Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Movie Review

Released: May 19th 2005

Length: 140 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: George Lucas

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan Mcgregor, Ian Mcdiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Frank Oz, Chrisopher Lee, and Matthew Wood

George Lucas hadn’t done a very good job on Star Wars in the six years between 1999 and 2005; two films in and audiences were really growing tired of his misguided choices and questionable attitude. But for the third and final part of the prequel trilogy, the divisive director and his company sought to improve on the mistakes Episode I and II had made. Did they succeed? Straight and to the point, Revenge of the Sith is almost everything you’d want to see in a Star Wars film, at least in my book.

Three years on from Attack of the Clones, the galaxy is now completely embroiled in a war between the clone armies of the Republic and the legions of battle droids under the command of the Sith lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), as well as the cyborg General Greivous. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), his wife Padme (Natalie Portman) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan Mcgregor) have fought many a hard battle both physically and psychologically over this time. But as the war nears its end, Chancellor Palpatine (Ian Mcdiarmid) puts his final plans into motion to destroy the Jedi and place himself in command of a new galactic order; the Imperial Empire. Episode III starts off with a bang and rarely lets up through its runtime; the action is both impactful and gripping, while the emotions successfully reach their highest zenith yet. There’s a palpable feeling of poignancy and tragedy as we see Anakin fall to the dark side, transforming into the powerful Darth Vader. Furthermore we also see a number of concepts raised in the previous prequels coming to fruition; most notably Yoda’s warning that “Fear is the path to the dark side”. Compounding this positive trend are the action scenes which are given copious amounts of impact; when you watch the furious lightsaber battles between Anakin and Obi-Wan, juxtaposed with the duel between Yoda and the Emperor, you feel a rush knowing that the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance, something not seen since the original films. Ultimately Revenge of the Sith’s plot feels both more immediate and more realised than both the previous episodes put together, and it provides a satisfying seg-way into “A New Hope”.

The cast this time is most definitely standing to attention when it comes to delivering the emotions associated with a tragedy of this scale. Hayden Christensen’s portrayal of Anakin is much improved for the final act, yet ironically this mostly comes through the moments which lack dialogue; the scenes where Anakin is alone in the Jedi temple looking across the city and thinking of Padme, as well as standing motionless in the factories of Mustafar accomplish and convey a great deal of internal conflict with Christensen’s detailed facial expressions. Natalie Portman is still a victim of some poor dialogue at some points, but she brings to bear the heartbreak and sadness of seeing the one closest to her fall into darkness. Revenge of the Sith also makes worthwhile progression with characters who were already done well; Ewan Mcgregor not only pours all his heart and soul into his last performance as Obi Wan, but he also channels a performance that forms a strong bridge between him and the performance of Alec Guinness from the original films. Revenge of the Sith is also the film where Ian Mcdiarmid really comes into his own as the mastermind responsible for the fall of the republic; you can feel the pure, unfettered evil that radiates from his character. Whenever he’s on screen, he’s incredibly sinister and manipulative, planting thoughts and twisting Anakin’s mind. Aside from some unnecessarily over the top or corny pieces of dialogue, Episode III makes an impression with characterisation where the other prequels failed.

Episode III also sees fit to show off the best and most extravagant special effects in the prequels. The computer effects have received additional layers of detail and now give off a greater sense of believability; a more extensive use of explosions and a greater number of troops on screen at once pulls the audience in, absorbing them into the deadliest battles of the Clone Wars and upping the scale to the highest level. The new locations are just as detailed as others introduced previously; the humongous battle cruisers of the warring armies, deep sinkholes of Utapu, and the raging lava pit of Mustafar are all grand avenues for some of the most action packed battles of the entire saga. Then there’s John Williams’ score, and what a soundtrack this is. Revenge of the Sith wouldn’t create half the emotion it does without the incredibly haunting and chilling songs that dominate and signify the more heart-wrenching moments of the film. Not only is it the best soundtrack of the prequels, it also comes pretty close to standing alongside the iconic tracks from the original trilogy. Just as the acting has progressed to its highest level in the last piece of the prequels, so too does the technical presentation. It’s great to see the filmmakers really deliver in this regard.

Revenge of the Sith is the best of the prequel trilogy by a country mile, not to mention a sizeable redemption for George Lucas’s flawed cinematic vision. It’s still a tricky proposition to gloss over some iffy dialogue here and there, but ultimately this entry is the one that recaptures that Star Wars magic, not to mention appropriately taking the saga into the deepest and darkest of places.

Rating: 4/5 Stars