Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith

WARNING: Minor spoilers ahead!

I love the original Star Wars trilogy. I still find the story, the characters, the humour, the sound and the score as thrilling as I did the day I first saw them. I don’t remember when I first learned that George Lucas was going to make the long-rumoured prequels. But I do remember watching that first trailer, downloaded from the Internet, surrounded by my slack-jawed co-workers.

Lucas appeared to have succeeded in retaining the atmosphere of the originals: the hum of the lightsabres, the screech of the fighters, and the musical score all evoking the promise of another three instalments of epic space opera. I watched the trailer four or five times back-to-back and spent the next few days humming the theme tune. The thought of having to wait five more months until the film's release was more than I could bear.

The movie itself, of course, was a crushing disappointment. It was a kiddie film, with bad dialogue and unconvincing CGI, and all the thematic and auditory allusions to the original trilogy couldn’t save it.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones, was little better. The story was slightly more involving and the set-pieces more impressive, but the dialogue and acting were the worst I've seen in any movie, before or since. Hayden Christensen was terrible as Anakin Skywalker, although I couldn’t be sure whether that was because he was a bad actor or because as Harrison Ford once commented “You can write this shit, George, but you can’t say it”. After all, Ewan McGregor’s acting was terrible too, yet other movies had shown that he was not an inherently bad actor.

So by the time the trailer for Episode III was released, I was pretty jaded with Star Wars. I watched it out of curiosity rather than an insatiable enthusiasm. I hoped for the best, but expected the worst. George Lucas was writing the script again. The only way it seemed likely to be a good movie was if every character had been struck dumb.

I was wrong. Episode III is vastly better than its two predecessors. It's faster-paced, with few redundant scenes, and feels much meatier. It's also much darker, including scenes of severed limbs, the murder of children, and a burnt and dismembered body. But that's a relief. This is a movie about the birth of Darth Vader. It ought to be grim. Episode I may have been a movie for kids, but Episode III certainly is not. Jar Jar Binks is seen, but not heard.

The movie handles the transition between the two trilogies well. At the start, the Jedi are fighting alongside the clone troopers. By the end, they've become the enemy. There are several visual references to Episode IV which tie the episodes of the saga together in an extremely satisfying manner.

There is again bad dialogue and poor acting, but it's not quite as noticeable as in the previous installments, and as the story is more compelling, it's easier to overlook it. Overall, the CGI is outstanding, although there are still moments that look fake, particularly some of the gravity-defying leaps during the combat sequences.

Alas, the film was let down somewhat by the cinema. The Liberty Theatre, which has supposedly spent the last two weeks being refurbished, looked just like it did on my last visit. The movie began suddenly after two trailers, seeming to catch some members of the audience by surprise. Instead of the opening bars of the fanfare shaking the auditorium, they sounded muted and distant; it seemed to take a couple of minutes for the surround speakers to kick in too. The lights were not fully dimmed until ten minutes into the movie, and then briefly brightened, then dimmed, on one occasion after that. I was not the only one unimpressed by this.

Episode III has done much to save the latest films and prevent the memory of the original three becoming tainted. If only someone other than Lucas had written the dialogue, the new trilogy could have been better still.

8/10

Comments

[desperado on 20.05.05 at 15:00]

If only someone other than Lucas had written the dialogue, the new trilogy could have been better still.

Someone other than Lucas did write the dialogue! Namely, Tom Stoppard, the Tony Award-winning playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter. Guess a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the glory days of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern and Jumpers. In any event, since you today stand accused of running the "Death Star of cyberspace", I doubt Alvin Williams' is going to find your interest in the new Star Wars movie entirely coincidental. What say you, Darth Phil?

[Martin on 20.05.05 at 15:41]

Slightly off post....

What is it with cinemas here? I went last night to the Little Theatre to see the Interpreter.

The first 15 minutes of the film were out of ficus....the doors were kept open for 20 minutes with 'loud noises off' (despite asking them to be quiet)...people came in late up to 10 mintes after it started.

It's a nightmare, and would not be tolerated elsewhere.

[Ours on 20.05.05 at 16:34]

Yeah, Episodes I and II were a complete let down. Fingers crossed when i get to see Episode III it will be better!
I don't think Ewan McGregor is at fault for bad acting, the scripts were dire and it gets to a point when you can't go any further. Although I have my doubts about Haden Christensen.......

[John Steele on 20.05.05 at 17:12]

I haven't seen the movie yet, so all I can leave you with is Anthony Lane's review in the New Yorker.

In reference to Yoda, "…while we’re here, what’s with the screwy syntax? Deepest mind in the galaxy, apparently, and you still express yourself like a day-tripper with a dog-eared phrase book. “I hope right you are.” Break me a fucking give."

[The Limey on 20.05.05 at 17:46]

I didn't know that about Stoppard, but it seems he may have polished Lucas' script rather than written the whole thing. He's certainly given no formal writing credit. If that was Lucas' decision, that's pretty mean.

That New Yorker review is funny, but misses the point. Star Wars isn't meant to be hi-brow entertainment. It's just meant to be fun. And criticisng the film for a lack of reference to bodily functions or for the creation of a "disinfected galaxy" just comes across as churlish.

[desperado on 21.05.05 at 23:49]

Stoppard has supplemented his income for many years now working as a "script doctor" in Hollywood. In other words, he's paid a small fortune to resuscitate and perform cosmetic surgery on screenplays that are in otherwise dire condition. Generally script doctors are not credited for their contributions under Writers Guild bylaws even if they are in fact the substantive authors of what is filmed: the only byline that really matters to them is the one on the cheque. From what I understand Stoppard wrote four drafts of SITH. So, he can certainly accept all the kudos for writing the first STAR WARS script since EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with humour, pace and a credible narrative through-line. However, he's also the guy the brickbats should be tossed at for the piss-poor dialog. Seems neither George Lucas nor Yoda are the only inhabitants of the STAR WARS universe with a penchant for backwards-reeling dialogue ...

[Fen on 23.05.05 at 06:53]

Saw this film yesterday, and agree it was better than the first 2 (not bloody hard) but not as good as the original trilogy. There were some bits I really enjoyed, despite a few areas of clunky acting and dialogue.

I am inclined to blame Lucas rather than the actors for the acting, as I have seen all the leads, even Hayden Christensen, be very good in other projects. I think Lucas just has a very different idea of what good acting is. Although, having said that, Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid were consistently excellent.

One think that irritated me was the "if you're not with me, you're my enemy" line. I really hate to suggest that George Bush has better lines that George Lucas, but the original quote had a better flow. If you are going draw a comparision to the current conflict so obviously, why not just go the entire way?
Nitpicking, I know...

[Stevie C on 23.05.05 at 15:31]

Possibly off topic, but if you need a laugh, check out: http://www.storewars.org.

[Creford on 13.07.05 at 11:19]

There were extremely excellent and the best scenes in the movie "Revenge of the Sith".
Good originality and great imagination, great story in this movie!
Here's Photo gallery for Hayden Christensen(Anakin) of this movie. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0159789/photogallery-ss-0
I love Star Wars series the most!