Written and Directed by George Lucas
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid, Jimmy Smits, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Christopher Lee, Frank Oz
It is finally here. The last and arguably most important installment of the entire Star Wars series. People young and old have been waiting for this day for the past 28 years. The trailers have tantalized, the commericals have amused, the build-up has enveloped all.
And, to be honest, the build-up and trailers, et al, actually excited me more than the movie itself. To be honest, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith was something of a letdown.........
What?!? A letdown?!? Actually, yes. I consider myself to be a pretty big fan of the entire Star Wars collection. I have seen the movies, played the video games, read many of the subsequent books that were written by various authors in between each movie release. I have owned the toys and the movies on DVD. I have driven my wife crazy with Star Wars marathons. So, yes, I consider myself a fan. And yet Episode III did not entirely impress me as I felt it should have.
Is there action? Absolutely. I would even venture to say there is TOO much action. The first 15 to 20 minutes of Episode III is nothing but a huge battle sequence that incorporates spaceship dog fights, explosions, droids, and light saber duels. It is honestly a bit overwelming. Frankly, there is too much going on to be able to focus on the actual storyline. Nevermind the sometimes wooden acting and droll dialogue. However, I must also say that those first minutes grab you and pull you in immediately. Unfortunately, it does not last and we then have to endure George Lucas' attempt to craft the story itself through the actors and his writing.
Believe it or not, it isnt the fault of the actors themselves that their characters sometimes fail to inspire either empathy or sympathy. The scenes that involve Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman suffer from a seeming lack of real interest in each other, i.e. there appears to be very little chemistry between the two. One might find more chemistry between them in Episode II. But what really kills their scenes is the dialogue they are expected to deliver. On a good note, there are several outstanding character turns given by other actors, most notably that of Ian McDiarmid as the plotting Senator Palpatine. I defy anyone to not be mesmerized by his time on screen and his perfect timbre of voice. He was well chosen for this role. Other highlights include Ewan MacGregor as Obi-Wan; he has truly made this role his own, obviously taking his cues from Sir Alec Guinness' turn as the character in the original trilogy. And Samuel L. Jackson is, well, Samuel L. Jackson. What more could be said about him, mother f***er?
I do not want to give away the entire storyline as I know many have yet to see the film at the time I am writing this. Some key notes I found myself focusing on, my own opinions of course: Not enough interaction or screen time for the Wookies (although, thankfully, Lucas did not insert subtitles for the Wookie's speech, as I had heard a rumor he might), the character of General Grievous was borderline unneccesary and annoying, too many light saber duels, too many CGI effects employed, no explanation of obvious holes now created between the seperate trilogies, including: why didn't Chewbacca ever mention his relationship with Yoda to Luke in the first trilogy (Chewbacca and Yoda are made out to be seemingly very well acquinted in Episode III). Thankfully, there is a loose end tied off with respect to C3PO and why he doesnt recognize some characters and/or events in the original trilogy, even though he has been present since the beginning (note: nothing was ever said about R2D2's memory, though........or perhaps I missed that part...). And what made Yoda decide that sending Luke to live with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on Tatooine was a good idea - not changing his name (somehow, I fail to believe that "Skywalker" is a very common name in the universe), by the way, as well as being the home planet of Anakin/Darth Vader - but sending Leia to live with Senator Organa of Alderaan - changing her name to "Organa" and effectively hiding her? And for all their training and power, the Jedi are done away with pretty damn quickly. Couldn't they tap into the Force enough to see at least far enough into the future that they were going to get their asses fried? Apparently not. Another lame and seemingly pointless (on the level of explaining the Force as being generated by something called mitichlorians in Episode I) conversation between Yoda and Obi-Wan attempts to explain how Obi-Wan is able to - in Episode IV during his duel with Darth on the Death Star - disappear instead of being cut in half. I really did not need to know that. Again, Lucas is guilty of pandering to the masses by feeling as if he has to explain absolutely everything. A word of advice, George: Leave some mystery to your writing. We aren't all idiots who need to be held by the hand and have every tiny little aspect of each character or concept explained to us. A bit here and there is fine, and please try to stay at least somewhat within the confines of making me believe it possible (such as, noted by Amy, how the hell did Padme get pregnant so fast, stay so tiny, and yet have twins?). Let us draw our own conclusions. That's what makes it so fun.
The last half of Episode III - the portion where Anakin turns to the Dark Side - is the best part of the film. One could actually see people in the audience sitting up in their seats to pay more attention to what was going on. It is interesting, and tragic, and the true reason why everyone will want to see this movie - the birth of Darth Vader. One scene that truly could have given a clear vision of how lost Anakin becomes once he chooses the dark path is one that Lucas really dropped the ball on, perhaps bowing to the need for a PG-13 rating at worst and not offending the masses: the murder by Anakin of the younglings in the Jedi Temple. This scene was more implied, than anything, and while I have a very difficult time myself watching any film that involves children coming to harm on any level, it would have been an effective sequence to show exactly how evil Anakin has become, that he cannot go back, that his die has been cast. It is truly his Macbeth moment, and Lucas let it become a sidenote.
A particular review I read noted that instead of three seperate films to create the prequel trilogy, Lucas could have better and more effectively focused on Anakin, his birth, his discovery by the Jedi, his training, his fall from grace, and made it into one three hour epic movie. I completely agree with that assessment. Honestly, no one cares about any of the other characters; we went to see Anakin become Darth Vader. Everyone else is simply background color and could have been incorporated as needed to tie the movies together. One comment I have to make: The last 10 to 15 minutes do a superb job of leading directly into Episode IV. And the final, climactic saber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan is laden with Shakesperian overtones that do not fail to inspire at least a bit of sympathy for the characters at that time, knowing as we already do how everything ends. The best moment of the film? When that infamous mask and helmet are put into place and that very first wheezing breath is taken, there was absolute silence in the theater. When we first see the full suit in all its glory, it is a moment of cinematic history that stands right up there with any of them. Darth Vader may be evil, but we still love to see him........
Overall, this is a fun event movie to see. While some scenes may be intense for younger eyes, Sloan enjoyed Episode III as a whole. So, the big question: Did I enjoy this movie enough to recommend it to others? If I say no, would you listen to me? Probably not. So go see it, have fun, enjoy it for what it is: a Star Wars Movie.