Revenge of the Sith Reveiw
Extremely powerful, but ...The bottom line on this movie is that 85% of the movie is extremely powerful, emotional, dark, engrossing, tense, and dizzyingly exciting.
Then there's another 10% of the movie that I call "quibblish". There are lots of plot, dialog, and character choices that EASILY could have been done 7000 times better. I'll have some examples later.
But the difficult part about this movie is the last 5% that I call the "what the fuck was that fat shithead Lucas thinking?" parts. Unfortunately, this 5% makes up the last 5-7 minutes of the movie, and leaves you very underwhelmed. Imagine throwing a 1 hit shutout into the ninth, then to hit three batters in a row, then throw a wild pitch, and then walk a batter to score the losing run. That's what this movie is like.
First, the good 85%.
The acting and dialog are much improved over the last two movies. The characters finally look comfortable in their roles, especially Hayden Christiansen. In this movie I think he's a great pre-Vader villian. The brooding and moodiness that others complain about seem right to me. He's wild and brash and ruthless, and a great contrast to Ewan McGreggor.
The pace is rather relentless. Don't expect to find a place to take a potty break. I sat on the aisle last night, and in our packed theatre, maybe 3 or 4 people stepped out for refreshments. Everyone else was glued to their seat. The movie sails along as critical events topple like dominos, it's a bit overwhelming at times. It all happens so fast.
Yoda kicks ass in this movie.
Palpatine is a slitherly serpent. You actually feel your skin crawl as he manipulates Anikan with his perverted deception.
But this is really a movie that is the sum of its parts. The music, the lighting, and the events themselves smother you with their dark tragedy. Yes, you feel the terror and sadness. You feel discomfort at the violence (the body count is shockingly high). The movie moved me. It is a powerful film.
But ...
There were parts of this movie (10%) that a 7 year old could have written better. Mostly, I feel these are minor gripes, because they do not detract from the power of the movie. They just annoy you. These facts sit in your head and force you to suspend reason, logic, taste, memory, and common sense to get past it. For example:
The droids. R2 plays a noticable role, 3PO does not. In fact, they could have been removed from the movie altogether and the movie would have lost nothing. There was no reason for them to be there. In fact, they detracted from the movie because you have to wonder why Darth Vader does not recognise 3PO in the later episodes since a)he created 3PO, b)3PO is the personal assistant of his beloved wife, and c)3PO seems to be there at every important event in his life.
Why is Chewbacca in this movie? He has like two lines and no one ever explains what it is he says. He's in the movie for a whole 20 seconds and we are treated to Yoda saying goodbye to Chewy, "Chewbacca, miss you, I shall." Yet, Yoda does not mention this in Empire or Jedi where Chewbacca is a main character.
Why do they make Yoda talk backwards ALL THE FUCKING TIME. I mean, he didn't constantly talk like that in Empire. It gets really annoying and silly.
Anikan's transformation happens too fast. One minute he turns in Palpatine, the next he helps him defeat Windu, then he regrets doing it, then he instantly pledges allegiance to Palpatine. Too big of a change too fast.
In fact, many significant moments went by too fast.
How can Jedis move large objects with their mind and can jump and fly for short distances, but cannot use these powers when hanging from a ledge?
R2 can fly now?
Obi-Wan complains about R2, and it seems to be an on-going argument between him and Anikan, yet he doesn't remember R2 in episodes 4-6. And while we're talking about Obi-Wan, how does he age 40 years in the span of 20 years?
The seperatist army is holding up in Mustafa (or some such name). Why would they be on this planet since it appears to be about 10 minutes from Couresant?
Why is Obi-Wan riding an iguana?
I could go on.
As you can see, these are quibbles. The real problem with the movie is the end.
First, they put Darth Vader together really fast, like he was a pre-fab kit or something. Also, with all this advanced technology, this universe doesn't have anesthetic or ultrasounds? Also, when they finally have all the clothes and armor on Anikan, he looks like a little kid wearing a Halloween Vader costume. He's swimming in that thing.
Second, the scene where Vader is assembled, told of death of Padme, and breaks from his restraints is entirely laughable. It looked like an SNL parody of a bad knock-off of a 1940's Frankenstein. It is probably one of the worst movie scenes I've ever seen in my life. It is possibly unforgivable that this scene made it into the final product. Didn't anyone edit this thing?
Third, why does Padme die? There are about 10,000 really good ways to write her death, Lucas chose none of them.
Fourth, why does Yoda go into seclusion so quick? He almost beat the Emperor and is apparantly stronger than the Emperor. Why not try again?
If Qui-Gon can come back as a ghost, why isn't he in the episodes 4-6?
So, I give it 3.5 stars out of 5. If they had cut some of those scenes at the end, I would be giving it a 4 or 4.5.
The good parts are THAT GOOD. Unfortunately, the bad parts live up to their billing as well.
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