The End of an Era

Rating: 9/10 (23 May 2005)

It's been exactly 5 days since I saw Revenge of the Sith. I saw the midnight screening, and then again (technically the same day) opening day. I have since I can remember been known to my friends as the Star Wars guy. My room is adorned with posters, figures, busts, and many other Star Wars related material (my favourite being the German Empire Strikes Back plaque). And while I may not know absolutely everything there is to know about the universe, its safe to say I'm a huge fan.
Revenge of the Sith is not only the end of the Star Wars saga, it's the end of my youth. I remember hearing rumours of Episode 1 when I was still a youngin', 15 to be exact. At that point I was a huge fan of the Original Trilogy (hence known as OT) and the thought of an updated version, re visitation, addition, whatever you wanna call it sent me into geek heaven. My friends and I skipped school that day to see the first show. I liked it... enough. I suppose at the time it seemed a bit contradictory to me to dislike it. How could I dislike Star Wars? Even Jar Jar didn't bug me as much as it seemed to other people. I ended up seeing it about 6 times in theaters, most of them with my dad. Episode 1 was actually the first movie I ever snuck into (with my dad as well) which is pretty cool I suppose.
3 years later, Attack of the Clones comes out. Once again we skipped school to see it first thing in the morning. This one left me a bit colder. Like all of the SW films the advance in technology was amazing, doing things with CG that completely left you dazzled. After it was finished I said "Ok, now show me episode 3" I never thought Ep. 2 stood very well on its own.
Revenge of the Sith left me very satisfied. I thought about why though. Once again the CG effects are unparalleled, I heard rumours of up to 1 million ships on screen at once, and I can totally believe it. Thinking about it with my left-movie-brain I came to the conclusion that this technically is not a good movie. The acting, from all actors, is terrible. Samuel L Jackson displays no real coolness that we're used to. Hayden and Portman make me wanna sew my eyes shut when they're on screen together. They have no chemistry. The dialog in general is beyond corny. To be fair I don't really believe its all the actors faults, all of them have proved themselves to be competent in there other works. I blame Lucas. Lucas couldn't write dialog to save his life (which is why Empire and Jedi are far superior to any others). I guess the point is that for Star Wars of now, you can't really ask for much more than this. The acting has always been sub-par. The dialog has always been sub-par. Given the megolomaniacal way Lucas has always been, the movie is awesome. The references (through dialog, sound effects, etc.) to the past 5 films don't feel forced or leave me shuffling uneasily in my seat as they have in the past. The action sequences are excellent. Lightsabre battles never get old, in my book. I'm actually surprised this movie got away with PG-13. I thought it was a marketing ploy, Sith being hyped as the darkest of all SW. It was no lie though, not even close.
*Sploiler*
I didn't think Chewbacca needed to be in the film. His allegiance with Yoda adds a sort of confusion to the whole series. I'm just glad they didn't throw Han Solo in there as well. Palpatine has, and still is, the best part of the whole New trilogy. His verrry slow ascent as Emporer was the part of the new trilogy I was looking forward to the most. And Ian McDarmid does not disappoint one bit.
So now having no Star Wars films to look forward to (until Lucas dies) I am content.
If there ends up being a TV show, I really hope it doesn't suck.