we lost that part of us that thrilled to seeing spaceships do battle far above the planets. “Revenge of the Sith” is a wonderful reminder of when I discovered that part of me. I love these characters. They are my friends. Even the villains are my friends. This universe has meant so much to me, so much to my own imagination. Part of me is happy to see it close out strongly, and part of me is very sad to see it end, sad to see my friends go. Goodbye, “Star Wars,” and thanks for everything. It's been a wonderful ride.



Jeffrey Chen

“Star Wars” began back in 1977 and changed the way movies were made, marketed and seen in theatres around the globe. It’s impact still makes fans hearts skip a beat when the theme rocks the multiplex.

Just before the dawn of the new millennium, George Lucas, the hero who brought us “light sabers”, “laser battles” and “droids”, returned to the silver screen with a promise to finally unravel the mystery that is one of the greatest villain in cinematic history, Darth Vader. Did we buy it? Not really.

How could we when all we saw was a short blonde haired kid who seemed to be surrounded by the “Star Wars” universe but was never fully planted. It was going to take a lot of convincing.

Three long years later, “Star Wars” fever erupted once more as Lucas unleashed his clones and some of us had a feeling of what “Star Wars” was once more. But still in the back of our minds something was missing even though the film was impressive and way better than the first offering.

“Revenge of the Sith” marks the conclusion to the series that has spawned a generation. This could be the last time we see the world “from a galaxy far, far away”. So do we finally get to see the real “Star Wars”? Can fan-boys jump out of their seats with glee? Sort of.

***SPOILER ALERT***

“Revenge of the Sith” concludes Anakin’s (Hayden Christensen) decline into the hands of the Dark Side of the Force. Anakin’s epic struggle and love for his wife Padme (Natalie Portman) seems to be the catalyst as he learns that his now pregnant wife may die in child-birth. Anakin believes that the Dark Side has the power to make sure that his family will go on. This fatal flaw makes Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) lick his evil lips with glee.

Meanwhile as Anakin descends, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) watches as the Republic’s once powerful clone army begins to turn on their Jedi commanders and a desperate struggle to save the Jedi Order begins. Obi-Wan eventually will have to come to terms that the world he loved is over and that it has come down to a life and death battle with his apprentice now succumb to the power of the evil, Sith. A new era is dawning and another is ending.

The special effects and brilliance that is “Star Wars” rips across the screen in glorious brilliance. Lucas is the king of effects and his technological expertise is there in spades. It is more brilliant than his previous prequels and makes “Revenge of the Sith” breath-taking eye candy.

Ewan McGregor is still the best actor when it comes to these films. McGregor’s Obi-Wan seems to have the most depth, sense of self and raw energy than any of the other human characters in the film. I just wish Lucas would have allowed McGregor to go even further.

Portman seems to have become “set dressing” in this film as her performance and complexity seems to have been scaled back. I wanted to feel sickness and pain from this woman.

Christensen proves here just how wooden Lucas can make epic scaled characters. He comes off more as a spoiled brat than an epic tragedy figure. Not for one second did I believe that he was more than some troubled teen who has become lost to the void. This is all uncanny since he won the role by playing a troubled teen in the TV show “Higher Ground”. Evil to him is squinting your eyes and mouthing off to your elders. Now that’s scary.

Lucas seems to have lost a lot of what makes “Star Wars” great through the course of this prequel series. “Revenge of the Sith’s” script really, really bugged me. Every time Yoda spoke I wanted to punt him. Can the guy just say one sentence normally? Then there is the whole Anakin turning scenes which drove me batty because there was no depth of emotion for something so grand and epic.

I think what Lucas forgot over the course of these prequel films that he wasn’t solely responsible for making the original series so great. As I look back I can see that a lot of the character development and relationship depth probably came from co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. I also firmly feel that the original series benefited when Lucas shared the directing job especially when it came to Kirshner on “The Empire Strikes Back”.

Going in to “Revenge of the Sith”, I knew a lot of what happened in the film since there has been oodles and oodles of talk about how Darth Vader was born. Some was speculation and others were fact based. After seeing “Revenge of the Sith”, I do realize that 95% of what I learned before hand was in fact true.

When the audience finally sees the ominous black hood of evil, there are supposed to be gasps and shocks but for me I snickered. Why was I laughing at something I held in such high regard? Well, hearing the deep baritone voice of James Earl Jones saying lines from Anakin and the extreme awkwardness of tiny Hayden Christensen inside the giant terror suit ruined a lot of the illusion and fear Darth Vader used to bring to me as a child. Hearing Jones utter those words was like watching the poor great actor doing a reading for “One Tree Hill”. Furthermore, Christensen in the suit reminded me of a 12-year old at Halloween.

“Revenge of the Sith” marks the end of an era for sci-fi fans but as a film it could have benefited from a better conceived script and deeper character emotions for such an emotional final resolution. It is almost like Lucas put a noose around his actors’ throats and dared them to act. Lucas desperately needed a collaboration to bring such a brilliant story of descension.



So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

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