Review 23: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, the Clones Wars rages across the Galaxy.
The Jedi Knights lead a massive clone army in the war against the Separatists. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) go on a mission to save Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and General Grevious (Matthew Wood) the leader of the droid army and an advanced droid who is able to weild many lightsabers. When they find the Chancellor, Dooku appears and they fight him, until Obi Wan gets knocked out and Anakin kills Dooku. After that Grevious, escapes and Anakin, the Chancellor, and Obi Wan escape. After that the Chancellor becomes very close to Anakin. Anakin also begins to have nightmares about of Padmé dying in childbirth.
After Obi Wan is sent away to find Grevious, he becomes vulnerable to the Chancellor's seductions inevitably succumbing to the Dark Side of the Force and becoming Darth Vader, changing the fate of the galaxy forever.
The plot is a work of sheer genius, possibly because it's so dark and ambitious and mainly because it ties up all the lose ends: you get all the answers to the Star Wars saga (and it ties them up beautifully, everything comes full circle, all the peices come to together leading up to Episode IV, the movie that started it all. It answers all the questions we've been asking for the past two movies. We finally find out the secrets of Chancellor Palpatine, How Anakin turned to the dark side, the origins of Luke and Leia...
The primary theme of Revenge of the Sith is corruption and how it works and how you can become the villain if you believe a lie someone tells you: The seeds of distrust and doubt that Palpatine plants into peoples minds over the course of the film.
Lucas also hints (albeit subtly) that over the last three years of the Clone Wars that the Jedi themselves have become inherently corrupt and are willing to take over the Republic themselves in order to secure the peace and Lucas makes this abundantly clear that this makes them no better than Palpatine himself.
The way George Lucas portrays the Jedi Order, particularly in this film, further solidifies this theme: The Jedi are not depicted as the angels they're cracked up to be: They keep secrets, they distrust Anakin immensely and continuously keep him out of the loop, they can be seen as pretty corrupt because of their practices and the Clone Wars effects them deeply and the choices they make.
George Lucas' direction is unobtrusive, his staging of scenes is masterful, consider, for example, just before Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and Palpatine's duel, we're treated to a wide of Windu and his three Jedi comrades getting ready to fight him of necessary, they ignite their lightsabers in different ways and hold them at different angles. It's this kind of detail that he and his team live for.
The special effects are outstanding, the score by John Williams is monumental and unlike any of the score he has composed for the series, the costumes are majestic, the make up is rich, the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty and the atmosphere of the various different planets.
The sound effects are cool, the creature design is mystical, the production design is outstanding, the actions scenes/space battles/lightsaber fights are exiting, well choreographed and so much fun to watch and the ending was superb. This is the Star Wars film with the most lightsaber fights (five of them to exact). All of them as exciting and as stimulating as the next.
The climactic lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin on Mustafar is pretty much all action with virtually no dialogue almost akin to a silent film. The minute that Obi-Wan and Anakin ignite their lightsabers, George Lucas knows when to stop and just let the images do that talking. The final result is nothing short of breathtaking, a virtually non-stop duel that’s a feast for the eyes as the former Padawan and Master turned enemies former friendship ends in flames. The duel is also paired with so many emotions such as Revenge, Pain, Loss, Betrayal, Regret and Shame.
The acting was the best of the Trilogy. Ewan McGregor is superb in this film as Obi Wan Kenobi, he genuinely cares about both Anakin and Padme and wants them to be happy. He recognises that Padme is one of the few thing that makes Anakin and seeing him happy makes him happy. Yet, at the same time, he's always been a little wary of Anakin and having made a promise to Qui Gon, he trains Anakin to the best of his abilities. Ob-Wan and Palpatine are very much the angel and the devil on Anakin's shoulders.
As established in the prior films, he's a very honourable character, a very noble character and someone who always put others before himself and who is always trying to do the right thing even when the circumstances are extremely dire.
Anakin's turn to the dark side cuts him so deep because he's so kindhearted and because he realises he has not only failed himself but Qui-Gon as well and he's very very damaged because this then pushes him into the final cycle of the film when he faces Anakin on Mustafar.
Natalie Portman is (as Mick LaSalle eloquently described it) decorative and sympathetic as Padmé Amidala. Compared to the previous two prequels, she isn't as involved in the action as she was before and has a more reactive role, but she more than makes up for it with a tone of emotional depth.
The sound effects are cool, the creature design is mystical, the production design is outstanding, the actions scenes/space battles/lightsaber fights are exiting, well choreographed and so much fun to watch and the ending was superb. This is the Star Wars film with the most lightsaber fights (five of them to exact). All of them as exciting and as stimulating as the next.
The climactic lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin on Mustafar is pretty much all action with virtually no dialogue almost akin to a silent film. The minute that Obi-Wan and Anakin ignite their lightsabers, George Lucas knows when to stop and just let the images do that talking. The final result is nothing short of breathtaking, a virtually non-stop duel that’s a feast for the eyes as the former Padawan and Master turned enemies former friendship ends in flames. The duel is also paired with so many emotions such as Revenge, Pain, Loss, Betrayal, Regret and Shame.
The acting was the best of the Trilogy. Ewan McGregor is superb in this film as Obi Wan Kenobi, he genuinely cares about both Anakin and Padme and wants them to be happy. He recognises that Padme is one of the few thing that makes Anakin and seeing him happy makes him happy. Yet, at the same time, he's always been a little wary of Anakin and having made a promise to Qui Gon, he trains Anakin to the best of his abilities. Ob-Wan and Palpatine are very much the angel and the devil on Anakin's shoulders.
As established in the prior films, he's a very honourable character, a very noble character and someone who always put others before himself and who is always trying to do the right thing even when the circumstances are extremely dire.
Anakin's turn to the dark side cuts him so deep because he's so kindhearted and because he realises he has not only failed himself but Qui-Gon as well and he's very very damaged because this then pushes him into the final cycle of the film when he faces Anakin on Mustafar.
Natalie Portman is (as Mick LaSalle eloquently described it) decorative and sympathetic as Padmé Amidala. Compared to the previous two prequels, she isn't as involved in the action as she was before and has a more reactive role, but she more than makes up for it with a tone of emotional depth.
Padme represnets an ideal that can't be reached. She's the lover the hero can never have and in Ani's pursuit of her, looses her forever. Her marriage to Anakin is built on deception, something no relationship can survive on.
Padme goes through a lot of emotional turmoil in this film. She genuinely, absolutely adores Anakin but his turning to the Dark Side creates a rift between them and seeing her marriage to Anakin fall apart because of the terrible decisions he makes is actually genuinely heartbreaking as she cannot follow him on this path. Padme has a very centred self and that self begins to crack the Republic becomes more corrupt and Anakin continues down the Dark path and she just can't deal with it because she's always been a paragon of liberty and peace while the galaxy is thrust further and further into war.
Even when Anakin ceases to be the man she fell in love with and becomes Darth Vader, she still tried to find the best him him no matter how many terrible crimes he's committed and is more than willing to give him a second chance.
A significant plot point is the fact that Padme is pregnant. Motherhood changes a woman and all the emotional highs and lows and mood swings that she goes through over the course of this show are pretty reminicent of that.
Hayden Christensen is excellent as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. His decent to the dark side is immensely tragic and emotionally powerful.
The problem with Anakin, as has been the prevalent throughout the trilogy, is that he has a hard time letting things go. As he grew older and became more ambitious in his Jedi training he sought more and more power to try and change peoples fates so that things are the way he wants them.
The methods that he chooses to deal with his inner demons only contribute further to his fall to the Dark Side. As the film goes on he becomes increasingly paranoid, ruthless, frustrated and willing to go to extreme lengths to do what he sees as the “Right Thing”
Because of his turn to the Dark Side, his relationships with Obi Wan and Padmé fall apart and Anakin allows this to happen.
Anakin's also been under a lot of pressure because he’s treated as so important to the Jedi Order, the War and the Galaxy due to his status as the Chosen One and his constant struggle to keep his emotions in check. All culminating where I got goosebumps and chills down my spine when he first dons the iconic outfit. Due to him feeling continuously isolated from the rest of the Jedi Order, he allows himself to be manipulated and taken advantage of by Palpatine.
Padme goes through a lot of emotional turmoil in this film. She genuinely, absolutely adores Anakin but his turning to the Dark Side creates a rift between them and seeing her marriage to Anakin fall apart because of the terrible decisions he makes is actually genuinely heartbreaking as she cannot follow him on this path. Padme has a very centred self and that self begins to crack the Republic becomes more corrupt and Anakin continues down the Dark path and she just can't deal with it because she's always been a paragon of liberty and peace while the galaxy is thrust further and further into war.
Even when Anakin ceases to be the man she fell in love with and becomes Darth Vader, she still tried to find the best him him no matter how many terrible crimes he's committed and is more than willing to give him a second chance.
A significant plot point is the fact that Padme is pregnant. Motherhood changes a woman and all the emotional highs and lows and mood swings that she goes through over the course of this show are pretty reminicent of that.
Hayden Christensen is excellent as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. His decent to the dark side is immensely tragic and emotionally powerful.
The problem with Anakin, as has been the prevalent throughout the trilogy, is that he has a hard time letting things go. As he grew older and became more ambitious in his Jedi training he sought more and more power to try and change peoples fates so that things are the way he wants them.
The methods that he chooses to deal with his inner demons only contribute further to his fall to the Dark Side. As the film goes on he becomes increasingly paranoid, ruthless, frustrated and willing to go to extreme lengths to do what he sees as the “Right Thing”
Because of his turn to the Dark Side, his relationships with Obi Wan and Padmé fall apart and Anakin allows this to happen.
Anakin's also been under a lot of pressure because he’s treated as so important to the Jedi Order, the War and the Galaxy due to his status as the Chosen One and his constant struggle to keep his emotions in check. All culminating where I got goosebumps and chills down my spine when he first dons the iconic outfit. Due to him feeling continuously isolated from the rest of the Jedi Order, he allows himself to be manipulated and taken advantage of by Palpatine.
Ultimately, Anakin is motivated to turn to the Dark Side by the fear of loss; Again and again, he dreams of Padme dying in childbirth throughout the film in the same way he had about his mother in Attack of the Clones and as a result is terrified that Padmé will suffer the same fate.
He's desperate to save the one he loves which is an admirable quest and that's ultimately what sends him over the edge.
He's desperate to save the one he loves which is an admirable quest and that's ultimately what sends him over the edge.
By going after the power to save her is ultimately what seals the fate of them both. The saying goes "The road to hell is paid with good intensions" and his Dark Side comes from something pure.
Added to that, he genuinely believes that he's doing the right thing. The senate and the Jedi are corrupt and he decides to side with Palpatine, the person in charge. The way he sees it, if he sided with the Jedi, it would be going against the law.
Anakin's turn to the Dark Side can be seen as the culmination of a series of unfortunate cirmustances throughout his life: He was born into slavery, was forced to leave his mum (something no child his age should be forced to do), was initially unwanted by the Jedi Order and they only reluctantly took him in; They never fully trust him and the council continuosly leaves him out of the loop.
Ian McDiarmid is simply brilliant as Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, effortlessly playing the outwardly unassuming and wise albeit ambitious Chancellor Palpatine and the scheming, maniacal, manipulative, cruel, unforgiving and ruthless Sith Lord Dark Sidious.
Palpatine is such a devious and cunning puppet master.
A master manipulator who is very good a planting the seed of an idea into peoples heads and making it seem as thought they were their own. He holds absolutely no regards toward his subjects/allies. To him they're all sacrifial lambs.
Everything he does throughout the film and indeed the whole trilogy even, is out of pure hypocrisy: He claims that good is a "point of view" yet he continually manipulates the senators and the Jedi for his own ends and plays on Anakin's troubles and demons in order to sway him over to the Dark Side.
The sad irony of all of Palpatine's evil is that in spite of it all, he seems to be the only person apart from Obi-Wan and Padmé who genuinely seems to care about Anakin or whom he can open up to on an emotional level.
Palpatine pulls the strings so well as he manipulates Anakin and the other Jedi and senators
Palpatine uses Anakin's vulnerability, driven from the fear of loosing the woman that he loves to manipulate him and turn ultimately turn him to the Dark Side.
Palpatine can also be compared to some of histories most infamous dictators from Stalin to Adolf Hitler.
Samuel L. Jackson is fantastic and at his best here as Mace Windu. Mace has never been to keen on Anakin, he doesn't trust him and has opposed his traing from Day One because he finds him too volitile and unpredictable. He senses a plot to overthrow the Jedi order yet is willing to some very morally questionable things that go against the Jedi code.
What’s bought to the forefront in Revenge of the Sith is that if Mace Windu has one flaw, it’s that once he makes a decision, he almost never changes his mind. In a lot of ways, its one of his strengths and why he’s been such a high ranking and respected member of the Jedi Order as well an effective commander and fighter, particularly in the Clone Wars and its also his weakness in that there’s a rigidity and stubbornness to him which ultimately proves to be his undoing.
Compared to his role in Attack of the Clones, Christopher Lee's role as Count Dooku is relatively minimal here. Nevertheless, Lee manages to inject just enough menace & villainy to make his appearance memorable.
Matthew Wood is intimidating as General Grevious, the cyborg Leader of the Droid Army and Supreme Commander of the Sepratists. Being 20% alien and 80% robot, even though he's mostly robotic, he's got this vanity that he's a proud military leader.
Though not Force-sensitive, he has been trained in the Jedi arts by Count Dooku to rival the Jedi. Throughout the Clone Wars, Grievous has murdered numerous Jedi and collects their lightsabers as trophies, garnering a reputation of being one of the most infamous and feared Jedi killers in the galaxy. It's telling when the Republic says that as long as Grievous lives, there is war.
On a side note, without giving too much away, hearing James Earl Jones utter what are chronologically Anakin's first words when he becomes Darth Vader were awe inspiring and surprisingly poignent becuase, he is not yet the Dark Lord of the Sith we know and love to hate... yet. He's still the
Frank Oz is wonderful as he's always been as Yoda. For a long time, Yoda has always been both the repository wisdom of the Jedi Order as well as the moral compass of the Order particularly for Obi Wan and Anakin. When the Jedi suggesting taking control of the Republic to secure a peaceful transition. Yoda is quick to warn them of the Dark place these decisions will lead them.
Whilst he would never say it to his face, he also cares deeply for Anakin’s well being if only for his role as the prophesied Chosen One. Particularly when Anakin goes to him for adivce and council regarding his visions of Padme.
While it may seem harsh telling him to remain emotionally detached from everything he fears to loose, given that he’s lived for over 800 years he knows that if he dwelt on the pain of loosing every person he’s loved over that amount of time, he’d more than likely be an emotional wreck. It's also clear that he has Anakin's best interests at heart.
Added to that, he genuinely believes that he's doing the right thing. The senate and the Jedi are corrupt and he decides to side with Palpatine, the person in charge. The way he sees it, if he sided with the Jedi, it would be going against the law.
Anakin's turn to the Dark Side can be seen as the culmination of a series of unfortunate cirmustances throughout his life: He was born into slavery, was forced to leave his mum (something no child his age should be forced to do), was initially unwanted by the Jedi Order and they only reluctantly took him in; They never fully trust him and the council continuosly leaves him out of the loop.
Ian McDiarmid is simply brilliant as Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, effortlessly playing the outwardly unassuming and wise albeit ambitious Chancellor Palpatine and the scheming, maniacal, manipulative, cruel, unforgiving and ruthless Sith Lord Dark Sidious.
Palpatine is such a devious and cunning puppet master.
A master manipulator who is very good a planting the seed of an idea into peoples heads and making it seem as thought they were their own. He holds absolutely no regards toward his subjects/allies. To him they're all sacrifial lambs.
Everything he does throughout the film and indeed the whole trilogy even, is out of pure hypocrisy: He claims that good is a "point of view" yet he continually manipulates the senators and the Jedi for his own ends and plays on Anakin's troubles and demons in order to sway him over to the Dark Side.
The sad irony of all of Palpatine's evil is that in spite of it all, he seems to be the only person apart from Obi-Wan and Padmé who genuinely seems to care about Anakin or whom he can open up to on an emotional level.
Palpatine pulls the strings so well as he manipulates Anakin and the other Jedi and senators
Palpatine uses Anakin's vulnerability, driven from the fear of loosing the woman that he loves to manipulate him and turn ultimately turn him to the Dark Side.
Palpatine can also be compared to some of histories most infamous dictators from Stalin to Adolf Hitler.
Samuel L. Jackson is fantastic and at his best here as Mace Windu. Mace has never been to keen on Anakin, he doesn't trust him and has opposed his traing from Day One because he finds him too volitile and unpredictable. He senses a plot to overthrow the Jedi order yet is willing to some very morally questionable things that go against the Jedi code.
What’s bought to the forefront in Revenge of the Sith is that if Mace Windu has one flaw, it’s that once he makes a decision, he almost never changes his mind. In a lot of ways, its one of his strengths and why he’s been such a high ranking and respected member of the Jedi Order as well an effective commander and fighter, particularly in the Clone Wars and its also his weakness in that there’s a rigidity and stubbornness to him which ultimately proves to be his undoing.
Compared to his role in Attack of the Clones, Christopher Lee's role as Count Dooku is relatively minimal here. Nevertheless, Lee manages to inject just enough menace & villainy to make his appearance memorable.
Matthew Wood is intimidating as General Grevious, the cyborg Leader of the Droid Army and Supreme Commander of the Sepratists. Being 20% alien and 80% robot, even though he's mostly robotic, he's got this vanity that he's a proud military leader.
Though not Force-sensitive, he has been trained in the Jedi arts by Count Dooku to rival the Jedi. Throughout the Clone Wars, Grievous has murdered numerous Jedi and collects their lightsabers as trophies, garnering a reputation of being one of the most infamous and feared Jedi killers in the galaxy. It's telling when the Republic says that as long as Grievous lives, there is war.
On a side note, without giving too much away, hearing James Earl Jones utter what are chronologically Anakin's first words when he becomes Darth Vader were awe inspiring and surprisingly poignent becuase, he is not yet the Dark Lord of the Sith we know and love to hate... yet. He's still the
Frank Oz is wonderful as he's always been as Yoda. For a long time, Yoda has always been both the repository wisdom of the Jedi Order as well as the moral compass of the Order particularly for Obi Wan and Anakin. When the Jedi suggesting taking control of the Republic to secure a peaceful transition. Yoda is quick to warn them of the Dark place these decisions will lead them.
Whilst he would never say it to his face, he also cares deeply for Anakin’s well being if only for his role as the prophesied Chosen One. Particularly when Anakin goes to him for adivce and council regarding his visions of Padme.
While it may seem harsh telling him to remain emotionally detached from everything he fears to loose, given that he’s lived for over 800 years he knows that if he dwelt on the pain of loosing every person he’s loved over that amount of time, he’d more than likely be an emotional wreck. It's also clear that he has Anakin's best interests at heart.
Temera Morrison, Jimmy Smits, Peter Mayhew, Oliver Ford Davies, Silas Carson, Anthony Daniels and Bruce Spence round out the films stacked cast with
The Saga is Now Complete, 5/5.
The Anonymous Critic
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