‘Star Wars’: The story that had to be told

There’s no use trying to evaluate the vital, historic significance of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in not only the narrative thread of the entire Star Wars series, but the history of modern cinema. After nearly 30 years, the pieces fall into place and George Lucas’ grand saga is finally complete. But is the movie event of the year (maybe even the biggest so far of the new millennium) as good as any film of the original revolutionary trilogy from which all this hype has stemmed? For the most part, not even remotely close. Is it the best of the prequel trilogy? Without a doubt. Then again, that isn’t saying much.

With Anakin (Hayden Christensen) inexorably joining the Dark Side as the icon-of-evil Darth Vader, Revenge of the Sith is all about bridging the two trilogies; about the hows and whys of our little Ani’s Macbethean corruption of power and greed from his messianic beginnings by Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) despite the heeds of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), kick-ass Yoda (once again voiced by Frank Oz), and the rest of the Jedi Counsel. Cue the embryonic Luke and Leia, as Anakin’s wife, Senator Padmé (Natalie Portman) tells her husband she is pregnant; Christensen looks back at her with a hollow, faux-tough-guy-with-a-scar-on-the-face glare.

Revenge of the Sith is easily, almost inevitably, the best of the prequel trilogy; the first two a pair of films so (in no particular order or degree) unabashedly and frustratingly awful, embarrassing, and schlocky that they almost desecrated the holy-sci-fi sanctity of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Lucas inexplicably both learns from and repeats grave mistakes, more frequently doing the latter. Thankfully though, Jar-Jar never speaks, only appearing in a couple of ensemble scenes. Still, his shoddy attention to the traditional, fundamental, most crucial aspects of filmmaking (i.e. not the special effects) are evident throughout. The screenplay is full of awkward, clunky dialogue ("Anakin, you’re breaking my heart!") and floundering attempts at comic relief by making droids seem funny. The film’s first 30 minutes is made shockingly dreadful by these elements, as special effects help senior citizen Count Dooku somersault in the air and give life to the laughable, hardly menacing robotic insect General Grievous.

The acting is wooden and robotic. Christensen, clearly trying very hard, is still never able to connect with such demanding emotional literacy. And Portman, through none of her own fault, is left without much to do but sit and wait in the maternal glow of mourning, er, morning sickness; I miss the powerful former Queen of Naboo turned senator, who defiantly proclaimed to the entire Galactic Senate that "I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!" Would the topic of misogynism have to be brought up, or perhaps it’s just Lucas understandably flexing his alpha-male empowerment? It is solely McDiarmid as the sinister Palpatine who truly seems like he’s enjoying his role, giving a performance both convincing and compelling.

At a time of war and political turmoil, Lucas could be drawing out parallels on Iraq, making a frustrated statement about its irresponsibility and pointlessness, though delving further into this feels like I’m overestimating the film.

Revenge of the Sith is hardly perfect, but when it’s good, it’s so, so good; particularly, the final half hour or so, arguably one of the most riveting, cathartic and emotionally resonant of the entire series. Compared to the past two installments, the action sequences are far more understated, leaving room for darker undertones of human drama, political intrigue, and ultimately, mortality. Historically, Lucas usually falters when dealing with such weighty issues; however, Revenge of the Sith benefits from the series’ own pop-mythology anticipation. There were some sequences so inevitable since the first movie, talked-about for decades simply as the stuff of cinematic lore, that seeing them finally realized on celluloid was breathtaking. I got chills the first time Darth Vader put on his mask, when twins Luke and Leia were born and subsequently separated, when Anakin and Obi-Wan duelled in a hell of brimstone-and-fire ideology. The film is full of these stuff-of-Star-Wars-legend sequences that along with the delicious Shakespearean melodrama, actually work. Revenge of the Sith is the only significant film of the prequel trilogy, as it is the only one that needed to be told. As the pieces fall in tragic, certain succession, we, only in Sith, realize how epic Anakin’s life has been – and will become.

Lucas, though still not completely back in the zone that prompted him to make The Empire Strikes Back (the best of the six episodes), is in relatively fine, more focused form. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is not a particularly bad film, though is not an especially good one, either; if the original trilogy were some of the greatest sci-fi films ever and the first two prequels an afterthought we try to forget, Sith is a reasonable mini-classic at a time when the genre is left uninspired and derivative. Its biggest downfall is that it is sometimes unaware of its own greatness and importance in the history of motion pictures.

Bottom Line: Though it is the best of the prequel trilogy, proclaiming Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in the same league as the original is a grave, irresponsible overstatement.

Grade: B

To-Do List

Movies

• Watch Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (as if I had to say that).

TV

• Watch Desperate Housewives, premiering Thursday, May 26, at 9:10 p.m. on Studio 23. Finally! If you remember my impassioned plea for the show’s broadcast in the Phlippines, you’ll know how happy I am right now. The entire English-speaking population has to see this show, one of the best in years, so to get Desperate Housewives the largest audience possible, you have to tell your friends to tell their friends to tell their friends to tell their friends and friends’ friends to tune in. Trust me. Twenty-two episodes in and the first season finale on Sunday, I cannot (cannot!!) wait to see how things are left (resolved or unresolved) until the fall second season on Wisteria Lane. For the rookies, believe me, you will get hooked on this TV drug; if you were to ever follow any of my rabid, overtly enthusiastic (or obnoxious?) recommendations, this should be it.

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For comments, e-mail me at lanz_gryffindor@yahoo.com.