Better than the other prequels...but is that good enough?

Rating: 6/10 (5 December 2005)

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith It's a big name, and when it came out in theaters Summer 2005, it carried a huge weight on its shoulders. Its creator, George Lucas, had spent (though most say "wasted") two films setting up an overly-complex, yet still incredibly vague, world of conspiracies and duplicitous characters with hidden agendas.
Now, every loose thread had to be tied together neatly and efficiently. Every character had to reveal their true identities. It all had to be simple, tight and thrilling. After all, this was the ultimate episode in a story arc spanning more than 25 years! So...mission complete? Not exactly.
The problem, IMHO, with these prequels is that they are a victim of their own success. Like the Matrix saga, which started out fantastically and spiraled down to a miserable death, the Star Wars films have been raised on a pedestal so high that only a god could satisfy her fans' expectations.
A New Hope came out when the words Summer Blockbuster were merely a gleam in Lucas' eye. Empire, though not as box-office-successful, impressed critics with its more-human characters, darker plot, and its will to hurt the characters we loved. Jedi, though a lot more childish in its Ewok sequences, still delivered a knock-out finale. Vader finds redemption, by making the choice he should have made years ago---killing Sidious, and freeing the galaxy from the shroud of the Dark Side.
That brings me to a vital sequence in Revenge of the Sith, one whick represents the whole movie: mixed, confused, underplanned and over-FX'd. Skywalker's choice, though better explained in the novelisation, leaves the casual viewer baffled. Only Ian McDiarmaid's fantastic portrayal of the Devil Incarnate (aka Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aka Darth Sidious) kept me in my seat. Gone are the days when special effects keep me going gaga at the screen. Too much Lord of the Rings films have numbed me to the sight of a thousand CG characters battling on a CG terrain. I want simple, exciting plots, morals that date back to legends and myths, and punchy, heartfelt dialogue.
None of which is in this film. Though Lucas apparently had some help with the dialogue, it did his film no justice. I could not FEEL for characters when they sound more robotic than C-3PO. I could not IDENTIFY with Skywalker because he constantly contradicts himself. Confused tragic characters work well in Shakespeare, BECAUSE it's Shakespeare. Obi-Wan bugged me, because although Ewan clearly put his all into the part, he still came out dull and boring. I won't even go into Grievous. That, like Jar-Jar, was a baaaad idea.
So, really, why see the film? Well for one thing, you get the much-awaited lightsaber duel on the volcano planet of Mustafar. But, wait a minute, it's INTER-CUT with Yoda's fight with Sidious. Both are good, separately, but mix them up and you lose the pace. Also, I really think Mordor's appearance in Return of the King stunted the folks at ILM----how do you create a dark, Hell-like planet when a rival trilogy already had one? The battle itself lacked something---imagination, no. It lacked the heart that the old ones were practically drowned in.
The one redeeming scene is the opening half-hour. I nearly cried in delight as we are thrown into a stratospheric war between republic Star Destroyers and Seperatist Dreadnoughts. I had to stop myself from clapping with glee as Obi and Ani traded weapons and witty words as they bounced from one escapade to the next. THIS is what Star Wars is about. THIS is what makes fans happy.
But, like the other two prequels, it soon became bogged down in silly politics and lazy conversations between characters that we find harder and harder to care about.
So...to the Big Question. Worth seeing? Most definitely. Despite my shopping-list of let-downs and frustrations, this film raised the bar to near New Hope-level (I would count this as a classic, but the weakest of the Original Trilogy). Finally, the film felt more like an adventure and less like a tutorial in interstellar political games. We saw more planets and battles than the other two combined. The blue-screen work was much improved, although Commander Cody and his Amazing Floating Head bugged the hell outta me. (CG-uniforms, really? C'mon George!) The biggest satisfaction will be watching the entire Saga with a new viewer. They will be amazed by the opening three, and heart-wrenched by the last three. They will go through the series of films with no preconceptions. The "I am your father" will not hold sway anymore---they ALREADY know this." But this time, the fact that Vader wants Luke to join him, as he did Sidious, throws a whole new spin on things.
To sum up, this a piece in a sprawling puzzle. On its own, it stands stronger than past efforts, but still a Padawn when compared to the older, sturdier efforts. But taking a look at the final completed 12 hour epic, the Force is stronger than we originally thought.
I just can't help thinking: what if Spielberg had directed them instead...