Beware the Dark Side

Rating: 4/10 (28 May 2005)

The Dark Side of the force has finally consumed George Lucas as he presents the crucial bridge to Episodes II and IV. Critics are raving about the movie but excuse me if I seem a bit indifferent to them. To sum it up, Episode III over-promises and under-delivers.
Episode III, as we all know, reveals the transition of young and playful Anakin Skywalker into the tyrannical Darth Vader. In a way, this is both the strength and weakness of the movie. With other episodes, we were mostly in the dark regarding the plot (to a certain extent and ignoring the dismal Attack of the Clones) and hence, any expectations were purely hypothetical. With Revenge, the expectations were real; every Star Wars fan old enough to get into the PG-13 rated movie had conceptualised Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader. We all had our own little sub-plots scripted in our head even before we collected our tickets at the counters.
Such expectation is tough to live up to and Lucas can be forgiven for that. However, to deliver a movie solely tied together by a few strings of quality CGI, legendary characters and a popular score is not like Lucas.
The script was rushed if not just thrown together from a Google search of Star Wars fiction. Sure! We couldn't wait for the moment that the mask locks onto Vader and the heavy rasping breath begins, but do we really care by then? The characters do no justice to the natural talent of actors like Portman, McGregor and Jackson. Portman struggles to find her foothold as Senator Padme who is torn between being a mature, calculating diplomat and her secret love for Anakin. The scenes of Padme and Anakin lack in any chemistry and we feel no sympathy for this couple whose life is being destroyed to shreds. Jackson is ill cast as the serene and wise Windu and gets no scope to show his mischievous side. McGregor gets the best role in the movie, portraying the playfulness of Obi-wan with ease while handling the drama in a tactical way. McDDiarmid has the voice for Palpatine but he cannot carry the image of the Sith Master.
All these characters could be forgiven their flaws but what you cannot ignore is Darth Vader. Let us face it, this Episode is about him. Hayden Christensen gives an abysmal performance as the youthful Anakin. At no point of time, even until the suit is put on, are we convinced that Anakin is really the one to turn into Darth Vader. The expressions leave so much to be desired that we find ourselves begging him to put the suit on, just to spare us from watching them. Lucas worsens this by trying to convince us that the reasons presented for Anakin's transformation to the Dark Side are genuine.
Darth Vader is supposed to be evil, ruthless and fearful; however, our emotions are churned through a confusing logic process by the time Vader walks out in his suit. We feel sympathy for the young Anakin even though we are not sure if he is justified in his embrace of the Dark Side. Yet we begin to hate this tyrannical monster who we know will cause pain and death to many in the coming (or gone :p ) episodes.
However, the movie still needs to be lauded, for it does in a slow but steady way, bring to conclusion a series that has lived in the hearts of many cinema-goers for over 2.5 decades and completes the missing piece of the puzzle.