Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (11/1/2005)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images

Directed by George Lucas (all 6 Star Wars films, American Graffiti)

Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Samuel Jackson

What do you expect from a movie when you know the end going into it?

Unless you didn’t pay attention in the other films, when you take your seat in the theatre in Episode III, you know that in the next 140 minutes almost all of the Jedi have to be wiped out, Padme has to die, Anakin will turn into the ruthless Lord Vader getting burnt and deformed . . . and the dark side will start its evil Empire.

I guess it’s kind of like Titanic . . . you know the ending going into it.

But do you enjoy the journey?

This is a hard film for me to review. Why? Because I am biased. I was 7 years old when the first Star Wars film came out. It was the best any of us had seen. Even though Mark Hamill’s whiney ramblings about going to the Tashi station to get some power converters wasn’t exactly Citizen Cane . . . people loved it. It launched a whole new era of film making.

No other films (except maybe the Rocky Horror) have brought out such a following of geeks in costume. No other films fill almost every theatre in the building with a showtime every 30 minutes since Midnight 01 of the release date.

Watching Star Wars has become much more than just watching a movie . . . it’s an experience.

When Episode I – The Phantom Menace came out in 1999, Star Wars fans were overjoyed. Most of these fans hadn’t experienced the thrill of a new Star Wars film in almost two decades . . . and for many of us we got to share the experience with our children.

And Episode I was pretty good. Sure, Jar Jar was a little irritating, but Darth Maul was a great villain with his cool new bow staff light saber, the pod race rocked, and we got to meet Darth Vader as a child. Episode I delivered.

Episode II wasn’t as well received. The love story lagged, performances were . . . a little dry at times, but the battles were great and the Yoda fight was worth the whole film. Again . . . this is Star Wars we’re talking about.

So going into Episode III . . . I’m biased. I’m giving it a lot more grace than I would some new science fiction film. Because other new science fiction films haven’t earned our hearts for decades. Just as if you went to hear someone you love give a speech—to you it might be the best speech in the world, even though it might be remedial, as speeches go.

So with that in mind, I’ll share the good and bad from Episode III.

THE GOOD:

• General Grievous was a great new character. He was evil, crafty, and a tough mother! Pretty good qual’s for a bad guy.


• Yoda delivered again in this film. Best actor goes to . . . a computer image? (I guess I should thank Frank Oz for the voice. Go Miss Piggy!)


• The storyline did a good job at setting us up for Episode IV, the very film we all loved in 1977. I could have left the theatre and popped in my Star Wars Laser Disc (yes, I’m one of the only morons left with one of those things) and resumed the story perfectly.


• We get to hear James Earl Jones’ voice once again! (Sorry David Prowse and Hayden Christensen . . . you got one-up’d!)

THE BAD:

• In the past the Star Wars films have had a good element of humor in them. Even during times of tragedy, little humorous antidotes surfaced, and funny one-liners emerged. But humor was almost extinct in Episode III. I can count on one hand a funny Yoda moment, a few funny droid moments . . . that’s it.


• I don’t know if Hayden Christensen can’t act or if (don’t kill me for this one) George Lucas can’t direct. But his character seems pretty “forced” at times.


• Anakin’s journey to the dark side was too sudden. I didn’t buy it.


• The previews were NOT meant for kids. I don’t know about your theatre, but in my theatre I saw about 5 different bikini and/or lingerie shots, and 4 different sex jokes in the previews before. Sitting next to my 7-year-old (maybe I should have known, being that this was a PG-13 film . . . yesterday’s “R” rating) I thought . . . “There’s four conversations I have to have when I get home.”


• My wife got tired of the all the fight scenes. She craved more dialogue, less action. Maybe that’s a female thing . . . but it’s a noteworthy opinion.


• Again, as with the last two episodes, it’s hard to believe that this was before the original three films because the gadgets are better, the ships are more creative, the weapons seem superior. So in the next twenty years as Luke grows up, I guess technology will go into a sort-of “recession.” R2 will lose use of his rocket boosters, those droids that roll in and form a force field will become scrap metal, and storm troopers will turn into mindless drones. (Maybe interbreeding developed) I realize that this task is a hard one. The filmmakers needed to come up with creative new gadgets and creatures that were interesting to audiences, but not superior to the “future” gizmos introduced in the original trilogy. Difficult, but not impossible. And Episodes I-III don’t jive with IV-VI in that realm one bit.

FINAL WORD:
If you’re a Star Wars fan . . . go see it. You’ll love it simply because it’s Episode III. If you could care less about Star Wars . . . save your money for Cinderella Man. You won’t be disappointed with that film.

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT:
The film is PG-13 for “sci-fi” violence and some intense images. It’s a little intense at times, but I brought my 7, 9 and 12 year olds and I’m not having second thoughts. It’s less scary or intense than any of The Lord of the Rings films. There is no bad language and no sexual content of any kind (except in the previews!). It just is a very sad, dark film. So use your own judgment.

Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):

1. What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
2. How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
3. How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?