Wha?! After months and years of anticipation, the minions of Lucas flock to the theaters to finally bear witness to his telling of the tragic tale of good turning to evil, love turning to hate and the transformation of infantile innocence to dissatisfied angst.
Cut the damn music!
This was supposed to be the one which put our faith back into the second trilogy. This was supposed to be good. This was the chosen one!
Sadly, it wasn't. Given its pretty hard to come up with surprises when everyone and their dog knows the story, settling for the lowest common denominator along with a plethora of special effects, just plain smacks of selling out. There was no substance or soul to this episode. And don't get me started on the acting... but then, what did we expect.
The opening battle was long and pointless. The interactivity between Anakin and Obi Wan (just like in EP 2) just goes to show the lack of chemistry between them. Ewan Macgregor seems to be trying too hard to be Alec Guinness. He ends up being neither himself or Sir Alec. He does, however, come across brilliantly as a ponce.
Anakin conveys a little bit of the arrogance from the previous installment but seems to have matured a little (he apologies after almost shooting a wing off Obi Wan's ship). Thankfully there isn't too much interaction between the two until towards the end of the movie.
Character (or lack thereof)
The most disappointing aspect of this movie was the lack of detail given to the development of the characters.
Anakin has matured and Obi Wan realises the potential in his apprentice but there's just a small reference about the battles they survived as a hint of their camaraderie.
Amidala, in the meantime, has regressed to a nagging shadow of her former vivacious, headstrong, confident self, spending her celluloid moments constantly worrying about Anakin as if he were still a child from EP 1.
Again Lucas gives us a hint of her rebellious side when she talks about the changing Republic and the need to break free but that falls by the wayside as well. That dialogue between Ani and Padme on the balcony has to be the worst piece of dialogue ever written (close second goes to Anakin's "i don't like sand" pick up line in EP 2). If only she had replied swooning, "You had me at sand...."
Kenobi's accent continues to confound and he doesn't seem to have gotten any closer to the force as well. Actually none of the Jedi Masters seem to be attuned to the force. How could they not sense the evil sith lord Darth Sidious working as the Supreme Chancellor after all these years?
Even Yoda was out of it. Didn't get to see too much of the other Jedi "masters" except when they were getting killed by the clones of all people. Wasn't Darth Vader meant to kill all these Jedi? Where did Order 66 come from anyway? Why didn't the Jedi sense the danger? Why did Lucas write the script?
Biggest disappointment personally was General Grievous. Countless hours I spent on forums and chats learning as much as i could about this supposed badass. First thing he does when faced by Jedi, he runs. This should have been the cue for me to run out of the cinema but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.
The light saber battle between Grievous and Kenobi was good but ended too easily. The way Grievous just appears in this movie without any back story really troubled me. Given that this part machine, part alien had defeated four Jedi Knights, surely Lucas could have spent an extra minute or two to establish him as a character. If not to fill a plot hole then at least to show the level of evil and cruelty possible when one becomes totally immersed in the dark side.
Then there's Mace Windu, more like Windu-bag. Mostly talk and no real substance. How he was hell bent on killing Palpatine was weird given he always harped on about upholding the Jedi laws. I think Samuel L was hoodwinked into this role. That can be the only explanation. What a waste!
Yoda made his perfunctory syntax defying comments and also had a bit of a saber battle with Darth Sidious but gave up a little too easily. His words of wisdom, so perfect in Empire and Return of the Jedi, seemed to confuse more than do anything else here. His acceptance of defeat also negates that great line from Empire, "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try". So by choosing to "do not", this great Jedi Master faded away into the wilderness. Think Lucas lived on this advice whilst writing this script.
Plot Holes
You will find countless articles and blogs about the plot holes in this movie. I will touch on the ones which i felt should have been filled. I already mentioned General Grievous. The biggest hole has to be the turning of Anakin.
OK so he turned to protect his love but he went from Jedi Knight to child killer in a space of two minutes. The change into Darth Vader at the end is also, sadly (pardon the pun), mechanical. Its like everyone knows he will don the mask so here's the mask and here's the suit, put it on and lets get on to Episode 4.
How does the Rebellion, that Princess Leia supports and which plays an integral part in the next three movies, begin? Surely its not the same Rebellion led by Dooku who was pawn to Palpatine.
The contruction of the Death Star at the end also defies any time lining. So the original Death Star took 18 odd years to make yet the second death star in Jedi was ready within a couple of years at most?
Whats the story Lucas? My significant other, who is not a fanatical Star Wars fan, made a comment as to the need for 3 more episodes to fill the gap. So Episodes 3a through to Episode 3c should fill all the plot holes and answer the burning questions.
Just hope we find out what Yoda's relationship with Chewie was...("miss you i will, Chewbacca"). Heard from a friend that Chewie saved Yoda in a battle some time back (a long time ago, in a galaxy....etc). Still doesn't justify the way this bit exists in a vacuum. Just sloppy scripting.
RotS
Revenge of the Sith (RotS) was sloppily written. It had some good battle scenes and like most movies today, eye candy galore. That the story telling was so poor shouldn't have come as a surprise. We all know the story so who cares. Be creative where it matters. Make people say wow by having as many explosions per frame as possible. Why make people think? Thinking makes one question, questions bring about change and change leads to the dark side.
Maybe a better script could have made this the best Star Wars ever. The potential was there.
But in the end, Lucas has gone for the neat and pointless ending. My disappointment though, is infinitesimal compared to the next generation of Star Wars audiences. If they watch Episodes 1 through 6 in order, they will not appreciate the plot twists in Hope, Empire or Jedi. They will already know who Luke's father is and that Liea is Luke's twin sister and that Yoda and Chewie had a history (how else can you explain that line).
By tying up all the loose ends, Lucas has diminished the brilliance of Episodes 4 through 6. The only saving grace then would be Han Solo. Did anyone see the Millenium Falcon in RotS? It is there. Its in the scene straight after the opening battle (after Anakin makes "anotah heppy lending"). Sadly that's the only thing about RotS that got me excited.
Well, that's my rant-view of RotS. Lets hope the TV series are fleshed out better and fill in the gaps. Lucas will be hands-on with the TV series as well. I guess my reaction to that can be best summed up by Darth Vader : Nooooooooooooooooo!
Score: 2 out of 5 (being very generous)
