Throwback Thursday Review: 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith'

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released this December and since the Star Wars films are among my favorites I thought I should go back and review all six. I decided to review them in the order they chronologically take place because it seemed odd to start with the Original Trilogy then do the prequels then The Force Awakens. This week I will be releasing my reviews for both Episode II and Episode III because I was unable to review Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones last week Be forewarned as this review will contain spoilers since the film came out in 2005 so it has been out for a decade. If you have yet to read my review of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace or Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones you can view them by clicking on the corresponding hyperlink Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. Next week I will take a break from the Star Wars reviews to review the more recent James Bond films in preparation for Spectre. 

'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith' Review 

Nominated For: Best Makeup.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith is the final film in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, and in my opinion is the best of the three by far with much better writing, storytelling, visuals, action, and performances. The film's story primarily features Anakin's full turn to the dark side and the transformation to Darth Vader.

I must say that this piece of the story is handled perfectly. It allows Hayden Christensen to really delve into the darker part of Anakin that was the best part of his performance in Attack Of The Clones and really provides the actor with an oppurtunity to shine in some moments.

One, in particular, is when Anakin makes the decision to join Palpatine and cuts off Mace Windu's hand allowing Palpatine to kill him. Lucas crafts this part of the film quite well with believable motivation for Anakin and allows Anakin to become a much more compelling character. This is really also explored quite well in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series which is considered canon (meaning all of the events that take place are a part of the Star Wars mythos and impact the later over arching story as a whole).

In Anakin's fall, there is a terrific scene between Christensen's Anakin and Ian McDiarmid's Palpatine where he begins to tempt Anakin with the promisee of joining the dark side and possibility of saving people from death. All of the scenes that the two shared together were quite incredible to behold with both actors at heir best.

The film also really incorporates more elements from the Original Trilogy including some characters such as Chewbacca, and obviously the characters that have been a part of the story thus far. The film allows for proper setup for placing the characters where we find them all in A New Hope, which is somewhat amusing and brings the story full circle.

Revenge Of The Sith also contains the best visuals of the Prequels with more lifelike creatures and beautiful landscapes for new planets introduced in this film, Mustafar in particular. Despite the previous two installments of the Prequel Trilogy being very dialogue heavy, the final installment hits the ground running with a fascinating space battle and the film doesn't let up.

The film contains one incredible action sequence after another from a fun space battle to a lightsaber fight between Obi Wan and Anakin against Count Dooku to a fight scene of the bridge of the ship all at the beginning. To the center of the film including grand large scale battles on Kashyyyk (the homeward of Chewbacca and his native species Wookies), and Utapau.

Then the film also has some thrilling lightsaber battles from the fight between Obi Wan and Anakin against Count Dooku to the fight/chase sequence between Obi Wan and General Grievous, to the final fights between Yoda and Darth Sidious and Anakin and Obi Wan, the emotional pinnacle of the film.

One lightsaber fight that was very odd to me is when the Jedi confront Palpatine as Palpatine's fighting style just looks ridiculous. Aside from this, all of the lightsaber fights are a spectacle to behold and among the best of the entire saga.

As I mentioned earlier this film even has the best performances of the Prequel Trilogy as the acting on display here feels as though much more emotion is being expressed and the writing allows for some outstanding performances from the cast. First of all, as I mentioned earlier Hayden Christensen really is allowed to come into the role of Anakin Skywalker and show what the character should have been all along while exploring the complexity of Anakin.

Ewan McGregor finally is given a chance to provide much more refreshing new aspects to the character of Obi Wan in his more emotional scenes, especially those during the fight between him and Anakin in the film's third act. Not that Ewan McGregor hasn't done this before but prior to this film a majority of his performance tended to resemble how Alec Guinness handled the character (which is good because it allows for consistency) but generally he wasn't given scenes with a lot of emotion and so he somewhat relied on ensuring he conveyed the Obi Wan persona introduced by Alec Guinness. If the rumors that one of the new Star Wars spinoffs will focus on Obi Wan are indeed true, I would love to see Ewan McGregor return to the role.

One small moment that I loved was when Obi Wan kills General Grievous with a blaster and throws it to the ground proclaiming "So uncivilized." which was a great moment that reflects from something said by Obi Wan in A New Hope where he says "This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age."I liked to see this belief carried over to be shown in Obi Wan's character.

Natalie Portman does a much better job this time around of expressing believable chemistry with Christensen as opposed to the awkward chemistry between the two in Attack Of The Clones. Portman like the rest of the cast is also given a chance to explore more emotional scenes towards the end of the film and her death is probably one of the most tragic moments of the entire saga. Samuel L. Jackson provides a serviceable performance as he once again has a smaller supporting role that has increased significance compared to his roles in the other Prequel installments.

But truly the greatest performances of the film is, without a doubt, Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine. His performance really does a terrific job supporting Christensen's and allows both to truly shine as they both become villains.

Frank Oz does a terrific job voicing Yoda, as usual. I think Yoda is brought to life with the best animation for the character by far and as always is a joy to be included in any Star Wars film.

Once again both droid companions C3PO and R2D2 are given a role in the film, being one of the few characters to be present in every Star Wars film.

One new character introduced in the film is General Grievous, who is an awesome character both in appearance and the characterization as a whole especially since he collects lightsabers from the Jedi he kills making him a menacing presence. Unfortunately he was killed in the film but he has more depth that is explored in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is probably one of the best animated series I have ever watched.

This film has many great scene but probably the most powerful scene is the sequence when Order 66 is carried out and all of the Jedi are killed. That scene is very emotional the film's score lends itself well to the scene.

Another great scene is where Padme is dying while giving birth to the twins and Anakin is transformed into Darth Vader. I like that the sequence cuts between the two mirroring that Anakin dies as Padme does, and Luke and Leia are born and Darth Vader is created. I like the parallels can be drawn between these two events and how they juxtapose each other.

Overall, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith is a solid Star Wars film almost at the same quality of the Original Trilogy in my opinion and as a whole is a fantastic very enjoyable film that bridges the Prequel and Original Trilogies quite effectively.

Film Assessment: B- B+