Thursday, May 26, 2005
Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Revenge of the Sith completes the story begun in Episodes I and II and neatly ties up the loose ends linking through to Episode IV – or the first film – A New Hope.

And for the Long Time Ago, Far, Far Away geeks, the extra-narrative lead-ins are there too. There is a subtle transformation of the hardware into that familiar from the original three movies. The starship conveying the infant Leah to her new surrogate family now closely resembles the rebel ship at the beginning of Episode IV and the Imperial Star Destroyers and TIE fighters begin to take on their familiar shapes and sounds.

The original foursome – Luke, Leah, Han Solo and Chewbacca – were a flawed, ragtag bunch of likeable space drifters; the likes of which have dominated sci-fi deep space movies ever since. Unfortunately, there is still too little to like about the central characters in Revenge of the Sith. Anakin and Padme remain staid and formal, Obi-Wan Kenobi barely raises his voice until the final few scenes and Yoda’s arse-about-face syntax is most irritating in its extent that it begins to grate. And as for a robot leader that has a hunched back and coughs; what’s that all about?

Early on, Sith simply remains too tightly directed to give any opportunity for the - presumably quite talented - actors to explore their characters. It is only in the second half of the film that the mood turns. Once Anakin has been seduced by the Dark Side (demonstrating as much resistance as if he was confronted by Kylie) passions rise and the bleakness emanating from the inevitability of Anakin’s downfall come to the fore. The motivation behind his seduction is carefully balanced naivety, misguided allegiance and much deeper instincts made clear in the movie.

But the extent of his ruin and the depths of Darth Vader’s depravity will undoubtedly be more shocking than any viewer could have anticipated. The Phantom Menace's comedic Jar-Jar Binks now seems a long time ago, far, far away.

The political intrigue is interlaced well with the continuing background Clone Wars and the growing sense of the new wars to come. Chewbacca’s home planet’s spoiled paradise is the perfect antidote to the crowded, claustrophobic machinations on Curuscant, home of the Galactic Republic.

But it is Senator Palpatine who steals the show. As the classical wedge-politician he deploys his Machiavellian wit as much as his more sinister powers to manipulate the Senate and those people closest to him. His ‘outing’ as Darth Sidious and eventual rise to Galactic Emperor was greatly anticipated in the Episodes I and II and Lucas does not disappoint.

In Return of the Jedi, up to the point of the Emperor’s destruction, everything transpires according to his plan. In Sith, he displays similar command of his environment, meticulously dividing loyalties and grooming allies whilst staying close to his enemies so he can be quick to stab them in the back when the opportunity emerges.

As ever, Lucas creates new and dramatic worlds, with the action less constrained than Attack of the Clones and more coherent than Phantom Menace. There is plenty of light-sabre action too (maybe too much), with the little green fellow reprising his magnificent act from Episode II.

CGI has allowed sci-fi battle scenes to attain new levels of scene intricacy, with space fighters swirling and blasting around the entire screen. On one level, this complexity makes for outlandishly stunning visuals, but on another, they must remain measured, to ensure the focus of the sequence is not lost amongst the frenetic activity.

The miniatures used in the original movies may not blow away today’s more discerning sci-fi movie-goer (though Jedi remains impressive even by today’s standards) but the effects limitations of 20 years ago did ensure that the director had to focus as much on the dialogue and emotions of the pilots as with what was going on visually around them.

Lucas flirts with crossing this boundary in the early scenes, but on the whole the final product and the final instalment of the ‘six-part trilogy’ nearly puts the disappointments of Episodes I and II behind you. Will Lucas now finally lay Star Wars down to rest?

I doubt it, I believe mini-series city awaits.

---