An Excellent, Entertaining Mid-Installment with Few Shortcomings

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2009)

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was literally the last hope any and all Star Wars fans had for George Lucas to even come close to matching the original trilogy. Despite the uneasy and lukewarm-at-best reception The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones garnered, anticipations were set high after the promising trailers along with multiple light saber duals being touted. This was the last major, on-screen film Lucas had left to release, and how did it manage and hold up? About as good as realistically possible.
It's tough to try and even match the original trilogy. And while Revenge of the Sith isn't like a new revolution to Star Wars, it is one heck of a great film. It manages to be so engaging and entertaining that there are plenty of times it can be easy to forget about the film's shortcomings (especially during the last hour). Everything that could possibly be squeezed into a film such as this (and more) is present and handled and executed surprisingly well. From the story, to the drama, to the emotions, conflict, intensity, action, effects and even more, Revenge of the Sith can at times feel like a multi-layered film stylistically and genre-wise.
So let's take a closer look, starting with the story. Things open with a bang as Anakin and Obi Wan get caught in the middle of a huge battle as they attempt to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. The unfolding plot from the beginning at first feels rather casual but eventually leads to a far more involved and engaging story. While the overview of the story itself has been known for what feels like an eternity now, the film manages to make the plot as interesting as possible thanks to a more personal insight into this particular branch of the story.
In regards to the characters carrying the story as well as the rest of the film on their shoulders, there are some good performances to be found. Obi Wan, Anakin, Padme and Palpatine are given the center stage treatment and for the most part they do a sufficient job. McGregor as Obi Wan is still a solid, likable character and he manages to (once again) create a fairly convincing younger version of Ben Kenobi from A New Hope. Portman also delivers a mostly solid performance as Padme (especially after her on again, off again performance in Attack of the Clones), with only a few melodramatic lines being delivered. McDiarmid as Palpatine is finally given some true exposure after seldom appearing in the last two films, and while he has one or two lame lines he does well to create the dual personality character Palpatine/Sidious has.
As for Christensen, the film's main point of focus, he actually turns out to have the most surprising performance of the entire cast. Unlike his horrendous performance in Attack of the Clones, Christensen managed to make a far more convincing and more than tolerable character this time around. While his role isn't without some cheesy lines and overzealous dialogue, he mostly pulled off a good performance this time around; which is good since this was really the last chance we had at seeing him before becoming Darth Vader with the suit on.
If it isn't clear by now, Revenge of the Sith's greatest weakness is that there's some melodrama and issues with the dialogue. While the points in the film that these show aren't too frequent (about three or so times total), they still stick out. But since the film has a relatively lengthy runtime and the last hour is almost devoid of any of these moments (hence the word "almost"), it's easy to look past them or even forget most of them.
As with all other Star Wars films, the action and effects here are excellent. The five major light saber duals are all very fun to watch, even if on the short side (with one or two exceptions). Revenge of the Sith also hones the expected space battles, with the opening being a large-scale space ship battle that's pure pleasure to the eyes. And, as always, each of these scenes are captured and directed brilliantly, showing everything at a great angle so that you can appreciate as much as possible.
To help compliment the action sequences (as well as non-action scenes) is the always impressive musical score. It's tough to find films with an overall greater and more memorable score than Star Wars, and other than films like The Lord of the Rings, there are few that can rival it. This is no less the case with Revenge of the Sith, as several various, tantalizing and epic scores are played throughout the film. It's all pure bliss.
There are also some particular scenes that stand out very well and help make the film all the more intense, emotional and simply entertaining. There are three main standouts for me during the film. The first being when Anakin and Padme are looking out across the windows of the separate buildings they're in, imagining the other in the opposite area when they in-fact are. Another would be towards the end when Padme is giving birth and Anakin/Vader is being operated on to be outfitted in the Vader outfit; with both suffering simultaneously as the film alternates the viewpoints. But probably the single strongest scene in the film for me would be when the Jedi are being terminated/betrayed, from Obi Wan being shot off at to Anakin getting ready to kill the young padawans. Needless to say, there's no short supply of emotion and intensity here.
All told, Revenge of the Sith is one heck of a movie and about as good as a film in its scenario could possibly be. While this isn't an earth-shattering, remarkable film that some might have foolishly hoped for, it's a great watch worth several viewings and a commendable effort from Mr. Lucas.