Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

This is the third review in a series for the SciFi Drive's Star Wars Blogathon.

For the longest time, it was believed that the Star Wars films were simply a series of tales dealing with good versus evil. Now, to the largest extent they were, but it finally came to me that this was only the framework of the stories they told. Once you take into consideration the full arc of this saga, it becomes clear: in its center, Star Wars is a story about conflict. And not just conflict between aliens, armies and/or machines - about conflict within one's self.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith brings together everything we have seen before, from 1977 to 2002, and binds the ages. It also gives us a clearer understanding about what can turn a sweet innocent young boy into a twisted, evil monster. And it also makes us wonder "What is there to keep any one of us from becoming that which we most despise?".

To begin with, there is a difference in the Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in Sith from the one that was in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. This is an Anakin who is less sure of himself and of his powers, more troubled by the stress from the Clone Wars he is battling, more protective of his wife Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) once he finds out she is now pregnant. And he also wonders if perhaps there are lessons he is not learning from Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and the rest of the Jedi Council. Is there more that I could learn, he wonders. How can I protect Padme when I failed to protect my own mother? As Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) travels to Kashyyyk to help the Wookiees battle against the Federation forces and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) denies Anakin a prominent place on the Jedi Council due to his closeness to Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who is now becoming more of a father figure to him that Obi-Wan, the stage is set for startling revelations, intense debates, dramatic confrontations and more than one battle to decide whether Anakin is indeed “The Chosen One” or yet another pawn in a plot to rule the entire galaxy.

Disappointments were voiced with Menace and Clones from even the purest Star Wars fans (myself included), who observed the simplistic storylines and ineffective characters diffused the focus of the story. Why should those who wanted to immerse themselves in a galaxy far far away and discover the origins of characters they grew up with have to bother wading through such opaque details as trade embargoes, Gungans, shallow love stories and computer-enhanced effects? Remember the beatific simplicity of Star Wars (I refuse to call it A New Hope. Sorry.), The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? There were no distractions, no superfluous characters nor extravagant special effects to take you away from the story - you went to these films to be told a story and, by God, you got one.

So, does Sith deliver?

George Lucas seems to remember some of this for Sith, if only marginally (more on that later). Those of us who grew up on Wars, Empire and Jedi and suffered through Menace and Clones wanted only two things: to be told a good story and to find out what made these characters (mainly Vader) what they are.

Lucas falls back on his CGI crutch for the most part, directing against blue screens and computer-generated worlds of Utapau, Kashyyyk, Coruscant and Mustafar. As I said previously, I enjoyed the more hands-on feel that came from crew members working with wood, metal, clay, mud, blood, sweat and tears to physically create worlds you’d never seen before. Now, just push a button. At least he had the good sense to have a drama coach on set for the more intense emotional scenes, since he was tied up back at the computer. Impressive, yes, but still distancing.

Speaking of drama, it is here where the story shows its strengths. Lucas himself said this would be the darkest of the movies and he wasn’t kidding; what could you expect of a movie where a character we watched grow up, learn and fall in love becomes an unspeakable monster? There are deaths of many innocent characters here (not Jar-Jar, though), and for the uninitiated, a sudden transformation of a formerly benign character into a cackling, unrepentant beast. It’s emotionally draining, and far more satisfying story-wise than the prior prequels.

Okay, once again Christensen plays Anakin with more arrogance than anything else, but at least it is tempered with more confusion and anger; fitting for what will happen to him as the movie progresses. At least his style fits more the part here.

But what happened to Portman? She was feisty and adventurous in the last two movies but here she hangs in the background and cries and pats Anakin's shoulders consolingly. What happened to the fierce negotiator from Menace or the ferocious fighter from Clones? Sadly, her main purpose here is to carry her babies and give birth near the end. Period. What a shame.

I have only one complaint about General Grievous (CGI, voiced by Matthew Wood); he basically plays the same function that Darth Maul did in Menace; impressively evil but onscreen for painfully little time. He did fight well and was appropriately malicious, but for a bad guy, he sure was dispatched of rather simplistically, after all.

Of course, the others do not disappoint. McGregor does gangbusters as the heroic, somewhat older and wearier Obi-Wan, edging even further into Alec Guinness territory than before. Jackson's Windu is stalwart and brave, and still swings a mean light saber. Christopher Lee's Count Dooku shows up for a few minutes and is as good as he was previously, it just seemed like he was putting in a token appearance, like Frank Sinatra in a Dean Martin movie. Oz voices Yoda quite well and it is the CGI department's credit that he looks more like his image in Empire than before (and even as when he was still puppetized in Menace). Kenny Baker IS R2-D2, in my opinion and, CGI-ed or not, gets a good amount more screen time here. Poor C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels), however, does next to nothing. Heck, he got more to do in Empire than he does here. Thank goodness he gets the last line in the whole movie here, at least.

I could have stood to have seen more of Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and his Wookiee brothers on Kashyyyk, though. It was impressive to see then all fighting (and winning) against the Federation 'bots; if only the whole movie could have been about their battle (the Ewoks got more screen time than these guys).

But it is McDiarmid who holds the entire crux of the film. Can Palpatine be trusted? His words give comfort to Anakin's troubled mind. Why, then, do the Jedi not trust him? It is to McDiarmid's credit that he walks a thin tightrope between benign and malevolent so effortlessly. In fact, he has two scenes which I wouldn't dream of retelling here that are true showstoppers.

And McGregor's and Christensen's scenes together give them at least more time to show camaraderie and friendship than before. As they fight alongside - as well as against - each other, they compliment each other quite well in terms of action as well as emoting. Watching as Obi-Wan hopelessly howls out "You were the chosen one!" during their last battle as Anakin growls out "I HATE YOU!!", it gives one pause to consider their later battle aboard the Death Star, once again challenging one's beliefs against the other's.

Of course everything is well-detailed and looks great, but enough already! We already know how much Lucas loves fiddling around with his films, but would it be too much to think that years down the road he'll go back and UN-CGI his prequels? Probably not. The lava flows on Mustafar realistically, the sleek world of Coruscant is still impressive and the spaceships all are even more detailed and fascinating that before. I guess less isn't more, as far as CGI goes.

In the end though, there are images from Sith I will always remember: the rescue of Palpatine from Grievous' ship, the execution of "Order 66", the simultaneous battles between Anakin and Obi-Wan and Yoda and Darth Sidious, the group roar of the Wookiees, R2-D2's antics against the super battle droids, the attack of Darth Vader against the Jedi Temple...so many scenes, so many new memories to counterbalance the bad feelings I can now admit to from the previous prequels.

So yes, Lucas has redeemed himself with Sith and, for the first time since 1983, followed through on the promise given by the blast of horns and percussion and the receding "Star Wars" title going into the dark reaches of space. He has told a story...a good story...and ended it with the promise that we can go home, pop in our original Star Wars tapes or DVDs and pick up where we left off from there. Confidently.

It is sad to note that there will be no more new Star Wars episodes from now on, at least not by Lucas' hands. Perhaps that is for the best, though. Now that the genesis of Darth Vader has been told full-circle, we fans of the stories can now appreciate what it takes for good to become evil, for hope to turn to despair and perhaps learn what it takes to keep from walking in those same footsteps ourselves. And if you can walk away from a story with that kind of a satisfaction, then the storyteller has done his job.

As has Revenge of the Sith.