I had a very interesting day yesterday (more on that in later post), capped off by a midnight trip to AMC Theaters to see Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.
Although I’m not super hardcore into Star Wars lore, like most folks I am a fan of the action in the films. This third ‘prequel’ is heavy on the plot, and there is plenty of action to go around. The fact that there is a galactic war going on throughout the entire story probably has a lot to with the many many many light saber fights and blaster battles.
The basics of the plot go like this: The republic and their army of clone troops (led by the jedi) are at war with the seperatists and their droid army. The as soon as the republic starts to make headway and turn the tide of the war, it is gradually revealed that both sides have are being led by the same villain, whose strategy is to use the war to take control of the republic and eliminate the only real threat to consolidating his power, the jedi. In a strange reversal of roles (which is handled mediocrely), the champions of the republic end up joining a revolution against it. Central to the events in the movie is Anakin Skywalker, whom we all know ends up becoming a bad guy at the end of the movie.
Although the movie does explains the reasons that lead to Anakin’s ‘fall’ and transformation into a villain, it does a sub-par job of relating Anakin’s motives to his actions. All the pieces are there, but Lucas doesn’t quite go out of his way to connect all the dots. The entire scene in which Anakin betrays Mace Windu is a little strange in that all of the characters make decisions that seem out of character and forced in order to forward the plot. In the director’s commentary in Bring It On, he describes this kind of implausibility occurrence in a movie as a ‘vanity’ of writing.
One thing that did surprise me was how terrifying this movie would be for a kid. All of the villains and monsters are pretty terrifying, and a lot of good characters meet untimely ends.
Anyways, I doubt that anyone is going to see or skip this movie based on its merits as a film (you either want to see the final piece to the tale, or you don’t), but those that do plan to go see it should get a very entertaining show. My one biggest complaint about the whole thing is the teaser about seeing Qui-Gon Jinn appear from the beyond to speak to Obi-Wan. It is overtly promised near the very end of the film and never delivered upon. Punks, the lot of them.