The Wars To End All Wars

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2005)

And so it ends. 28 years on, Lucas finally says to the world "There it is. That's the Legend of Star Wars. The story of the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. An epic that spans 2 generations, star systems, love, hate, destiny, betrayal, greed, ambition and loyalty. Now leave me alone!!!" You wonder why George wanted to do these prequels. Did he need to tell the full story he'd created? An obligation to the fans? Or maybe that they'd shut up about it. I can't help but think of Lucas as this hen-pecked father with a group of children begging for one more bedtime story before they go to sleep. The story is told but the kids aren't satisfied. That's not the way it's supposed to be. Jar Jar Binks is a silly character. You're not telling it right. Why can't the storm troopers shoot anyone? Why do we have to sit through the boring kissing bits? Tell us another one, then we'll go to sleep. What's a guy to do? If you're Lucas, with all the success and riches that your creation has brought, you can do whatever you want. So I'd like to think it's because he wanted to tell these stories that he's done so. We don't have to like it. Do we care about Anakin as a moppet? No. Do we want to see how he and Padme fell in love? No. Do we want to see Anakin's turn to the dark side? YES!!! Give it to us now!!! But Menace and Clones are important. This is EPIC film making. And epics mean having to get through some back story. We're dealing in universes here. Entire races of people. A treatise on the nature of good and evil. The preceding episodes add context. These six episodes are now Anakin's story, no-one else's. (Luke and Leia and Han have been all but reduced to supporting players) That story is also about the rise of the empire and destruction of the Jedi. To do that you have to see the Republic before hand. To jump straight to this film would have been to have tossed it out like so many cash-in prequels. We may not like them, but you can't do without them.
But this one is the thundering success we've been waiting for. George is freed from the necessity of set-up and exposition. He just lets things kick off in one huge explosion of double dealing and treachery. Everything is sewn up this time round. How Palpatine was deformed, how Obi Wan got Anakin's light sabre, how Yoda was exiled, how the twin's were separated. I expect that some geek with nothing better to do will point out a few plot holes between episodes but I won't care. Lucas has done the best job he could have to bring all these straggling threads together. You WILL be impressed.
Palpatine is THE bad guy. He's seen so far down the road that he's crossing international borders. Everything has been set-up and organised. The Jedi are spread thin, fighting their holy crusade and they're being positioned as fall guys. The clone/storm troopers are already placed all over the galaxy. By the time Palpatine has his republic sponsored coup, no-one even wants to stop him. He's brought peace, eliminated the 'real' threat and is busy tidying up loose ends. That's how you take over the Universe: with, as Padme says, thunderous applause.
It's also revealed how false the Jedi code is. Believe in The Force. Don't have loved ones. Don't care for individuals. Don't be buddies and talk about your problems. Just stretch out your feelings. What kind of bull is that? Sure, you can jump 20 feet in the air and make people do whatever you want. But you want emotions? Forget it. You get this really cool laser-sword, just don't go on a date with anyone? Anakin's existential crisis is so unimportant to anyone that you realise why he's drawn to Palpatine's supportive father figure. If Obi Wan would take him aside and share a few beers things may have been different. But he can't, he doesn't know how.
If there are weak spots to the film it's that Lucas STILL can't direct actors (Ian McDiarmid steals the show with malevolence. Everyone else says their lines and waits for the next action scene), STILL can't write dialogue (for God's sake George, hire Kasdan to do a polish sometime) and the pivotal scene of the film, Anakin's switch to the Sith, happens too quickly: "Join the Sith! Never! Join the Sith! Oh, alright then" It's also lacking the requisite huge battle. We've got the opening war in space and a ruck between Droids and Wookies, but nothing like the climax of Clones. You could argue that these battles are personal ones, Obi Wan and Anakin is the climax. You'd be right and that duel is everything we hoped for. It's not like there aren't enough set-pieces. There's a rollicking chase between Obi Wan and Grievous (who suffers from Darth Maul syndrome: great character, huge potential, utterly wasted, stupid death) Yoda and Palpatine's encounter in the senate is blinding and Mace Windu gets to do something at last. It's just I wanted a punchier ending.
But enough of such talk. Star Wars is finished. There'll be T.V. shows and animation but there'll never be another film. Rumours will continue about VII, VIII and IX. But we all know it's over. And I for one am sorry. Before there was always the anticipation of waiting. Now that has gone and there's an undeniable sense of loss. With these films Lucas has created a wonderful story, left an indelible mark on human society (I'm not joking. If there was a Jedi political party in England, Tony Blair would be out of a job), and completely changed the way films are made. That's not a bad legacy. Now, can we have another story please?