Review of "Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith"

" It is not the end, nor is it the beginning of the end. It is however, the end of the beginning" Winston Churchill

Unfortunately for "Star Wars" fans, this is not only the "end of the beginning", but in fact, "the end". George Lucas has publicly stated he will not be making any more "Star Wars" films, as what was proposed as a nine part series is now going to end up being just a six part tale.

It's a pity, because it could have and should have been so much more.

The latest, and last, "Star Wars" film, "Revenge of the Sith" improves somewhat on the first two "prequels" simply because it is not burdened with the weight of so much ponderous exposition and pretty much hits the high points on a consistent basis. There are several really effective battle scenes, effective not just because of the technical skill with which they are staged and the terrific cinematography involved, but because they contain a deeply personal dimension, or in some cases their scope is so large that we are nearly in awe of them and realize the huge consequences of the outcomes. And the entire pace of the film is sped up, that is, it seems as though the history of the "Star Wars" galaxy is racing by at a lightning speed and events are unfolding so quickly and tragically we want to reach out and stop them.

"Revenge of the Sith" is primarly the story of the final seduction and downward spiral into evil of Anakin Skywalker. The character that began as a young, somewhat puckish and impetuous boy in "Phantom Menace" has grown into a brooding, arrogant and fearful young man who is ripe for the psychological manipulations of Emperor Palpatine, a turncoat member of the Imperial Senate who is secretly a disciple of the dark side of the Force, and who covets power on a galaxy wide scale. Though we have been primed a bit for this development (what with Anakin's indiscriminate slaughter of the sand people who enslaved and killed his mother), the final hurtle towards the dark side still seems a bit rushed to me. At the beginning of the film, Anakin is still Obi Wan's friend and student, saving his life and joking affectionately with him. Two hours later, he is slaughtering children and ready to murder not only Obi Wan but the love of his life, Padme.

I think to adequately portray this transition, you really needed a television mini-series. In fact, the pacing of ALL these "prequels" seemed herky jerky to me; too fast at times, too slow at others. This is in contrast to the "first" series, which always seemed to cruise along at just the right speed, mixing action and exposition seamlessly.

I must say that some of the problem with the speed of Skywalker's descent into darkness dwell with casting. While I acknowledge that some of the motivations behind young Skywalker's fall were psychologically valid (his fear of losing Padme is a natural window into his dark side; ends justifying the means and all...), the acting of Hayden Christiansen was too often rather flat and unconvincing. Without meaning to be cute, it often seemed as though he was cast more for his potential "hottie" status than real ability to project passion into the role. He always just seemed more...pouty than dangerous, more immature than evil. Again, I think if his descent had been slower, and he had been a bit older, at least thirty or so, when he fell from grace, I would have had an easier time buying him as a truly menacing, fully realized villain.

This movie is about more than Anakin's fall, however. It's also about the destruction of the Jedi Knights and the rise of the Emperor and his minions. Again, I felt that there wasn't sufficient time given to this monumental development. Within the space of a handful of scenes the Jedis are betrayed and cut down by the clone stormtroopers. It's not that I am morbid and wanted to wallow in their deaths, but somehow it just seemed as though an event that big needed more air time. Likewise, the exiling of Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi; neither one of them had a "safehouse" or "bolthole" other than the godforsaken swamps of Dagobah and equally unappealing desert of Tatooine? They just hightailed it out of the universe at light speed, somehow undermining both the significance of the events that preceded their actions and the complexity of their characters.

For all the negatives of the film, there were of course some balancing points. The fight scenes were very sophisticated and complex, in perfect harmony with the epic struggles they represented. Anakin versus Kenobi, Yoda versus Emperor Palpatine, Kenobi versus the droid leader, and all the broader conflicts (Wookiees against the droids, the initial deep space battle...) were all instantly engaging and awesome to behold. It really begs the question of what wonders we could have beheld if the technology available to us today had been available to Lucas back in 1977. Of course, we have the "directors cut" versions, but the core of the battle scenes were made at a time of much less technical sophistication. Yoda's movements are so much more lifelike and real; this goes a long ways toward making him more believable, not just a "muppet" to be patted on the head, but a truly well rounded character that we feel for and empathize with.

One of the elements of the original series that made it so appealing to me was the cast of characters, and their wonderful interplay. This series had more characters, but at the same time, most of them seemed to have less depth than those of the originals. Ewan McGregor does a great job with a terribly underwritten role of Kenobi. Has he ever had a romantic interest? Where does he come from, and has he ever had a life beyond being a Jedi master and tutor? What are his motivations? We never learn the answers to any of these questions, but McGregor somehow still holds the role together with a glue of integrity and dignity. It's hard to imagine a more tragic character in the "Star Wars" pantheon, excluding Vader himself of course. His main task in life is the tutelage of the "Chosen One" of the universe, and not only does he fail to deliver Vader as such, he has to watch in horror as Vader becomes the universe's most heinous and powerful new villain! He then falls into self-imposed exile on Tattooine, where he ekes out what can only be a miserable existence as a hermit and local crackpot/wizard. Then when he finally finds the New Hope (Luke), he allows himself to be killed (!) but even then cannot rest as he has to keep popping up as a guide figure/ghost for Luke to draw insight from!

Well, as Mark Twain observed, if you are good, you will be lonely.

Other characters, such as Mace Windu and Count Dockoo, appear to exist just to move the plot along; we never really know who they are as people. Some of this may be quibbling as we didn't get to know some "original series" characters that well either (Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Ackbar, etc.) but at least in that series the core characters seemed pretty well fleshed out and delineated. Here there really is no "ensemble" for us to get to know and identify with; all the principles seem to meet at the beginning of the films, then are dispatched to various locales and missions with little or no interaction throughout the rest of the film. And I must say I have been particularly disappointed with the treatment of Padme in the last two films. A character that began as a feisty, involved and independent woman quickly dissolved into someone whose main function was to worry about her beloved and be in jeopardy. In this film, she is saddled with such dreary dialogue I really felt rather sorry for Natalie Portman, who by all accounts is really a fine actress.

All that said, there are of course some moments that longtime "Star Wars" fans will just eat up, as I did. The connection between Yoda and the Wookiees (and his final "farewell" to them), the aforementioned battle scenes, R2's consistent "pluckiness", and the final scene on Tattooine, foreshadowing the "middle" trilogy, were all very welcome. And it just goes without saying that anyone who has seen and loved the other films is going to HAVE to see this one. I just think that so much more could have been done with the material, had the pacing and characters been fine tuned a bit (in some cases, a LOT) more.