If you could have asked George Lucas thirty-some years ago where he would be today, not even he could have predicted how he would become a filthy rich, insanely stubborn, and oft-reviled businessman responsible for the biggest movie franchise of all time. How is it, then, that a humble space-cowboy flick, the almost too aptly-named Star Wars managed its way to phenomenon, redefining how movies were made and connecting generations of film-goers in a way previously unheard of?
This was possible because Star Wars is not just a movie, or series of movies. It possesses something supernatural, something with the power to bring out the kid in everyone. It has the same effect now as it did in the 70’s when it first amazed people, and now it’s bringing those people and their children together in the same way, decades later.
And so, in 2005, millions of people the world over, young and old, male and female, are crowding cinemas one last time for the last chance to ever see a new Star Wars film. And you know it’s going to be a surreal experience when even the appearance of the familiar green Lucasfilm logo has the crowd erupting in cheers.

The Phantom Menace was the first new entry to the series in 16 years, and for that reason alone it failed to live up to expectations. It was a genuinely entertaining film, but was overly criticized for being too kiddish. A film about Darth Vader should be darker, fans said, but George said no, the point is that he wasn’t always bad, but things in his life caused him to fall. This was what Episode I was trying to show.
Nevertheless, even those who hated it were able to remain optimistic, knowing Lucas had two more chances to “get it right.”
Then, when Attack of the Clones came out and proved to be a genuine disappointment, plagued by a dumb, convoluted plot, and awful dialog, it seemed to be the nail in Lucas’ prequel coffin. Fans fell back on “oh well, at least we have the originals (not the “special editions”)” but were anticipating Episode III with crossed fingers and low expectations, praying, “please, God, don’t let him screw up part 3.”

Don’t worry, he hasn’t.

Since everyone knew twenty years ago how this story would end, Episode III had the delicate and difficult task of being interesting without relying on plot twists, and to portray the tragic origin of a now legendary character. In this, it succeeds. Revenge of the Sith is the best of the prequels and the darkest and most intense and emotionally-driven of the entire sextilogy.
The film starts by throwing us right into the thick of battle (literally. The scrolling intro begins, “War! The Republic is crumbling!”) following Jedis Obi Wan Kenobi and the older and much cooler Anakin Skywalker on a thrilling rescue mission to save Chancellor Palpatine from the Seperatists. Palpatine , the leader of the Republic, or course, is also Darth Sidious, the Sith Lord and leader of the Seperatists, thereby controlling the entire galaxy by an ever-thickening thread. But you already guessed that much. The whole rescue mission, we learn, is a ploy to test Anakin’s worthiness of the Dark Side by having him kill an unarmed man. Here Palpatine’s true colors begin to show (though apparently only to us) and Anakin’s dark journey truly begins.
Anakin teeters on the razor’s edge of light and dark for most of the film, being swayed ever so subtly by Palpatine’s urgings, caught, confused and at odds between his mentor, his council, and his wife. The irony is that in his obsession with protecting Padme from her foreseeable death, he ultimately becomes the one who kills her.
The themes of love, fear, power, and betrayal really work here thanks to Lucas’ direction and a more focused story, as well as a strong effort by its cast, and of course, John Williams’ bold orchestral score.
Hayden Christiansen, unconcerned with his poor performance in Clones, really shines here as Anakin, with a deeper voice, a more furrowed brow, and a world of emotion just behind his eyes. Through a series of increasingly more tense and effective scenes with Ian McDiarmid, he is slowly pulled into darkness by promises of power and his fear of losing Padme. The transition of Anakin from whiney space brat to tragic hero works much better, in fact, than Luke’s transition from whiney farm boy to whiney Jedi.
The whole movie exists on this precipice of good/evil tension so that despite our pre-knowledge of how it’s going to play out, when all hell finally does break loose, the events that transpire truly are tragic. That in itself is an achievement.

McDiarmid is perfect as Palpatine, both subtle and severe, playing like a sniveling Lady Macbeth, and overacting with the manic glee of Hugo Weaving in The Matrix Revolutions. Palpatine is an embodiment of evil personified by an actor who’s laid claim to the character throughout the entire series, and fills the gap here with prominence and satanic fierceness.
Ewan Macgregor shines as well, playing on his inner Alec Guinness. When he’s not uttering cornball lines like, “flying is for droids,” and running around the galaxy on wild bantha chases, he plays serious and emerges in the second half opposite Padme and Anakin as a true hero. When he utters touchy lines like, “you were my brother, Ankain! I loved you!” it’s with the utmost sincerity.
The true center of good in the movie, though, is Yoda. He’s the hero. I was amazed and impressed by the level of emotion displayed on such a small, green, computer-animated face. This is the same quiet-yet-badass Yoda who was introduced in Clones, but more center staged. And he’s incredibly sad. When you see him wax defeat at the end of the film, muttering, “failed, I have,” it’s enough to make you cry.
On the other, hand Natalie Portman’s Padme is a central character, but is mostly reduced to a blubbering housewife, and Samuel L Jackson is embarrassingly flat as Mace Windu, even though he’s playing the same angry black man he plays in every other movie.

Visually, the film is astounding. George has saved the best for last. Something like 99% of the shots in the film are laden with special effects, and they’re all seamless. Space battles are frantic and intense, and the mano-a-mano lightsaber battles (and there are FIVE separate ones) are the most exciting and well choreographed of all the films. As cool as Darth Maul’s double-ended lightsaber was in The Phantom Menace, Lucas tops that here with a character who fights with FOUR swords simultaneously, and a battle that uses that cool-looking senate council chamber from the past two films as an interactive backdrop.

The film’s important scenes all work. The long-awaited duel to the near-death between Anakin and Obi Wan is as dark and intense as anyone could have hoped for, and the actual transformation into the walking iron-lung that is Darth Vader, is effective, in a campy, Frankenstein sort of way, and worth seeing just to hear James Earl Jones speak from beneath the helmet one last time.

The movie’s faults are few, but present. Some scenes are too heavy on uninteresting action (such as the bloated twenty minute intro). The new villain, the emphysemic robot, General Grevious, is the least interesting bad guy in any of the films, even moreso that Darth Maul, and he only had three lines. Then of course there’s the issue of how Padme seems to go through nearly her whole pregnancy in the span of what appears to be a few weeks, and how the Jedi are mostly rendered inept, despite their foresight and telepathy, they can’t see this elaborate plot against them, and are even reduced to the point of being killed by clone troopers without putting up a fight (remember how incompetent Stormtroopers were in the originals?)

Flaws aside, though, Revenge of the Sith is a terrific film on par with the classic trilogy. It has a dark, tragic story with a crushing finale featuring a fully volcanic planet (a grand allusion to the Hell of Anakin’s death of self). It’s visually stunning and packed to the neck with references to please fans and tie this trilogy to the other one, including the appearance of Chewbacca, the Death Star, prototype X-Wings, Star Destroyers and TIE fighters, and even (briefly) the Millennium Falcon and Grand Moff Tarkin. Sith is the movie fans have been waiting for 22 years. Get caught up in the magic of this experience, the whirlwind of emotion and action worthy of the Star Wars name. The Saga truly is complete.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age