So this is the end then. 28 years and six films in the making we have finally witnessed George Lucas�s final vision of his Star Wars story. There have been many ups and downs, and at one point it was believed Lucas would never make his three �prequels�. But he did, and we alternatively worshipped and cursed him for it. Sure he gave us Jar Jar Binks and Jake Lloyd (who, even though he was a child when Episode I was made still deserves to be punished daily for his crimes), but he also gave us some spectacular battles and the true story behind the rise of the Galactic Empire and the destruction of the Jedi. With Episode III his signature work has been finished off in magnificent style and deserves to be considered a true representation of the Star Wars Universe.
I was a little apprehensive seeing it for the first time. While I enjoyed Phantom Menace when it first came out I think it was just the rush of seeing a new Star Wars movie, and it quickly wore off. I would have a hard time watching it at all now, even in a completist marathon. Attack of the Clones was much better but it still seemed like there was a lot of CGI and not a lot of serious plotting. Added to that Lucas�s poor directorial ability shone through like the Pharos of Alexandria, revealing time and again that his story, though solid, was not given the central place it deserved. In its place was dull waffling and a lot of green screen.
With Revenge of the Sith these problems loomed larger than ever, with the definite possibility that Lucas could cock up his final chance at redemption and ruin what was otherwise cinema�s greatest legacy. Yes, there is a ton of CGI still, and yes a lot of the acting, editing and writing is iffy at times, but none of this matters as Lucas crams so much revelation and excitement into this final two hours to keep even the most jaded nerd happy. Even Hayden Christensen, who seems to revel in not being able to act properly, does his job well. His own pissy, weak-willed and indecisive personality shines through perfectly as his Anakin Skywalker slowly turns towards the dark side of the force.
Revenge takes over where Attack left off. The Trade Federation and its Droid Army are embattled, but the war continues, and new enemy General Grievous has led his fleet to Coruscant itself, (somehow) capturing Chancellor Palpatine. In the ensuing melee Anakin and Obi-Wan fight through waves of enemy fighters and fly into Grievous� flagship. Rescuing Palpatine, Anakin avenges his painful defeat at the hands of Count Dooku (an underused Christopher Lee) by first removing his hands and then his head. Losing control of the ship, they somehow manage to crashland onto Coruscant�s surface with the chancellor intact, but this is just the start of their troubles.
Revenge of the Sith is truly an expansive film, showing us glimpses of dozens of worlds and thousands of characters. Locations such as the Jedi High Council and Republic debating chamber are reused, but it is mostly shot elsewhere, with space, the Wookiee homeworld of Kashykk and the lava planet of Mustafar key elements. This is where the CGI comes in to its own, providing us with lush vistas and barren wastelands that would have been difficult and expensive to have recreated on Earth.
The acting and writing are, as is usually the case with Star Wars movies, pretty weak at times, though far removed in quality from the previous two efforts. Lucas simply seems unable to write effective, realistic dialogue, and it often sounds like a coffee commercial when it focuses on the romantic. Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman rescue their reputations in the series by acting surprisingly well, but it is the indomitable Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine who steals the show, finally revealing his true colours as the evil Sith lord we�ve all been wondering about. His battles show him to not be as powerful as Master Windu and Master Yoda, but more cunning and manipulative, and his use of the clone troopers to stab the Jedi�s in the back is depressingly well-realised.
There are other drawbacks. The previously-mentioned CGI (regardless of its necessity) makes it seem like an animated film at times, and Lucas�s shoehorning in of all the relevant bridges between Revenge and A New Hope are often less than subtle (the wiping of C3-P0�s memory and the construction of the Death Star the most obvious), but who can complain when you get to witness the creation of Darth Vader, the exile of Yoda and Obi-Wan, and the birth of Luke and Leia? As the final piece in the Star Wars puzzle, Revenge of the Sith is a cut above and a deserved modern classic. |
