Revenge of the Sith
Bam! Already I�ve had a dig at the CG and the actors, and that was just the first paragraph.
It seems to me that all of the positive is coming from people who have their hearts invested in the Star Wars franchise. I do not. The I did not need this film to be good to ease some fanboy suffering. Maybe that�s what I needed, because Revenge of the Sith just left me numb.
When we�d last left the gang... I don�t know. There was a war, or something, and Hayden Christensen married Natalie Portman, and Ian McDiarmid was evil, although that might not have been officially acknowledged� Whatever. It�s now years later, I guess, and there�s a war, and Hayden and a now natal Natalie have kept their marriage a secret, even from good friend Ewan McGregor, who�s on his way to becoming Alec Guiness. There�s probably other stuff too, something about a Senate, but it was pretty muddled.
Anyway, as everyone ever knows, this is the origin of Darth Vadar. This is how Hayden becomes evil. And the story George Lucas had at his disposal is decent. Hayden wanted to help people, people he loved, but the way of life that he had given himself up to discouraged really loving other people. So he turns to evil not thinking that it�s evil, just thinking that it�s a different way of life, a way that will allow him to love people.
Lucas fucks it. The transformation is whiny to evil via stupid and gullible, which is not the way I like my dark lords created. Vadar�s first appearance, his first real appearance, mask and all, features an amazingly cheesy, I kid you not, �NOOOOOOOOO!�. That�s what this icon of cinema does when we first truly meet him. Hayden Christensen�s performance doesn�t help much either, but I don�t hold him completely to blame. It�s all Lucas.
He cannot write. He can create stories but when it comes to fleshing out characters and, more so, even, writing dialogue, he�s awful. Worse than that, he can�t direct. I really didn�t feel anything from any of the characters, even from actors who deliver time and time again like Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson and, of course, the lovely Miss Portman.
Speaking of her, Lucas clearly has it in for her, not only making her read his awful words, but making her ugly. Honestly. The lighting in some of the scenes, one scene in particular when she�s being told she�s beautiful, sinks her features into her face, aging and deforming her shockingly. It is perhaps the biggest crime in the film.
The film has some decent action sequences, but nothing amazingly good. The final extended swordfight is okay, but it doesn�t match the end of The Phantom Menace. I should point out that this is a better film than both other prequels, by the way- Phantom Menace is the worst of the three, it just happens to have the best fight scene. The design of the planets, CG and real sets, is pretty amazing. Yoda�s fun, I guess, and has a nice moment towards the end of the film. That�s all the good I can think of right now.
As I�ve mentioned before, I�m not a fan of the series. I don�t like any of the prequels and I don�t mind, but not the extent to where I�d buy, the original trilogy, so perhaps I�m not the best judge. This was a film designed for the fans, clearly. There are many moments designed purely for them- Chewbacca sticks out in my mind.
That said, a film of this budget really and truly should appeal to everyone, and I can�t see it doing that. It moves along at a nice enough pace, though, and it�s not the worst movie of the year. I see it as this year�s Shrek 2. A movie me and a few others with just not see the joy in while everyone else laps it up. I guess I should let people have their fun.
