Star Wars Episode III : The Revenge of the SithDirected By:
George Lucas (“
Star Wars (Episodes I, II, and IV)”, “
American Graffiti”)
Starring:
Hayden Christensen (“
Shattered Glass”),
Ewan McGregor("
Big Fish"),
Natalie Portman(“
Garden State”),
Samuel L. Jackson("
Pulp Fiction")
What could you do in 800 minutes?
Eight hundred minutes. That is 13 and 1/3 hours. It is just under two working days for most of us. It is only a bit less than our waking hours on a typical Sunday. Over the course of six films and exactly 800 minutes of screen time (yes the whole series measures exactly that long), George Lucas was able to accomplish quite a few things. For one thing, he created a universe. He generated a reality filled with furry Wookies and short Ewoks, armor-clad clone stormtroopers and lightsaber-wielding knights, massive starships and monsters of all sizes. He causally wrote a love story that most audiences accepted as realistic and worth caring about. He also wrote a love story that comes off forced and stilted despite trying twice as hard. He intertwined stories that involved the death and rebirth of a democracy and the rise, fall, and redemption of a hero. He attempted display insights into the insidious nature of tyranny, the domino effect of evil deeds, and ultimate folly of greed.
Lucas also accomplished a few minor things. He amassed a personal fortune that will forever free him from the studio system. He and his employees have invented special effects and sound techniques that have influenced every film made since. He ushered us into new generation of science fiction films. He changed the way movies are made.
Ok, not bad.
With that in mind, I obviously am a huge fan of George Lucas’s dual trilogies set in another time and another place.
The short and simple review of Episode III is that it is easily the best of the prequel trilogy. In fact, this film is the only one of the “new three” that can stand next to Episode IV-VI and dare to call itself an equal.
Episode I : The Phantom Menace, just isn’t a good movie, plain and simple. It managed to introduce some characters (Obi-Wan Kenobe and Padme) but that is about it.
Episode II : Attack of the Clones, was an above average action movie. Nothing that special on its own, but it did drop in some key points that led us to understand just what was going to happen.
Episode III brings the other movies together in a way that people like me (who enjoy long, sweeping story arcs and complex personal and political dramas) needed it to. The story is (of course) primarily about the exact factors that led to the turning of young Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader, one of the great villains in film history.
What I liked best about the film was not the loud and fact-paced action scenes or the special effects. Let’s face it, we’ve seen that before, it has been done already. I was struck mostly by the irony and foreshadowing throughout the piece. For example, we learn that Anakin switches sides from good to evil because he wants to become powerful enough to prevent a personal tragedy from happening to someone he cares about. In the end, it was that very decision that leads to the tragedy. An equally powerful moment was when the evil emperor unknowingly foreshadowed his own death at the hands of Darth Vader. Something that won’t be happening for another three movies!!
There are of course some problems with the film. The love story subplot is still mostly a failure. The lack of chemistry between Christensen and Portman is as bad if not worse than it was in Episode II. Portman's character simply has nothing to do in this film. Every scene she is in, save one, feels long, dull, and very much a waste.
Luckily these failing are overshadowed both by the story's grand scale and by the performance of Ewan McGregor. He brings a charisma and depth to Obiwan Kenobe that is severely lacking in Christensen's Anakin Skywalker. Towards the end of the film, Kenobe and Yoda steal the show as tragic heroes who realize what their failures have caused a horrible tragedy.
The completion of the six movie series now changes what the Star Wars story amounts to. Much like the
Matrix Trilogy or
Lord of the Rings Trilogy, these movies must now be viewed together to be truly appreciated.
It took three tires, but Lucas finally made a film that is at least in the same league as its ancestors. It is a fitting end and one well worth seeing.
