I was 11 when Star Wars debuted in 1977. And 28 years later, I figured I might as well finish out the second trilogy with "Revenge of the Sith", even if I wasn't thrilled with the episodes I and II. So I ponied up $9 to see it at midnight, qualifying me squarely at the lower end of the "Star Wars fanatic" camp if only because I wasn't willing to wait in line or drive more than 10 minutes to see it.
Let me say that this is easily bests "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones."
Some spoilers follow, so be forewarned.
This is a relatively dark movie, similar in feel to some of the earlier Batman flix with Michael Keaton. Hayden Christiansen gives a subtle and brooding, if not spectacular performance as Anakin Skywalker. Ewan McGregor is weak and effete with none of the swashbuckling charm that Harrison Ford brought to the earlier trilogy and none of the gravity that Alex Guiness brought to the older Obi Wan. Lots of good light saber fights, especially one with the creepy General Grievous (why does a robot have a cough and a hunched posture)?
Yoda is completely computer generated. I preferred the old Frank Oz puppet in the closeups. And please explain to me why he walks like an old man but can flip around like Jet Li. Well, I guess they never explained that about Mickey Rivers either (1970s Yankees reference).
Samuel L. Jackson remains farcically wooden in an attempt to appear as the Zen Mace Windu. His only good scene is when he acts more like the vengeful Shaft he should be. The movie does a surprisingly good job of interweaving the political intrigue. They also nicely handle the big question from Episode II, namely, "Am I the only one who thinks it is obvious that the Chancellor is evil?"
The biggest disappointment however was Natalie Portman as Padme. Her acting and the writing combined to remind me, every time she was on the screen, that this was a movie with actors. I wanted to remain immersed, and she broke the illusion almost as much as when the houselights accidentally came on between reels.
There is very little humor in this film, save for some R2D2 droid antics. I really would not recommend it for anyone under 13, or perhaps even 15. There is some disturbing stuff, including lots of amputations and, yes, killing children (although not shown in a graphic manner).
There really is surprisingly little back story filled in (beyond what you could predict yourself), save for perhaps how the Emperor's face got so pale and craggy. Ian McDiarmid, BTW, is excellent as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. My skin crawled almost every time he was on screen. He should be nominated for best supporting actor as surely as Ian McKellan deserved an Oscar for playing Gandalf in LOTR.
Jimmy Smits is pathetic, especially when he says "My wife and I were talking about adopting a girl." Okay, let me get this straight. We're talking about saving the future of the galaxy by protecting one of the infants that can someday lead the rebels to victory, and Jimmy Smits' motivation is "my wife and I were talking about adopting"!!!!!? The Terminator movies do a far superior job of portraying what it would be like to preserve the future leader of a rebel insurrection.
The movie does a good job or portraying Anakin's emotional and physical transformation into Darth Vader, but I'd quibble with the cinematography when "the helmet goes on." They shot the helmet being inserted from the side and then show Darth Vader sitting up. It just looked campy and Frankenstein-monster-like rather than dramatic. Easily the biggest missed opportunity of the film (although bolting on the face of the mask separately was a nice touch). Thankfully, the real climax comes earlier, so it was an interesting choice not to make that scene the climax of the entire trilogy.
Anyway, a good film, perhaps the best of the six considering the expectations it has to meet, but not a great film. Certain to bring in at least $500 million at the US box office if not top "Titanic". If you're reading this review, you'll see it regardless of what I say. I don't know if I will bother seeing it twice, but probably not. I'd give it 8 out of 10 stars. Overall, the LOTR and Terminator trilogies are much better (the latter being severely underated).
What is your favorite and least favorite episode? Will there be an episode VII?
Comments (4)
Read More Entries by Bruce A. Epstein.
Episode VII - Nah
I recall from the time of the original movies that there was an overall vision of nine films. I don't know if that came from anywhere official, though I did hear references to it again around the time of Episode I, when Lucas was swearing up and down that he only ever planned to do six films.
Maybe. At some point, Lucas allowed books to be written about the time after Return of the Jedi (I read the first three, then gave up when hundreds more started appearing), but none cover the time before Episode VI. Once he turned the post-Jedi universe over to other authors, Lucas closed the door on any opportunity to make an interesting story out of Episodes VII-IX.
That, and he has repositioned the stories as the fall and eventual redemption of Anakin/Vader. That story arc has nowhere to go in further episodes.
You could also consider that another trilogy would take at least nine years to make, perhaps two decades if they take another extended break. I don't know how old he is, but could we be sure Lucas would live to finish the project?
So, no, there won't be an Episode VII.
Grevious
Yeah, he's a cyborg. For some reason, Lucas decided to cover some topics in the Clone Wars animated series, such as "why is C3-PO suddenly gold?". Given the limited audience for the series, it was an odd choice.
In the series, you see Mace do a Force "choke" on the big G's mid-section, causing him to start coughing and wheezing.
Grevious
Yeah, I noticed the cough too.
But then just before the big fight with Obi Wan, you can see that he has real eyes... reptilian maybe?
I think he's a cyborg, not a droid.
I did think of Frankenstein when they raised Vader up... even down to ripping out the restraints and his lumbering walk.
why does a robot have a cough and a hunched posture!
it´s not a pure robot! before obiwan kills
General Grievous you can see that their is a small fleshy mass inside the robot.