The movie that every Star Wars fan has been waiting for has finally arrived. While the first two prequel films either failed to live up to the hype or got too wrapped up in the political trappings of the Star Wars universe, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is all about action for the most part. And, of course, we finally get to see how Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is transformed into Darth Vader.
The film begins with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin trying to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from the clutches of General Grievous, who, along with Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), leads the separatist droid army. By eventually rescuing Palpatine, the two Jedi Knights set into motion the final series of events that lead to a showdown between the Jedi Council and the emerging Galactic Empire.
Beyond that set-up, I won’t spoil the details of what happens. The joy of this third prequel is that it’s the first of the newer Star Wars films with actual elements of suspense. Although, if you know the Star Wars universe, you know the final outcome but you still don’t know the details on how certain things come to be. This film answers those questions and does so in a way that provides the first emotional responses I’ve had to the characters’ situations since the prequels started rolling out in 1999.
Also improved are the scenes involving the romance between Anakin and Padme (Natalie Portman). Although Padme is essential reduced to standing around and asking Anakin about what’s bothering him, the scenes featuring the couple actually contain some chemistry and, as a result, they work much better than the bordering-on-horrid romantic scenes in Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
Still, all is not perfect in Revenge of the Sith. The film is overwhelmed by the sheer number of CGI effects. Some of the action sequences are so busy and overloaded with on-screen activity, it’s easy to become confused and miss the point of the entire scene. It may seem a little strange to complain about too much action, but it’s just a minor nitpick about what is, for all intents and purposes, the best of the prequels by far.
For most Star Wars fans, Revenge of the Sith should be well-received. It had a lot to live up to and manages to tie the prequels to the original trilogy in a rather interesting and successful manner. It might be hard for some fans to accept that this is the end of the series, but at least the last entry is worth seeing.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
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