REVIEW: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

    Since I don't have the luxury of time to cover The Clone Wars series, our next stop along Star Wars memory lane is Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (ROTS), the conclusion of the prequel era.  By this point, audiences were somewhat numb due to the disappointments of the two previous movies, so ROTS opened to what could safely be called tempered expectations.

In looking at it, this poster is largely just a collection of heads.

     ROTS opens several years after Attack of the Clones, years which have been filled with constant conflict and ever-increasing threat.  Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), now military commanders in addition to Jedi warriors, must rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from Count Dooku (Christopher Lee).  With Dooku's death, the Clone Wars seem nearly over, and Anakin's wife Padme (Natalie Portman) informs him that she is pregnant.  However, there is dissension in the ranks, with Palpatine manipulating Anakin against the Jedi, led by Yoda (Frank Oz) and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), to which they respond by encouraging Anakin to spy for them.  When Anakin begins having visions of Padme's impending death in childbirth, he turns to Palpatine, who reveals himself as the Dark Lord of the Sith - but who holds out hope for Padme's salvation.  Anakin's personal anguish becomes the point upon which the entire galaxy turns, as the Clone Wars come to a crashing halt and the Republic - and the Jedi - are brought to a tragic, brutal end.  Jimmy Smits plays Bail Organa, one of the few remaining allies of the Jedi, and Temeura Morrison plays each and every one of the Clonetroopers.  Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker return as C-3PO and R2-D2, and Chewbacca makes an appearance, once again played by Peter Mayhew.  And of course, James Earl Jones provides the voice of Darth Vader.

      Perhaps this is just a case of the lowered expectations I referenced, but I feel this movie is far superior to its two predecessors.   Gone are many of the issues that plagued the other prequels - the plot is clear and straightforward, the character interactions and human emotions are resonant, and the cute factor is missing entirely...in fact, Jar Jar Binks does not even speak.  The script and the action are both much, much better.  There is one reference to midi-chlorians, and there are definitely still some clumsy, almost embarrassing moments, but for the most part ROTS is a dramatic improvement over the earlier films.

The last heroes of the Old Republic

    It was the fate of the prequels to only ever be a method by which audiences learned how the Original Trilogy came to be, so there is of course a certain inevitability - indeed, a predictability - to everything that happens here.  We knew going into this movie who had to live, who had to die, and why, but the movie offers a surprising amount of emotion.  There is a desperate hopelessness to the heroic characters, and a gleeful triumph for Chancellor - and later, Emperor, Palpatine.  It's not hard to feel sympathy for Obi-Wan, Yoda, and even Padme as their worlds come crashing down on them, and when the Clones turn on the Jedi, and cut them down in a Godfather-esque montage of death and destruction, there's a palpable sadness and sense of loss.

Farewell, Jedi - we hardly knew ye....(unless we watched Clone Wars)

   The movie is not without flaws, but most of them can be attributed to lapses in the script.  Overall the writing is much better this time around - purportedly Lucas had a few able writers do some pinch-hitting on it - and the character interactions are far more genuine.  Gone is most of the clunky unnecessary exposition, and the dialogue is largely more natural than it had been in the earlier films.  This in particular benefits Anakin, as the core of the movie, and his on-screen interplay with Obi-Wan, Palpatine, - and yes, even Padme - is sincere and believable.  Indeed, Anakin is a far, far better character this time around, and for the first time becomes a sympathetic character even as he falls into darkness.   That being said, when the script does run foul, it's jarring and all the more obvious.   Some of the tender moments between Anakin and Padme are a little strange ("Hold me like you did by the lake at Naboo"), and the pivotal throwdown between Anakin and Obi-Wan at the film's conclusion is very awkward at points, with Anakin backsliding into whining dialogue that doesn't fit, or even make sense ("From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!").    Those moments pull the audience out of the movie, but I suppose it's better than spending the entire movie cringing because of things like that.

"You know, you're not nearly as creepy as you were when we got married..."

     Both Portman and Christensen acquit themselves far better than they have before.   Padme is terrified as everything she's come to believe in falls apart around her, and Portman is able to give her more believable emotion than anything we've seen to date.  The interplay between Padme and Anakin, which was so painful to watch in Episode II, here takes on a bit of charm, and the actors rather cleverly treat the sappy dialogue they're given as a verbal game, teasing each other with a warm, friendly familiarity that's a huge improvement over what we'd seen last time.  They actually have some chemistry, this time around.   Unfortunately, Padme does end up falling into the trope of standard sci-fi female - powerless to effect the events being caused by the male characters, and yet a victim of them all the same, eventually succumbing to the most stereotypical of movie-female deaths in childbirth having, apparently, 'lost the will to live'.  We knew it had to happen, but I think she could have been given something a bit less routine.  There again, there's an interesting bit of commentary as we see Padme's body being given a state funeral, wearing a blue gown in an open coffin strewn with flowers that is very reminiscent of the standard image of Ophelia, the ultimate victimized love interest.  (And this is one of those touches that really makes me appreciate ROTS.)

   Along these lines, another gripe I have with the film revolves around several deleted scenes.  Lucas shot a few minutes of Padme, Bail Organa, and a young Mon Mothma starting what we would eventually come to know as the Rebellion in response to the growing threat of Palpatine.  I really wish these scenes had been left in, as they give Padme a sharp sense of perception and bravery, catching on to what's happening before most other characters do, and pitting her against her husband on ideological grounds.  I'd very much like to see these scenes restored to the film as they not only give Padme a more defined character, but also establish the relationship between Leia's biological and adoptive families, and set up one of the major factions of the Original Trilogy.   Even so, Padme does get to keep one excellent moment, as she watches Palpatine declare the formation of the Empire, and observes "So this is how liberty dies....to thunderous applause", providing commentary on both the events of the movie and reflective of some of the real-world concerns at the time.

"When last we met, I was but the learner..."

    For all that he's still a sulky whiner, Anakin becomes far more palatable this time around.  Christensen seems to have found his footing, and the moments where Anakin comes across petulant or awkward can safely be blamed on the script.   There's genuine emotion present when Anakin tries to open up to Obi-Wan or Yoda, and a tenderness in his exchanges with Padme that finally do away with the creep factor of his younger days.  He's a conflicted individual, and in the pivotal moment in the movie when Anakin is forced to choose between Jedi and Sith, his anguish is clear and understandable.  I can understand how some feel that Anakin's fall to the dark side is somewhat quick, going from hero to heel in about sixty seconds, but I blame that more on the time constraints in the script, and Christensen does a pretty decent job showing the character's guilt and inner torment while he tries to rationalize his actions.  This actually makes the awkward whining in the final duel with Obi-Wan worse by comparison, as it undoes some of what Christensen was trying to portray.  For all of his sins, including the murder of unarmed children, Anakin is much more compelling as a character than we'd come to expect, and even tragic, as he himself brings about that which he most hoped to avoid.

    The rest of the cast is firmly on point.  This is Palpatine's biggest role to date, and Ian McDiarmid plays him with a silky, seductive charm in the first half of the film, until he's able to unleash his true monster in the latter half.  He does go over the top somewhat, leering and cackling, but it's actually kind of fun to watch the 'big bad' of the Star Wars universe get his moment in the sun (eclipse?) and his theatrics are surprisingly satisfying.  Ewan McGregor, who has been the standout in the entire prequel trilogy, is just as good here, with moments of cocky swashbuckling and crushing grief.   Yoda, for all that he's a CGI character, is wonderfully done - his fear of the impending disaster, his agony at the deaths of the Jedi, and his rage at the Emperor's injustices, are every bit as compelling as any human performance could be.

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen....except the face-melty thing.  That was an accident."

   Of course, the visuals are as perfect as always - the film opens with a gorgeous space battle, and maintains eye-catching brilliance all the way through the closing shot of Tatooine's binary sunset.  General Grievous is entirely CGI, but is an impressive (and toyetic) presence along the lines of Darth Maul...in fact, many initially wondered if the two characters were supposed to be the same individual.  (They're not.)   Star Wars fans finally get to see the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk on screen - Holiday Special notwithstanding - and the landscapes of the sinkhole planet of Utapau and the lava world of Mustafar where Anakin meets his fiery fate are gorgeous.  In the course of the montage which sees the fall of the Jedi, we're shown several other fascinating planets and environments, albeit momentarily, and at the end of the film we also get our only look at the landscape of Alderaan.  There's even a key scene between Anakin and Palpatine that features a 'water ballet' in the background which is actually quite beautiful.    John Williams' score, which is always wonderful, is particularly good here, with standard themes interspersed with a somber, dirge-like feel that helps the emotional moments resonate.

   The last act of this movie is what the prequels have all built to - in fact, it's their whole raison d'etre.   There are two concurrent lightsaber duels - the climactic showdown between Obi-Wan and Anakin - the only lightsaber fight to date with only one color saber involved - with fantastic choreography, and on Coruscant, the fight-we-never-thought-we'd-see between Yoda and the Emperor, which is incredibly fun but not long enough by half.   The movie ends by deliberately setting the stage for the Original Trilogy, as Obi-Wan, Bail Organa, Darth Vader, the Emperor, C-3PO, R2-D2, the infant Luke and Leia, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, and even Tarkin in a quick cameo, are placed in recognizable, iconic surroundings.  (There's also a deleted scene featuring Yoda's arrival on Dagobah.)  The last few minutes of the film feature all of the major musical themes of the Original Trilogy, blended together, and the closing shots are very evocative of a New Hope.  It's a clean ending, neatly tied up, and while it may feel somewhat perfunctory, it works very well in bringing us to 'where we came in', with an understanding of how we got there.

"Don't mind me, I'm just silently recording all this for posterity...I mean, Brrrr-BWEEP!"

   I would also like to mention the personal gratification I got when it was made very clear at the end of the movie that R2-D2 is fully aware of all of the events of each of the films, given his presence in key scenes throughout the prequels, including Anakin and Padme's marriage, the slaughter of the Jedi, and the birth of the twins.   This means, of course, that throughout the Original Trilogy, R2 knows far more than any other character about what's going on, up to and including his knowledge of Luke's parentage.  That was something I'd long suspected growing up, so it was very nice to see that confirmed on screen.  End of I-Told-You-So moment.

"I don't know, I'm still not sold on the whole 'unguarded ventilation port' part of the design..."

    All told, Episode III is the best of the prequel era, and while it does have its drawbacks, it's generally a solid film with a lot going for it.  It's more powerful than the other two films, better written, acted, and directed (with some credit there going to Steven Spielberg, albeit unofficially), and far more satisfying a film than audiences were expecting it to be.  Mileage varies, of course - for some fans, it was too little, too late, and other still had different expectations of it, but for my money, I was fairly pleased.  Again, had Episodes I and II been different, perhaps I would have wanted something else from ROTS, but you pays your money and you takes your chances.  Personally, I feel it holds up pretty well ten years out, though I'll concede it's still not on the level of the Original Trilogy.  On it's own merits, though, I like it well enough.

FINAL RATING: 6 PAWS (OUT OF 10):

Next up:  We go back to where it all started: Episode IV: A New Hope....