Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Written and Directed by : George Lucas
Obi-Wan Kenobi : Ewan McGregor
Padmé : Natalie Portman
Anakin Skywalker : Hayden Christensen
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine : Ian McDiarmid

You’ve probably already heard people say that this movie is good and they are right, it really is.

This movie is the conclusion of the trilogy telling the story of Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into the evil Darth Vader.

As you already know, the original Star Wars (the first movie) was actually episode four of the series. It was followed by two sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi that told the story of the restoration of the Jedi knights and the fall of the evil empire. The latest movie, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the conclusion of the second trilogy which was actually the prequel of the first trilogy. Confused yet? This might help:

1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Movie #4 Released 1999)
2. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Movie #5 Released 2002)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Movie #6 Released 2005)
4. Star Wars (Released 1977 Movie #1)
5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Movie #2 Released 1980)
6. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (Movie #3 Released 1983)

Now that we have the history out of the way, back to the movie.

The computer graphics are amazing. With each Star Wars movie, George Lucas has taken the art to a new level and this movie is no exception. The CG characters seem quite real with Yoda being the real standout. In the original Star Wars, Yoda was brought to life as a Muppet and the expression of his character was limited by this crude technology. Now, with the advances in computer graphics, Yoda is a fully functional character that really comes to life and is just as capable as all of the other characters. Unlike in the original movies, Yoda now seems real.

Where the CG really shines though, is in the creation of environments. The Industrial Light and Magic team has created vast cities and worlds in incredible detail, which are truly spectacular. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the artwork in the movie belongs in a museum. ILM should render prints of the various CG locations and put together an exhibit that could tour museums. I can’t describe how good this work is, you really need to see the movie the fully comprehend the beauty of the CG work. From the small details to the lighting, this work is extraordinary.

The acting in this movie is interesting. All of the actors do a really good job with their parts with the exception of Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman. Both of them seem like they’re just reading the script for the first time. It gets really bad when the two of them are doing a scene together; it seems to exacerbate the problem. It’s a shame, because the most emotional exchanges in the movie are supposed to be between these two characters, but their performances just kill them. As good as the movie is, it could have been so much better if the performances by Christensen and Portman were on par with the others.

I don’t get it. I’ve never seen Christensen in anything but Star Wars, so I can’t judge his capabilities, but I have seen Portman in other movies and she is a pretty decent actress. So what happened here? Maybe it was Lucas direction, but if that’s the case, how did he get decent performances from the other actors? It could be because the others are older and more experienced and were able to pull it off in spite of Lucas direction. I just don’t know and it will probably forever remain a mystery.

Other performances were quite good, the best being Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ian McDiarmid as the diabolically evil Chancellor Palpatine. McDiarmid was extremely well cast; he exudes a creepiness that makes your skin crawl.

The script itself is solid and well written. Lucas has done a good job in the past movies of setting up Anakin Skywalker as a flawed self-centered character, so his decent to the dark side of the force seems quite believable. The script strikes a nice balance between action sequences and dramatic exposition, which allows the movie to move along at a good pace. The story is involved but not so much that it become confusing; even if you haven’t seen the other films you could watch this one and have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on.

You have to give Lucas credit; this was a very hard movie to write. From the beginning of this trilogy, everyone has known what the eventual outcome would be so Lucas had to write a story that still was able to have impact even though the ending was already known to all. Add to this the fact that the original Star Wars movie is now considered a classic and has set the standard to which this movie would be compared. These were pretty big obstacles to overcome, yet Lucas was able to pull it off.
The original Star Wars movie will always be considered the best. In spite of it’s simple story and crude special effects, It had a magic that none of the others have been able to recreate. Episode 6 revenge of the sith, comes in a close second. What it lacks in magic it makes up in scope. It is an epic movie that is beautifully executed and is a fitting ending to the Star Wars movie saga.

9 out of 10 Stars

Posted by Al on 01/11/10 at 06:23 PM in Movies