It's over!

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2005)

So at last we come full circle to the supposedly climactic ending of the first three episodes in Lucas' lifelong project. First of all, don't let its box office records fool you. Relying entirely on the previous five movies for its audience, "Revenge Of The Sith" takes the let's-get-this-over-with approach to story telling. But hey, at least it looks cool. I like to think that I walked into this movie the way everyone should: with no expectations. From experiencing the first two episodes, it's more than obvious that if you are expecting any kind of award winning performances, deep and thought provoking plot developments, or memorable moments... you'd better head back to the original three movies. This movie is all about overwhelmingly overdone CG settings and scenes, loose ends being tied up, and numerous flashy saber battles. Now, I'm not saying any of these things are bad, however like the first two episodes, "Revenge Of The Sith" is nowhere near the degree of the aged and classic original series. It suffers once again from a hammy love story, a rushed conclusion, and what has to be the single worst "NOOOOOO" scene ever recorded on film. Also, while it's no secret that Lucas is a fan of wipe transitions for the films, I honestly think he went overboard with the things in this one. It doesn't help that each scene averages at about five to seven minutes before leaping somewhere else in the story. I can appreciate speedy pacing, but this isn't supposed to be a music video. The last twenty minutes of the film serve as a reminder of how exactly this series ties in with the one we grew up with as kids, by showing each character going their separate ways and heading to their waiting place for the whole story to pick up again in episode four. As for the actors, I'm pretty sure most of them were more or less tired of playing the same roles, along with the same dialog and character ranges, for the second or third (or in some cases fourth or sixth) time. You can tell just by their shallow performances that most of them have had enough. All that aside, let us not forget that we are dealing with a Star Wars movie. There's always room for saber fights, gun battles, and ship to ship combat, and "Revenge Of The Sith" has more than enough of those to keep you from walking out of the theater. The series has really gotten an MTV makeover in the last 20 years as well. No more final saber battles in a wussy Emperor chamber. Nope, now we have to have the climactic battle of Jedi and Sith on hovering platforms each resting a foot over a river of lava. Oh well... it's Star Wars. And besides, the kids will love it.
BOTTOM LINE: You've come this far, so you might as well see just fill in that small gap, even if you already know what's going to happen. Stick around for the shiny parts too.