Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith

Review by: Evans

The moment we've all been waiting for... destiny has arrived.
For those of us who grew up with Star Wars, this movie represents the stuff
dreams are made of. In saying that, I mean that we all had some vision of
the Clone Wars or what Darth Vader was like and how he came to power. Then
again, some of us just wondered how the heck he got so deformed and busted
up.
Well, whether you like it or not, your dreams have come true.



The pressure was really on Lucas for this movie. There was so much
pressure
with this movie alone you wonder why he made episodes I & II so bad? Not
only does he have to live up to the expectations of millions of Star Wars
fans as to how the whole story that we grew up with comes to be (episodes
IV,
V, & VI), but he has to be extra good to make people (some people & mostly
me)
think that it was worth suffering through episodes I & II just to get to
III.
"Oh Ani..." - OH PLEASE!!!



FYI - I wore black jeans and a white-button-down-short-sleeved-collared
shirt
to the movie and I still consider myself a Star Wars fan.



The coolest thing about these first 3 episodes is that we get to see how
much
of a stud Ben was. We grew up with him as some old fart that got hacked
down
by Vader and would become "more powerful than you can imagine." Now we not
only know what that means, but we also know that Ben was the epitome of the
phrase "YOU DA MAN!" The things he has done - HUGE! The things his eyes
have
seen... I will never look at him the same way again for as many times as I
watch
episode IV for the rest of my life. Every time something needed to get
done, the
counsel would send Ben Kenobi to go do it. He battles Jango Fett & Count
Dooku
twice. He battles and kills Darth Maul, General Grievous & countless
droids.
When they were in trouble and needed help, they went and found him and
hired the
B-Team. I can not sing the praises of Ben Kenobi enough (not to mention I
am a
HUGE fan of Ewan McGregor - go rent 'A Life Less Ordinary').



As we begin analysis of this film, it really all depends on what point of
view you
are assuming Lucas used. Your choices are:



1. Episodes IV, V, & VI exist

2. Episodes IV, V, & VI don't exist



In layman's terms: Did the movies really happen in numerical order or not?
Rumor has
it that they were supposed to happen in the whole 1 through 6 order, but
Lucas didn't
think the effects at the time (70's) could do what he wanted for eps. I,
II, & III.
At the time I was watching it, I was definitely in the camp of choice 1 and
I thought
that all the "tie ins" were weak. It really felt like Lucas was giving the
audience
no credit at all. Examples:



1. Padme names the babies

2. Let's hide the boy on Tatooine (and the moons)

3. Chewbacca (and the tarzan call while swinging)



Who didn't know that the babies would be Luke and Leia? Who didn't know
Luke ends
up on Tatooine (and the shot with the moons in the distance, just like
episode IV -
over the top)? And of all the wookies in all the universe, why does
Chewbacca have
to walk into this movie? They couldn't have come up with one more wacky
name? It
just had to be him didn't it? To me, that went WAY too far in the realm of
those
cool things you put into one movie to draw a reference to another. Are all
the
characters of IV, V & VI this intertwined or is it just a small galaxy
after all?



And is there really anyone going to see episode III that knows nothing
about IV, V, or VI?
Ok, maybe, but is it higher than 0.01%? Really, why pander to that very
select few at
the expense of letting the other 99.99% of us enjoy bringing the story full
circle in
our discussions on the way home? That was my thought process as I left the
theater.



But the more I think about it, I am starting to drift towards choice 2. If
I pretend
that I never saw IV, V & VI, then naming the babies seems like a perfectly
normal thing
to do at the instant of their delivery. Maybe she already had them picked
out? Sending
Luke to Tatooine with Ben to watch over him as he grows up with his family
is just
informational. So as the days go by I am moving toward sticking with
choice 2 - except
for the Chewbacca thing. I just can't let that go. It really hit a nerve.



Can they assume the audience is intelligent and they don't have to spell
everything out?


Or do we all have to watch David Lynch movies and never be able to figure
anything out?
Is it that fine of a line in Hollywood?



But let's forget the potential absurdity of arguing over those little
points, there are
bigger fish to fry. Like I said, the further away from the day I watched
it, the more I
am looking at the story in the numerical order rather than the order I saw
it and that
makes those problems go away - sans Chewbacca of course (am I wrong to
repeat this by
not giving you credit to be smart enough to know I really didn't like that
part? Just
reinforcing the point). Fish you say? Big fish! Padme dies at child
birth - check.
Now go back and watch episode VI - Leia remembers her mom!!!



HUGE MISTAKE! or HUGE MISTAKE?



As soon as it was over, we went back to my house and popped in the episode
VI DVD. Sure
enough, Leia remembers her mom was sad, I mean her real mom (as Luke
asked). "I was very
young..." Yeah... you were ZERO! How does that happen?! Who let's that
slide through
the cracks?! My buddy picked up on it as we were leaving the theater, so
how did the
guy(s) who wrote it not remember that? And the bloggers sure as heck
didn't miss it.
C'mon people. We expect more than that as movie goers (or we should). Did
you not have
enough time in the 12 years between movies to get the script right or at
least do a
rewrite for episode III? Or am I way off base here? Was Leia not
referring to her "real"
mom as Luke asked? As far as the "force connection"... I don't know. If
the "force
connection" is so strong and the force is strong with Luke, how come he
can't remember
her at all? Didn't he "force connect" in the womb? Or is that a "force
blocker"? Then
top that off with Vader not being able to "force connect" to know they were
born, where
they are, and hunt them down? Is it just because he didn't make eye
contact (as Leia
did and Luke didn't). What about when he is standing face to face with
Leia in eps. IV?
A bit of a stretch for me, so sad to say it, but I think they just screwed
up.



THE SPORTS GUY AWARD FOR UNINTENTIONAL COMEDY FACTOR:
Darth Vader breaks out of the restraints on his "assembly" table and cries
out in anguish.



Oh my! I laughed out loud, VERY loud. All I saw was Phil Hartman doing
Frankenstein.
As if that wasn't enough, then we got the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" as the
walls come
crumbling down around Darth Vader (and in Anakin's life). Nice imagery,
but ... WHOA!



I won't take anymore of your time by telling you something you already know
- the effects
and cinematography are great!



Overall, I thought it was quite good. When it finally got to the point
we'd all been
waiting for - Vader vs. Ben - it did not disappoint. There was some good
nervous
tension. Even though I partially knew how it ended, I was still on the
edge of my seat.
The battle scenes are way cool. Lucas still blows me away with the
simplicity of scale.
In I, II & III it was the battle scenes. Just as in LOTR, it brought a
wicked sense of
awe and a feeling of being overwhelmed by the situation which makes the
action of the
heros that much more impactful. For IV, V & VI it was just the pure size
of stuff.
An X-Wing is bigger than a human, but the transports are bigger than that,
then a
Star Destroyer is bigger than that, then a Super Star Destroyer is bigger
than that, and
then the Super Star Destroyer is like a toothpick compared to the Death
Star. Literally
HUGE. I even think the transition of Ani to DV was pretty good. Some I
talked with
expected more evil, but taking into account episode VI and knowing that
"there is still
good" in him, we can follow and even maybe understand why he turned to the
dark side
given his circumstances and desires.



One a side note - one comment I heard on this film was how you can trace
the destruction
of the Jedi and the fall of freedom in the galaxy back to a woman. You
mean its all
because of one woman?


I'm not gonna touch that one.


Until that day,


EVANS = "to see"

Read all reviews by Evans