Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen
Directed by: George Lucas
I remember it fondly. The year was 2005 and it was opening weekend for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. My dad took me to the theater and we waited at the front of the line for 2 hours for the next showing. We got into the theater first and sat in my favorite seats (middle of the row right above the railing so we can prop our feet up). There was no time to get snacks and no time to use the restroom. I did not care because I was about to see the conclusion to the Star Wars saga. Episodes I and II get a lot of crap from the fans, but Revenge of the Sith is actually a pretty polarizing film. Sure, there's a lot of people that hate it, but then there's a number of fans who say it's not only the best film in the prequel trilogy, but it's the only one that comes close to capturing the spirit of the original trilogy. I won't go THAT far, but I will say that it's been 10 years now and I still enjoy the heck out of this film. Of course, it's still a flawed film, but I'll gladly go through the combined crap of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones to get to a solid reward with Revenge of the Sith.
Yes, Hayden Christensen's portrayal of Anakin Skywalker is awful. It's terribly wooden and lacking a charismatic spark that would actually convince anyone that Anakin had any redeeming qualities to start with. The whole purpose of these films is to show his downfall. He is supposed to be this great and powerful Jedi that turns to the dark side of the Force. The problem is in Christensen's delivery, you never get that idea that he is supposed to be good. He just seems evil from the start. That being said, I do think he does a lot better with what he's given in Revenge of the Sith than he is in Attack of the Clones. He has less time to have to worry about his forced love with Padme and more time focusing on his own personal descent towards evil. There are a lot of scenes where his actions are downright heartbreaking to watch and you can really see the 11th hour of his actions that will eventually lead to him becoming Darth Vader. It's surprisingly effective.
The most enjoyable overall performance in the prequel trilogy is Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. In comparison with Anakin, Obi-Wan is the better story told over the course of the trilogy. We see him start as a young apprentice, then a competent Jedi Knight, and finally a Jedi Master responsible for training Anakin and going on his own missions. What's best about McGregor's portrayal is that I can honestly believe that this Obi-Wan grows up to be the Obi-Wan from the original trilogy, whereas you really have to check your brain off to believe that whiny and brooding Hayden Christensen can grow up one day to be Darth Vader. The Obi-Wan/Anakin comparisons may seem odd at first glance, but really think about it in context with all that occurs around both trilogies. They're the first lightsaber we see in the very first Star Wars film ever made, and the one we looked forward to seeing throughout the entire prequel trilogy. It's the gripping story of master and apprentice, brother against brother, and in some context father against son. Thankfully, McGregor carries the emotional weight of this rivalry so the climax has a proper payoff. Granted, the fight does go on a little too long and some of the sequences seem downright ridiculous, but if you're emotionally invested in the fight over the course of the saga, the positives will definitely outweigh the negatives.Jedi Master Mace Windu wields a purple lightsaber and is played by Samuel L. Jackson. And that's all you'll ever really know about him. We get the idea that he's one of the most powerful Jedi, second only to Yoda. The problem is we're never really shown how powerful he is outside of words spoken. You have Samuel L. FREAKING Jackson at your disposal to play a great Jedi Master and you don't use him properly? I mean heck, give him a Bible passage to recite as he wields a lightsaber, or have him cuss up a storm. Give him SOMETHING to do that he excels at.
General Grievous, voiced by Matthew Wood, is a fun villain addition simply because of his look, his voice, and his ability to wield four different lightsabers at once. There's not a whole lot to his character. He kills Jedi, collects their lightsabers, and has a fun lightsaber fight with Obi-Wan. It's simple, but something about it really works for me. I actually enjoy him as a villain more than Maul or Dooku. I think it's the whole being able to murder Jedi thing. It adds a mythos and backstory to his development. It's a little touch like that that was seriously lacking with building the villains in the previous two films.
Yes, George Lucas really damaged the legacy of Star Wars with the prequels. The amount of problems in these combined three films are astronomical. Yet, the silver lining in this trilogy is Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In this film, Lucas puts every amount of effort he has to make sure it ties up to the original trilogy. By the time this film wraps up, you should be ready to pop in the original trilogy and carry the story on with no problems. Is it that perfect? Absolutely not. But it definitely holds up much better than the other two films. Bad dialogue? Yes. Questionable acting? Yes. A whole bunch of fan service? Yes. But, it's not as hilariously bad as The Phantom Menace and it's not as painfully bad as Attack of the Clones. In my book, that can be considered a success.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
You've made it through 2 atrocities in the Star Wars prequel trilogy to get to a film like this. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is not a perfect movie, but it tries its best to tie everything together and is still an entertaining, but flawed, movie.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and movie images are copyrighted by 20th Century Fox
No comments:
Post a Comment