Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

I should have reviewed this a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away...)

Star Wars Episode three was...
Dark. Dark. Dark.

Anyone heard this before?

The truth is that after all the reviews that I read, I can't do this much justice. So first, I'll direct you here, to Jason Kottke's review, which sums up my sentiments pretty well.

There are SPOILERS, so if you haven't seen and don't want to know, don't read on. Otherwise, feel free!



Here's the thing: anyone worth their salt knows what is going to happen in this movie. We've already seen the sequel! What is amazing about this movie is that despite that, despite knowing the absolute evil of Darth Vader from the original trilogy, you still find yourself hoping that he won't really turn to the dark side.

That was, I think, George Lucas' biggest accomplishment with the last movie. The rest of it was the same ol' same ol' - bad dialogue, excessive effects (why on earth did Obi-Wan have to ride the giant iguana when Grievous had a space-Harley?), etc. These are the things that we come to expect and accept about the Star Wars universe. These people do not live in New Jersey and hang out at malls having philosophical discussions while in the food court (see: Mallrats). No, they live in space and while they manage to create elaborate clone armies, they can't handle more complicated dialogue than, "You're so beautiful." "I'm only beautiful because I'm so in love." "No, you're so beautiful because I'm so in love with you." PUKE.

It was certainly the best out of the first trilogy. The action doesn't get much better than Obi-Wan v. Anakin/Darth going on at the same time as Yoda v. Emperor. I know that Natalie Portman is probably kicking herself for accepting this role back when she did. It was probably a good idea at the time, but she's a much better actress than is displayed in Revenge of the Sith. Victim of bad dialogue, just like Hayden Christensen.

My favorite character is still Obi-Wan. Ewan McGregor still channels Sir Alec Guiness very well and they give him some of the clever witty banter that he dropped in Episode IV when he was an old coot.

Overall, the movie was pure popcorn entertainment, but it was really REALLY GOOD popcorn entertainment.

IMDB rating: 8/10