Lord Vader, Rise!!!

It has been a long arduous journey, but finally we have arrived at that point, where Anakin Skywalker was seduced by the Dark side and shifted the balance of power in the galaxy, forever. Or so it may seem, we of course know what happens after that. I waited, as I typically do with giant movie opening like this one, and caught a nice peaceful Monday afternoon matinee. So thus begins another summer of movie reviews by your truly, it has been awhile since anything worthwhile came out, the last movie I saw in the theatre was Hitch. Other movies I will be seeing & reviewing in the near future are; Millions, Madagascar, bomb the System, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Lords of Dogtown, and Cinderella Man. But back to the review of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Let’s get this out of the way, in no way shape or form were the prequels ever going to live up to the original series. We need to remember that when we saw the originals they were just that, original. The story was new and fresh, the characters, the scenery, the special effects, everything, that is why they have stood the test of time. Once we can get over that we can begin o appreciate the news movies and what they bring to the table.

I am also a believer in the first 2 movies of the new trilogy; I never hated them as much as everyone else did. On the other hand, I am not as big a fan of the newest installment as everyone else is. Many people are saying they enjoyed it so much because it wraps everything up and ties it into the original movies………..Well DUH?!?!?!?! What did you think it was going to do? Did you think Obi Wan was going to become King, the Emperor was going to die, and that Padme was going to have triplets? No you dummies, you knew the climactic ending was going to be the battle between Obi Wan and Anakin.

I do have to say though, that every time you go and see these movies in the theatre when that opening scene flashes STAR WARS and then the text begins to scroll and you hear that music a chill does go down your spine, there is an unbridled excitement with a movie series like this one, although the little bastard 3 yr old crying five seats away from me did not think so. I almost strangled the little bastard, but that is for a different time. The opening scene began with an edge of your seat type excitement. I was expecting this fierce battle scene as the Jedi’s fought their way onto the ship to save the Chancellor, but that is not what I received. For some reason all the effects seemed to smooth the excitement quickly wore off and I wanted them to get to the plot of the story much quicker than they did. Then the movie basically moved along as expected with all the twists and turns that we were expecting. Again the visual effects are so seamless now they hardly seem noticeable, and some times not worth it. Visually and editing wise the movies have lost all their skill, there was nothing that jumped out and stunned me.

As for the characters and for the actors, the roles were reversed in this Episode. Natalie Portman who is fabulous in everything she has ever done was absolutely dreadful (she definitely wins this years Bullock Award, named after the great Sandra Bullock (for worst lead actress). Not only did she act poorly, her character was poorly portrayed. Even though she is at a new point in her life, smitten with love for Anakin, Padme was the source of great strength and resolve turned into a quivering blubbering female in this movie. It was awful to watch this transformation of what was shaping up to be the best character in the entire series. On the other hand Hayden Christiansen gave a much better performance in this Episode. In Episode II is dialogue was forced and had no emotion. In this installment his transformation to the dark side was very good, you could feel the hate and anger in his character.

The best performance of the movie is by far Ian McDiarmid; he gives an Oscar worthy performance. The only other major nomination for actor to ever be given in the Star Wars movie was Alec Guinness, and now McDiarmid deserves it and should win. He makes the movie worth watching, ever scene he was in was riveting and you even see him reinvent himself to the dark side. In my estimation the biggest waste of talent, time and excitement was the use of Keisha Castle-Hughes. You say who was she? Well she was the Queen of Naboo who appeared in 2 scenes and how zero lines. Now you say, Kris Why is that disappointing? Well she is a terrific actress (Evidence is in Whale Rider, the best movie none of you have ever seen) and a big deal was made that she was going to be in it, replacing Portman as the new Queen of Naboo. There was hope that she may help launch her career with this role, but anything she did have to do with the movie must have hit the cutting room floor. Lastly, Ewan McGregor is steady, to me he strikes me as a constant supporting actor, his performance’s are always steady and never bad.

Now, for some things that I did think were very cool about the movie. The final part of the movie was very good. The two final fight scenes, both predictable, were very well done. I love the way Lucas called out his super fans who always challenged the fact that Hayden Christiansen was not tall enough to be Vader, his legs got cut off, so when he was rebuilt he can then be taller, as he appears in the original trilogy. Also, I loved Lucas’s ode to the James Whale classic Frankenstein. When Vader rips his arms out of the wrist locks on the table, ala Boris Karloff’s, it sent a chill through me; that was a great cinematic reference. And lastly, we deal with the last scene. This was a source of some controversy, many had heard and believed that Vader rising would be the last scene, and Lucas did keep us on the edge of our seats as to what would be the last scene. Luke being delivered to his Uncle Owen and then the family overlooking the Dual sunset, that was damned cool.

All in all I am glad it is finally over, or is it? That is another topic for another time. It completes the series, but by no means is it a great movie. The New Trilogy still cannot compare, as many expected, but it makes a nice complete set of movies. Star Wars geeks relax, stop pointing out trifling little plot holes. In fact many of those plot holes would not exist if you freaks did not love the original three movies so much. Lucas saw how much they meant to people so he gave his best effort to appease you people by producing the prequels as a way to explain everything that has happened. In doing so there were bound to be some details that did not connect, but if you would have left Lucas alone none of this would have ever happened.