Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Having seen the first movie when it reached France as I was about 10, it left a vivid mark on my imagination, and I kind of treasured the little bit of fantasy it brought to me among probably millions of other people. I think the reason why episodes IV to VI became timeless classics is that they were simply fairy tales in sci-fi clothing. You had heroes and princesses actually doing their heroes and princesses things on the screen, but most of the coolest bits happened somewhere in the recesses of your own imagination. Struggle of good against evil. Quest for the father. Passage from childhood to adulthood through a series of trials and challenges. All the stuff chivalry stories are made off, presented in a minimalist way that stuck to the essential elements of the plot. All the rest, including top notch SFXs and the excellent Solo-R2D2-C3PO trio was just cleverly fleshing out this very strong backbone. Just a few lines from a dreamy-eyed Sir Alec Guinness about the clone wars while young and clumsy Luke had his pants burn by a floating tennis ball were enough to flare your imagination in depicting an epic struggle between dark empire forces and a few heroic Jedi knights overwhelmed by sheer force and treachery. A few words about Leia and Luke's past were enough to evoke the moving fate of orphans afraid to uncover the hidden truth about a father shrouded in menacing mystery. Stuff dreams are made of, really. Sadly oh so sadly, it looks like nowadays a blockbuster will never get the green light until some kind of quality insurance comity makes sure even the slowest 10% of your average audience will never be left wondering about anything that goes on for more than 2.5 seconds. I guess some marketing genius managed to convince the producers that leaving anything to the imagination of the customer seriously threatened the return on investment or something. The last 3 episodes were unfortunately born in this disastrous context and proceeded methodically with the extermination of the slightest bit of magic that populated the 3 previous movies. Everything is laid bare in front of our eyes like some specimens on a dissection table. No, not even that. More like pieces of hardware broken down into component parts on a sterilized workbench. So the Force is just something you catch like a flu. The mythical clone war is just 15 minutes of a ridiculous "plan 66". The mighty Vader is just a poor boy with an over-sized ego and an IQ reduced to 2 digits figures by an excess of testosterone (or midichlorians or whatnot for that matter). The mighty conflict that flares through the galaxy is just the outcome of desperately trivial political plots. The Jedi council a bunch of pathetically weak over-aged muppets. Yoda a preposterous 10 inches tall kung-fu master. The epic spirit of the first trilogy has been judged guilty of sales-threatening capital crime, quietly dragged behind the marketing barracks at dawn and shot in the back of the head. As if to make good for this assassination, the last 3 movies drown us into a squirming pool of special effect and fan service that go light years over the top. Hysterical scenes flashing past before you really could decide where to focus your gaze just make the cheesy plot-advancing ones look miserable. Here again I feel the invisible hand of the marketing staff, managing to cram about every single second or third rate characters from the previous trilogy into an already bloated plot, stretching even further the already badly mauled consistency of the scenario in the process. Frankly, what could this stupid "average viewer wants facts" assumption bring but bitter disappointment? The result is not only boring, but really, really sad.

Truly the best of the bad _Star Wars_ movies, _Revenge of the Sith_ doesn't make a whole lot of sense, both when viewed as self-contained, and when seen as a part of the _Star Wars_ whole, but at least Lucas bothered to put a whole movie in here. _Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._

Still not perfect, but <em>'Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'</em> is such a more enjoyable entry in the prequel trilogy - which ends strongly. I had a fun time with this. I do have a couple of (relatively minor) complaints, but first the positives. I'd say this is the best that this cast produced during this run of films. Hayden Christensen is excellent in his role, it's the most I've liked him in <em>'Star Wars'</em> for sure. Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman give more than solid performances as well. The special effects look nice throughout, while the score is pleasant. I also found the pacing to be practically ideal, which is a marked improvement on its predecessors. The humour and dialogue still isn't great, yet is also bettered. Crucially, the plot is very good. With all that noted, I do have two things I didn't love. The first being the event that includes Samuel L. Jackson's character. I completely get the intention and reasoning of what occurs, but how it is shown did feel kinda forced and poorly written. Another is the end, which overruns ever so slightly. I know it's setting up the original trilogy, but there are a few too many scenes; could've/should've ended on you know who's first breath. However, all in all, I got a positive amount of entertainment and would class this as a step above the preceding two films. I'm glad about that, as it makes the prequel productions way more meaningful and memorable than they were looking to be based on the 1999 & 2002 releases.

I had lost hope in the Prequels when they first came out - disappointing isnt a strong enough word to explain it, but its the best I can do. So I came into this film with low expectations... I knew it wouldnt be great and I knew what it had to do to link up with the original Star Wars. And then, this one surprised me (and still does). The plot is taut, because it has to be (it has a lot of ground to cover). The universe that was made in Ep 1 has to change dramatically to become Ep 4. And the dialogue is mildly better (but still has its moments). The opening action scene wowed at the time (and still does). And some of the duels are excellent - ObiWan vs Grievous was fun and (of course) ObiWan vs Anakin was superb - they had weight and impact and the swings actually "landed" (which is more than can be said for the other ones which just seemed to be dances). And the acting is actually improved a bit - for a moment Christensen actually showed some talent (and he has shown this in other movies, just not in these). He lets himself have an instant of regret after one of his killing sprees before refocusing back to his "angry state." It makes me wonder about how much emotion could have been put into this movie with a different director. McGregor is the best actor here. Portman shines, but is underused. Jackson is wooden in this. And McDiarmid over acts and loses his sinisterness - he is better in the shadows in this role, either sitting or standing still. When he does something more (even walking starts to get too much), he loses all believability (which is a shame as he is a fine actor in other roles). The score still remains typically 'Star Wars' - great. The costumes have evolved again (it has been great watching the costumes change through these movies). And the CGI is great in this - every background has something moving in it. There are flaws with this film - many of them that I have not already touched on, but others have so I wont. But, overall this movie is fun, and a good way to spend over 2 hours. And by the time the helmet comes on at the end, you are there in the moment, holding your breath, waiting for that epic scuba sound to start.