The Lucas Effect, but still an improvement

Rating: 6/10 (25 May 2005)

It was undoubtedly the best of the three prequels, that much was very clear. It's being hailed by people everywhere as being almost on par with the original trilogy - which is definitely over the top, they aren't even in the same league - but definitely a big improvement. It was much darker and placed much more emphasis on the plot and the chain of events that led to the downfall of both Anakin Skywalker and the Republic with key philosophical lines interwoven to show the why as well as the how. Some good acting performances with improvements from everyone, better gags and better plot. Unfortunately it still had the superficial character development, abysmal dialogue and excessive special effects.
The fatal flaw with the movie and the prequel trilogy as a whole is the characterisation, made bad by woeful direction and the poor script. The way lines were delivered was a big problem. Lucas had good quality actors at his disposal in McGregor, McDiarmid, Jackson, Lee but he wasted their abilities. The line delivery was wrong, wrong, wrong - I had to stop myself from crying out in anguish when was could have been a great series of lines was rendered impotent. They weren't forceful enough, it was all too relaxed and flat when that was not the mood of the scene and those that were delivered forcefully were uncontrolled and out of place, the wrong words were emphasised and the timing could not have been worse for some of them. Even McDiarmid's comparatively outstanding performance as Palpatine is scarred by Lucas' failures here.
As a result the audience is completely unable to identify with the characters, to in a way feel what they are going through - their fears, their anguish, their elation, their anger, their relief - they don't seem real, they seem like a bunch of actors going through the motions. The audience can't feel the mood of the scene, sometimes even manifested as a physical feeling - there is no tension where there should be, your breath isn't taken away in a sudden realisation in the character's eyes or a gulf between two even when they are only meters apart - nothing like the scenes in Empire Strikes Back when Han is lowered into the vat, or the conversation that leads to "Luke, I am your father", or the Return of the Jedi scene where Leia tells Han she is Luke's brother. In these scenes you are awash with the emotions of every single character that is involved, but in Revenge of the Sith there is nothing, it is flat, lifeless. The closest you get is towards the end when Anakin is lying in front of Obi-Wan and McGregor says "You were the chosen one" and "You were my brother Anakin, I loved you", only to be returned with "I hate you." In that scene you can feel his anguish at having the boy he had trained and had by his side for so many years turn to the dark side and have to be eliminated. It was approaching a great scene, but it just didn't have it to the extent of any in the originals, or of countless other movies. The characters are superficial, shallow and two-dimensional because Lucas just does not allow you to involve yourself with them.
So you just don't care about them. Hell, I cared more when R4 was destroyed at the beginning or when the young Jedi holds off numerous clones long enough for Senator Bail Organa to escape than I cared about the principle characters - especially Padame who was the absolute worst of the lot.
Instead of substance and depth to his characters and scenes, Lucas tries to dazzle us with special effects and cute and funny gags. These are good, but overdone in the extreme. There are moments of brilliance, such as anything R2D2 does in the first half hour - he was just excellent in every possible way and it really added to the film. Special effects are cool, but they are no substitute for actual film-making. General Grievous was a pointless distraction that should never have been brought into the film. He was ridiculous and almost as irritating as Jar Jar Binks, and has far too much screen time, causing the middle of the movie to drag on for ages because you knew he was the next major character to get disposed of after Dooku. It was the epitome of special effects over actual story. He was so one-dimensional it made me cringe, and when he pulled out those four lightsabres and said he had been trained in Jedi arts I almost buried my head in my hands it was so monumentally stupid. Unfortunately this is what draws the crowds these days and leaves a section of your average fans raving "it was sooo cool, there were explosions and stuff." It doesn't matter how bad it is, if it makes you money from gullible fools it's a success.
The movie redeems itself a bit by chronicling the chain of events that led to the formation the empire and the rise to absolute power of Palpatine. Cunning, opportunistic and manipulative and those around him don't realise what his endgame is or how they have been playing into his hands the entire three films. To see how he pulls it off and fits all the pieces of his puzzle together is wonderful. I thought the basic plot from Palpatine's perspective was marvelously constructed, even if the rest and the details were badly put together and delivered. McDiarmid carries it well and brings out some reasonable scenes with Anakin, and also has the lion's share of the important lines which for the most part he doesn't fail in getting out coherently.
I think it's OK. On the higher levels of OK. It's well above average certainly, but not "good." I think there needs to be a Wikipedia entry for the "Lucas effect."