Dark, action-packed, emotional, simply great

Rating: 9/10 (21 June 2015)

*WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS* Out of all three of the prequels, Revenge of the Sith is the only one where it is not too uncommon to like it. Most people hate it, or at least dislike it, but there are still those of us who love this movie. And I am one of those, because this movie is almost perfect. Almost. The special effects are dazzling, the space combat looks so much more sleek now that Lucas upgraded to CGI, and did away with models (a controversial move, but personally I think it was the right choice, I mean, you can't argue with these results). A lot of people complained about the first two movies being too boring, but Lucas knew what he was doing. He was building up to the war, and now it's here. And now... it's all out war! I can't cover all of the great battles in this movie, because there are a lot, and trying to do all of those justice is...daunting. However, I will point out a few of the highlights. Of course there is the best light-saber duel ever when Anakin and Obi-Wan finally have their big duel. It has just about everything you could want from a light-saber duel. Action-wise it's the best, emotionally it's the best, it has a great environment, and the exchange between Anakin and Obi-Wan before they fight is so epic, I've tried to memorize that whole speech (yes, I'm a nerd, I know). Yoda and Sidious also have a pretty great duel; watching the two most powerful people in the universe fight it out is pretty much guaranteed to be entertaining, and it pays off. But it's not all about the action, the characters are great as well. Hayden Christensen does a really good job at playing the conflicted, bitter, and angry Anakin Skywalker. His previous performance was a bit shaky (though I personally liked it), but here, he's really good. Natalie Portman doesn't have a lot to do in this movie, but she's still fine. Some of her reactions to Anakin's fall are a little... overblown. Ewan McGregor is also really good, after Anakin's fall, you can tell he's really effected by it, and he's trying to not let it show, and he does a good job with that as well. Palpatine is also a great character, his subtle manipulations of the Republic are a good plot-point, and seeing him finally cut loose and let the Jedi have it is very entertaining. For me though, the tone and themes of this movie are what really makes it great. It has an ominous tone going the whole time, which is y'know, how it should be. There's no comic relief in this movie, though we still get a little trademark Star Wars banter. Anakin's fall to the dark side is tragic, and the final battle between him and Obi-Wan is both heartbreaking and exhilarating. And... wow, I'm really going to get a lot of hate for this, but... here goes. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is... the best Star Wars movie of all time, and will likely remain the champ forever. There, I said it. I know this review will disagree with popular opinion, and I'm not doing this to rile up the prequel haters. I am doing this to put out my very controversial opinion of the Star Wars prequels, because frankly, all the prequel hate is getting annoying, and I'm going to do my part to give the prequels the respect they deserve. Thank you, George Lucas, for making this great movie, which is, as I said, the best Star Wars movie ever.