Revenge of the Sith - spoiler filled review

This morning, I worked for about an hour on my review and just as I was nearing completion my fingers brushed the lovely Windows "ruin your morning" button on the back of my computer. My screen went black and my review merged with the force, never to be seen again.

So here's my somewhat abbreviated (but still embarassingly long) review of Revenge of the Sith:



As I stumbled the Del Oro at 3:00 AM on Thursday I began to wonder what happened to George Lucas. How did the director/writer who seemed to have lost his ability to stage a scene, direct an actor and write a decent line, turn into the director of 20 years ago and actually improve upon that director? Dare I say it? I think that Revenge of the Sith is Lucas's best movie -- even better than the original Star Wars.

Like the other masterpiece we were recently treated to, Lord of the Rings -- Revenge of the Sith, the entire Star Wars series is an allegory of temptation. Sadly in the end of Sith, the hero doesn't throw the ring into Mount Doom. Imagine Frodo instead turning on Sam, giving in to his lust for the ring. Imagine (without laughing) Sam having to throw the ring and Frodo into the lava. Not exactly what Tolkien had in mind but imagine that and you get the end of Revenge of the Sith.

Anakin is tempted and listens to the lies of The Dark Side. While watching Sith, I was struck by how much The Emperor's half-truths reflected the way Satan tempts us, from Eden to modern day. A good thing is offered -- peace for the galaxy, the end of the war, wisdom, to be like God -- but the method to attain that good thing creates a far greater evil -- Darth Vader, death of innocents, the fall of man. By turning to evil in an attempt to do good, Anakin destroys all that he hoped to save and becomes exactly that which he hated. I find that message incredibly relevant and powerful.

I suppose that's where Sith rises above Lucas's previous efforts. In this film he manages to rise above petty plot devices, wacky jokes and even pulse-raising adventure. He taps into the eternal struggle between good and evil and re-frames his entire cycle in that light.

Okay, that's the deep stuff I got out of Sith. Here's a few stream-of-consciousness observations.

• Is not the opening shot the single most exciting shot in all of Star Wars? I felt like a giddy little kid watching that. It just goes on and on and gets better and better.


• I guess Lucas finally remembered how to write banter. The dialogue between Anakin and Obi-Wan is fun and pure Starwars.



• Obi-Wan is the Joe Glenn of the Jedi: A nice guy and a good friend. The sort of dude that you can give a call when you're having a problem. There's something very sweet about him -- especially when he's holding out the twins to Padme for her to name.


• The scene where Anakin and Padme are looking out across Coruscaunt to each other, while Mace goes to confront Palpatine is amazingly subtle and powerful for Lucas. Without a word being said you can see the conflict in Anakin and his choice.



• Speaking of the Mace VS Palpatine scene... wasn't that awesome? I have a few observations on that scene alone:
  
  
  
  1. Who were those two lamewad Jedi that went down right away? The one dude was looking in the other direction when he got the saber in the chest! What was he thinking? "Wow, I like what evil Palpatine has done with the decorations in his office -- Arrgh!" Yeah, I really want those two Jedi at my side in a fight to the death. Poor Mace.
  
  
  2. I loved Palpatine in that scene. From his instant transformation into nice-politicion to evil-Sith-Lord to his glee in taking out Jedi. But my favorite part was his "No. NO. NOooo" growl to Mace. I want to pull that sometime at work. "Levi, can you develop this bit of code?", "No. No. Noooooo."
  
  
  3. Mace's yell when his arm gets lopped off is funny to me. Sort of Lando-esque.
  
  


• Yoda throwing his lightsaber into the Stormtrooper's chest then jumping on him and pulling it out happened so quick that I didn't notice it the first time -- but wasn't that cool?
  


• Oh and how about the scene with Anakin in the Jedi temple? This is the same guy who brought us Jar-Jar and the Ewoks? Dark stuff.



• That Jedi kid who runs out of the temple and starts taking out the clones in front of Jimmy Smitts was very cool. Way to go down swinging, young Padawan.


• The Jedi purge was very sad and beautiful. It's weird to see all these characters from the past films just suddenly die in a matter of minutes.


• "Not if anything to say about it have I!" What? George?



• I loved the scene between Obi-Wan and Padme. Especially the last line from Obi-Wan. Outch.




• The lead up to the duel had me on the edge of my seat. Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen played this scene great. Natalie finally did some acting! The scenery here is stunningly cinematic. The fire, the lava, the black sky. Some of the best of the series.


• The duel is more intense than I expected. There was points where you couldn't even see Anakin he was moving so fast. All you see was this blur of lightsaber that seemed to be in a thousand places at once. If I was Obi-Wan, I would've gone down in seconds. Good thing I'm not -- Obi-Wan dying in the duel would've added a major plot-hole into the rest of the films.



• Intensity.



• Wicked.



• Awesome.


• Sorry. The fan-boy got out of control.


• Anakin lying on that hill by the lava. Catching on fire and screaming his hatred to Obi-Wan was stunning. The high (low?) point of an already excellent movie.


• I loved the way Lucas intercut the birth of the twins and the creation of Darth Vader. Those three have a lot to go through together.


• The final montage was perfect. All the loose ends are neatly tied together and we're ready for A New Hope to begin. It's a seamless transition. The last shot was lump-in-the-throat material.

I will complete my wandering, gushing review by ranking all the Star Wars films, for no reason.

1. The Empire Strikes Back: I listed this as my favorite film of all time and not even Revenge of the Sith can supplant it. Too much, Han, Darth Vader plot-twists, Lando, Chewie, Carbonite, Yoda, force-chokes, Romance, Etc. to be beaten by any movie.


2. Revenge of the Sith: But darn if it doesn't come close.


3. A New Hope: This film stands the test of time and is even more fun to watch after the prequels. Watch it and you'll be impressed at how seamlessly the two trilogies merge.


4. Return of the Jedi: An emotional climax to the entire series. We finally see the redemption of Anakin Skywalker through his son. Only the Ewoks take this down a notch.


5. Attack of the Clones: A step in the right direction for the prequel trilogy but still way behind the other four films. For every great scene there one that makes you want to disappear from the theater.


6. The Phantom Menace: Jar-Jar, Anakin: "Yippie!". Need I say more? Only Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and the amazing Darth Maul duel at the end save this movie from being terrible.

So now I have seen the entire Star Wars story arc. The circle is now complete. Thank you George Lucas for giving me a story to fascinate and excite me from my childhood into adulthood.