Lucas Finally Gets It Right

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2006)

Third time is apparently the charm for Mr. Lucas, because "Revenge of the Sith" finally, FINALLY, feels like a "Star Wars" movie. "Attack of the Clones" was tons better than "The Phantom Menace," and even "Menace" improves as part of the entire series when it doesn't have to stand alone, but "Sith" is the only installment in the new trilogy that deserves the "Star Wars" brand.
With "Sith," events start to feel like they actually matter, and the elaborate but hopelessly dry plot lines that dominate the first two movies begin to coalesce into something resembling a story with resonance. The Emperor's rise to power and the way he creates a dictatorship while giving the impression that he's preserving democracy feels right, and there's an intense momentum to this film as the dark powers insidiously take over that the previous two films seriously lack.
The acting is still woeful, with the exception of Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid, both able to make George Lucas's terrible dialogue sound better by virtue of their British accents alone. Hayden Christiansen continues to play Anakin as a petulant teenager; he's at times embarrassing in his attempts to convey a demented mind spiraling downward. But in a way, it makes sense that Anakin would be an immature brat at his most impressionable, easily influenced by Palpatine while his still young mind is transparent. So in effect, Christiansen's poor performance accidentally ends up working for the character. And nothing can be said about Samuel L. Jackson's performance, other than that a great drinking game could be made out of it: everyone has to take a shot each time Jackson looks like he'd rather be doing anything other than appearing in a "Star Wars" movie.
"Revenge of the Sith" makes the entire prequel trilogy, whatever its faults (and there are many), worth the time it takes to watch them.
Grade: A