Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith closes the prequel trilogy with the fall of the Republic and the making of Darth Vader. George Lucas directed and wrote the film, which runs 140 minutes. It is an adventure, action and science fiction picture, and its tagline promises an end to the saga: “Every story has a hero. Every hero has a destiny. Every saga has an end.”
Trailer, via Star Wars.
Anakin Skywalker Turns on the Jedi
The plot is a long slide into the dark. Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi board the Invisible Hand, the Separatist flagship of General Grievous, who has kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine above Coruscant. Anakin kills Count Dooku in a duel, running him through with his lightsaber in violation of Jedi teachings. Later, on Coruscant, he finds Mace Windu preparing to execute Palpatine, revealed as the Sith lord Darth Sidious. Anakin intervenes, stabs Windu and throws him out a window.
Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor Carry the Fall
The cast is the film’s spine:
- Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala
- Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
Christensen has the harder job, and he plays the turn as a man who believes he is saving someone. McDiarmid is the better performance, because Palpatine’s offer sounds reasonable right up to the moment it does not.
Palpatine Dubs Him Darth Vader
Palpatine dubs Anakin “Darth Vader” and orders him to wipe out all of the Jedi in the Jedi Temple. Vader and an army of clone troopers make their way to the Temple, where he kills librarian Jocasta Nu. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, duels Grievous on Utapau and kills him on the launch platform.
Every story has a hero. Every hero has a destiny. Every saga has an end.
That tagline is doing more work than the film does. The ending is not a surprise and it is not meant to be. What matters is whether the turn feels earned, and it half does.
Obi-Wan Kenobi on Utapau
The Grievous fight is the film’s cleanest sequence. Obi-Wan travels to Utapau in search of the general after Grievous dispatches the Separatist council to Mustafar. Republic Army clones invade and battle the droids while the two duel. Grievous reaches his ship, and Obi-Wan impales and kills him. It is a chase with a clear end, and the film is better for it.
The Score Lands at 6.8
The film is the strongest of the three prequels and still a mixed thing. The action is staged with real weight, and the last act has a momentum the earlier entries lacked. The dialogue is often flat, and the romance between Anakin and Padmé never convinces.
This is a tragedy that knows its own ending and races toward it. It is worth watching for McDiarmid and for the Temple sequence. It is not worth defending as a whole.
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