Overall Rating
  Awesome: 40.87%
Worth A Look: 23.44%
Average: 12.86%
Pretty Bad: 9.54%
Total Crap: 13.28%
23 reviews, 344 user ratings
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Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith |
by MP Bartley
"Well, it's over. Now how about a third slice of American Graffiti?"

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There is no possible way to review this film objectively. Any critic trying to review this one, has to put themselves through the following questions: what did you think of the first two prequels? How much do you love the original three? Will you accept anything put out under the 'Star Wars' banner, or did George Lucas rape your childhood too? This critic though, finds himself squarely in the middle.And you know what, that's probably the best way. The original trilogy is great, but over-rated. The two prequels generally suck hairy balls, but there's a hell of a lot worse crap out there. And this one? Yeah, it's good. The best of the prequels by far, but a long way short of matching anything in the original trilogy. It didn't annoy me, but neither did it get me cheering at the screen or transfixed in my seat.
And I'm unwilling to play the 'Star Wars' 'get out of jail free' card either. It seems to me that there's a lot of people (critics and Regular Joe's alike) who will slam the latest Bond or Harry Potter film for horrendous dialogue, stupid plots/gadgets, and plots incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't followed the last few adventures in minute detail. And that's fine, that's fair criticism. But when the latest 'Star Wars' film comes out, all those flaws which they share too, are dismissed with cries of "Yeah, but it's 'Star Wars!". Sorry, but I'm not buying it.
Anyway, rant over, how does 'Revenge of the Sith' work as a stand alone film? Pretty well for the most part. Ian McDiarmid is the star of the show as Palpatine, and really engenders a chilling presence whenever he's on screen. You've got to salute Lucas for one thing: he always knows how to make great villains.
Ewan McGregor is as good as he's ever been and Hayden Christensen has also raised his game for the most important part. This gives the final duel between them a real importance, with McGregor in particular giving perhaps the most emotional performance since Mark Hammil found out some home truths. And the final image is magnificent, a truly stirring, hairs on the back of your neck are standing up moment.
But, as you'd expect, there's also a lot of bad. Obviously the dialogue is atrocious, that's a given. And Natalie Portman and Samuel L Jackson, who have always looked uncomfortable, fare no better here.
I've made no mention of the plot, and that's because I really can't remember just quite what was going on. It does seem incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't been watching 'The Phantom Menace' and 'Attack of the Clones' on repeat for the last year (and who'd want to?).
And crucially, there's little emotional impact because Lucas dropped the ball on the first two prequels. We don't really care about what happens between Anakin and Padme because their relationship was portrayed so badly by Lucas. There was so much cheese the last time round, that just can't be forgotten about. And because we all know what's going to happen to the Jedi, the impact of it happening is diluted. Lucas expects us to care about characters we don't know or haven't been properly introduced to in the first two prequels, and who are wiped out nastily here.
For those who don't have a life-long love affair with 'Star Wars', these scenes don't mean half as much as they obviously should do. And unforgiveably, he even fumbles the rise of Vader. How better it would have been to keep this scene without dialogue, as the dialogue brings to mind a certain Homer Simpson moment (and yes, I know I'm not the first to mention this. But it's so true it's got to be mentioned again). The towering, powerful presence of evil from the first trilogy is sadly reduced here to something a lot more...routine.
And I defy anyone to tell me that with the all the six parts complete, they could watch them as a satisfying series. they don't fit smoothly together, they clunk together awkwardly and cling on together like two kids kissing for the first time. So while it's interesting to see Lucas use visual clues to the first trilogy (a certain corridor), there's no explanation as to why they look so different. It's ungainly and jarring. And the less said about R2-DR's superpowers, the better. He's got better defences than the T-1000. How handy a flame-thrower would have been in 'Return of the Jedi', that's all I'm saying. So much for Lucas having all 6 films mapped out in his head from the beginning.But at least it's finished now, and the fanboys have the final piece of evidence to debate with long into the night. I feel happy for them, because at least Lucas has left them with something that is good, sometimes great, to conclude their beloved set of films with. But for the rest of us, it's just a good-looking, slick piece of Hollywood to rank alongside the next Harry Potter and a decent Stephen Sommers film.
link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=12284&reviewer=293 originally posted: 06/14/05 23:30:28
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USA 19-May-2005 (PG-13) DVD: 01-Nov-2005
UK N/A
Australia 19-May-2005
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