Revenge of the Sith

The Circle is Now Complete, and Brilliantly

 

By Jim Perry

 

I came into this film with only one expectation: that I would love it.  I came away more than satisfied in this regard, and yet it did so much more than satisfy.  It is gripping, moving, shocking, disturbing, beautiful, bittersweet and brilliant.  I was speechless concerning this film from the moment after I saw it at the midnight screening, until the following late morning.  It moved me more deeply than I could have imagined. Upon considering its relationship to the other five films, I have come to a new understanding on how the threads were brought together.  This piece explores my thoughts on some of these threads, and how well or poorly I thought they were tied.

 

The Friendship of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker

 

The first thing I must say is Ewan MacGregor is even more brilliant at filling Alec Guinness’ shoes than he has been.  He is every bit Alec Guinness in this final installment of his portrayal.  He is dramatic and elegant, effectively carrying the spirit of adventure as well as the regret of the Jedi.

 

One begins to see that Obi-Wan and Anakin are truly friends, and no longer Master and Pupil.  Obi-Wan is a ranking member of the Jedi Council now, and finds himself in a regrettable position between the Jedi and Anakin, who is now sitting on the Council as the Chancellor’s representative. 

 

It falls to Obi-Wan to tell Anakin that the council has allowed this so that he can inform the Jedi of Palpatine’s dealings, and you can tell he hates being in this position.  Anakin is forced to choose loyalty to the Chancellor or loyalty to the Jedi.  It is brilliant how Anakin believes the Jedi have betrayed their own virtues, and he turns to the dark side for reasons of his appreciation of the Jedi principles.  It is a wonderfully conceived and striking quandry.

 

Yoda

 

Yoda develops into one of the most emotionally dynamic characters in this film, thanks in large part to his CGI nature.  His expressions and the breaking of his voice in a couple tender moments really drive the emotion home for the viewer.  In particular, when Palpatine initiates order sixty-six for the clone army and all clones across the galaxy instantly turn on their Jedi commanders, Yoda feels such a disturbance in the force that he drops his cane and falls over.  He also feels great sorrow at the moment Anakin bows before Palpatine.

 

When Obi-Wan sees the security hologram of Anakin before Palpatine, he begs Yoda to let him confront the Emperor, because he cannot kill Anakin.  Yoda basically tells him that he himself is the stronger Jedi, and is the only one with a chance of stopping Palpatine.  The duel between them was magnificent, and really ends in a draw, though Yoda takes the worse beating.  We get a better sense of the urgency with which Obi-Wan and Yoda want Luke to stay on Dagobah.  We understand truly how “only a fully trained Jedi Knight with the Force as his ally, can conquer Vader and his Emperor.” 

 

Watching Yoda escape death at the hands of his Kashyyk commandos was sheer brilliance, as he is the only Jedi with any sense that the clones are a threat.  Watching Yoda and Obi-Wan fight the clones at the Jedi temple, however brief, was also a fantastic scene.  One thing is clear to me now.  I like digital Yoda much better than muppet Yoda.  If they do not insert the CGI-rendered Yoda into the Original Trilogy at some point, he will lose a lot of dramatic weight when viewed as a complete saga.

 

For the Love of Padme

 

In my opinion, Natalie Portman eclipses Carrie Fisher in the looks department in this film.  She is beautiful, and despite what you may have heard her acting is not bad at all.  In fact the entire romantic aspect of this film eclipses the attempt in Attack of the Clones to make you feel for the two of them.  The dialogue may be considered weak, but I think it’s just old fashioned, and gives the film a nostalgic quality.

 

Hayden Christensen is much improved in this film, though I think that’s due more to the fact that Lucas freed him up to become Darth Vader than any substantive improvement in his skill.  He has always been a skilled actor.  He lends a good deal of emotion to his side of their romance, and struggles with the combination of suspicion, fear and love that drives him to the dark side.

 

Temptations of the Dark Side

 

Anakin’s temptation was not purely for power alone.  This is another case of whether or not the end justifies the means.  Palpatine knows of Anakin’s dream, foretelling Padme’s death in childbirth.  He tells the tale of Darth Plaegus, who could manipulate Midichlorians to create life.  When Anakin says in Episode II, “I will even learn to stop people from dying,” this is where it comes to fruition.

 

It is Anakin’s desire not to lose Padme that drives him toward the dark side.  It is his attachment to her and his unborn children, and the desire to be open about their relationship, which causes him to seek the power of the dark side.  The idea of an Empire with he and Palpatine at the fore, with the open-mindedness and tolerance of the Sith, means that Anakin and Padme can have things the way they want.

 

She, of course, will have none of it, and recognizes the dangerous path upon which he has embarked.  By this point it is too late.  He has descended too far into the dark side.  Obi-Wan stows away on Padme’s cruiser as she flies to Mustafar to find him, and when he finally reveals himself at the top of the ramp, Anakin believes Obi-Wan has turned her against him.  He also is angry at her for supposedly allowing him to do so.  It is a very nice dynamic for this film, and one that gives greater motive for Anakin’s turn.  When Anakin, in his anger, turns on Padme and chokes her with the force, he stops short of killing her, but the damage has been done.  As a result both of his betrayal of their love and the physical damage, Anakin ultimately causes her death.

 

 

Perspective on Darth Vader

 

I came away, certainly, with a new sympathy for Anakin.  I think that Mace  Windu was probably more responsible for Anakin's turn than anyone else.  At  least, he played right into Palpatine's hands.  Both his denial of Anakin's help  in arresting him, and his desire to kill Palpatine rather than have him stand trial,  played huge parts in getting Anakin to turn.  It was a nice dynamic to have Anakin defend the Lord of the Sith out of goodness and mercy, then lament his part in killing Windu, yet ultimately give in to the darkness.

 

Anakin is manipulated in the worst sense of the word here.  He truly loses his own identity.  Most Sith Lords choose their own Darth title, yet Palpatine dubs Anakin himself.  The Jedi manipulate and frustrate him, insult him, and attempt to use him for their own purposes.  Palpatine obviously manipulates and deceives him.

 

When I finally saw Vader in full armor, I realized I no longer think of him as a "cool" villain;  I no longer think of what a bad dude he is.  He is rather more of a pathetic figure for me now.  I feel such sorrow  for him in the circumstances he has faced, in the manipulation from which he  has suffered, and in the spiral of choices and consequences in which he is caught.

 

After the armor is on, he asks Palpatine about Padme.  He says, “It appears that in your anger you have killed her.”  He erupts saying, “She was alive!  I felt it!”  He loses control and almost the entire chamber falls epart.  His strength in the Force, now augmented by his fear and anger, is frightening.  The very reason he turned to the dark side was his love, however misguided for Padme.  Now she is dead, and he is burned, mutilated, “more machine now than man,” and he is a Sith lord under the control of a Sith Lord.  He has nothing left.

 

I see him and I want to turn away.  I know now what is in his soul.  Regret,  fear, loss, anger, and sorrow.  He is, of course, a much more dynamic character, and he becomes iconic of the darker potential lurking within us all.  These emotions, leading to these kinds of choices, send us into a spiral  that is difficult at best to escape.

 

The Prophecy of the Chosen One

 

I suspected, but never fully realized, that the Jedi needed to be  purged.  They had become arrogant.  they had indeed lost their  way to some extent, as evidenced by Windu.  Instead of embracing Anakin and  guiding him sensitively, Windu and the rest of the council continue to hold him  at arm's length, keeping him constantly frustrated, and closer still to Palpatine.  The Jedi failed miserably here.

 

Had Anakin not turned, the Jedi would have continued down that road, and who  knows what would have happened?  It is unfortunate that it has to result in the  empowerment of the Sith and tyranny across the galaxy, but Anakin truly brings  balance to the Force.  We also fully realize the conflict between the means and  the end.  You cannot justify the means, but you cannot ignore the necessity of  the end.

 

In the end, when he destroys Palpatine by throwing him into the Death Star  reactor core, Luke is all that is left of the Jedi, and only he has the ability  to make them what they should have been.  Anakin finally sees his last hope in  saving the ones he loves, affected as greatly as he was by the death of Padme.   Luke is also all that remains of his connection with her, so by saving his son he redeems his past choices.

 

 

 

In Conclusion

 

This really is the film everyone has been looking forward to since word of the coming Prequels first hit.  The setups from Episodes I and II really pay off in III, and IV-VI take on new meaning.  Return of the Jedi most especially, because the theme of Anakin’s redemption is far more powerful.

 

Star Wars is once again the most engrossing modern myth in popular culture, and the one with the most to say about human nature.  The story of the Skywalker legacy is once again the grand and iconic epic it was after Return of the Jedi.