Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
Review (with no spoilers!)
It’s
3:33AM as I’m writing this and I’m quite sure I’m not going to be able
to sleep until I get it finished. We went to the midnight
show. See, I’m the kind of person who likes to see this kind of
film the day it comes out, so no one can ruin it for me by telling me
what happens in the film. I’m going to avoid putting any spoilers
in this review for that very reason, so you can read it without any
fear of major plot points or secrets being revealed. I will
however assume that you have seen the other five Star Wars movies, and
speak freely of events that have occurred in these films.
I
remember reading long ago that Return of the Jedi was originally titled
“Revenge” of the Jedi. It was changed because a Jedi would never
seek revenge and uses the force only for knowledge and defense.
Well, “Revenge” is back, and this time it fits. Darth Vader is an
angry young man, lashing out at a world that he feels doesn’t
acknowledge his true value. How does Anakin turn to the Dark Side
of the Force? I’m not going to spoil that for you. I’m just
going to say that it works beautifully and makes perfect sense in this
film.
Looking
back, I must admit to liking Episode 1 the first time I watched it, and
each subsequent time only enjoying the parts where they are fighting
with lightsabers. I feel about the same about Episode 2, which
some fans refer to as “Attack of the Clowns”. Were these two
films really even necessary? I remember thinking from the
original Star Wars movies that the Clone Wars raged for years, and it
was during this time that Darth Vader hunted down the Jedi and killed
them one by one. Darth Maul was created and destroyed in a very
short time in The Phantom Menace and Episode 2 taught us little new
except what most of us already knew in the back of our minds: Yoda is a
total badass. He also seems to be the only Jedi who is truly
enlightened and knows what’s going on most of the time. The Jedi
Council seems like a bunch of boobs compared to him. He’s still a
badass in this film, and as calm and wise as ever.
Happily,
Episode 3 is exactly what we have all been waiting for, and I can’t
help but be reminded of The Empire Strikes Back. This new film
seems to have a similar tone. Empire is many fan’s favorite
movie, and one of the few films I can recall where the good guys
lose. I can remember walking out of the theater in disbelief
after seeing that movie. How could things get worse? Han
Solo was in carbonite. Luke had nearly been killed. Darth
Vader was his father?! And yet I loved the film! Episode 3
is similar. It’s not hard to know that this movie isn’t going to
be happy happy joy joy. We all know that this is how Vader came
to be, how the Empire came to power and the Jedi fell. And yet
it’s a great movie. The tone is part of the reason why.
Gone are the kid-friendly cutesy Jar Jar Binks silliness and goofy
“Boba Fett? Where?” Three Stooges gags. There’s a funny bit here
and there, but they all seem droid related and don’t interfere with any
of the film’s tension. Star Wars has always worked when it’s
bushido and religion, and rarely ever worked when it was Ewoks and
Binks. Hayden Christensen seems to have grown up between
films. He now seems tall and powerful. He looks scary
instead of silly when he’s being evil this time around. He’s
brash and impulsive and only listens to half of what he’s told, like
any teenager. When he turns, it’s believable and fitting.
There
are some interesting allusions in the film to current world politics,
nods to Shakespearean tragedy, and Arthurian legend. Vader has
always been a tragic anti-hero, a man forced into his destiny and
corrupted by evil. He’s Gollum all over again. A man of low
birth who ascends into a dark knight. Does he really have a
choice? The best villains are those we can identify with.
Count Dooku was too much Dracula, Darth Maul too little of anything but
an angry killing machine. Vader is calculating, evil and
relentless. In Empire, as Luke begins to fight Vader, we quickly
sense that he can kill Luke any time he wants too, but he’d rather use
him to further his ambitions. It’s a complex evil.
There
are tons of special effects in Episode 3. The difference is you
aren’t constantly reminded the filmmakers want to show you something
cool. It’s hard to find the formula here. Star Wars films
have had a chase scene, like the speeder bikes in Jedi or the race in
Phantom. In the old days these were new and were awesome.
By Episode 1, there was little that could be done with special effects
that was going to stand on its own. The filmmakers seem to have
finally figured this out for Revenge. There are chases, sure, and
amazing amounts of stuff flying around in the background. But
they aren’t saying, “look at this!” “This is why you are watching this
movie!” They just happen to be there as part of the story.
Some of the visuals are truly amazing and have clearly progressed since
the other modern films. The battles are huge, chaotic, and much
less stiff. It never looks like a bunch of computer characters
copied and moved to different locations. There are some cool
creatures, like a giant lizard thing that Obi Wan rides. In past
films, you would have felt they were showing off the latest “make the
creature look organic” computer tricks. Here it’s just a strange
giant lizard. There are also a ton of new and different space
ships, aliens, and robots. It’s hard to tell what is real and
what is computer generated. And that’s a really good thing.
You’re probably going to want to see it more than once just to stare at
it, which is something neither of the other two modern films
accomplished.
What
can I say? They got it right with this film. This movie is
fast, gritty, and unflinching. You actually care about the
characters and can feel their pain. You’re watching an epic
battle on the stage of a galaxy far, far away. It’s the rise of
an evil Empire and the death of the Jedi clan. It’s the fall of a
young hero and the end of an era. And you don’t have to apologize
for liking it this time :)
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Page contents (C)Copyright 5/19/2005, Ian Martin
Oh, and if you wanted spoilers, there are plenty here:
