The film thrusts us into the thick of a galactic civil war between the republic and their clone army, and separatists with their droid army. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is on the hunt for General Grevious (voiced by Matthew Wood), while Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) treads a fine line between loyalty to the Jedi Council and loyalty to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Anakin is further pushed and pulled by his forbidden marriage to Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), who is now pregnant and destined to perish upon childbirth. Inevitably, Anakin is forced to choose his destiny, and the Dark Side is the only side that promises him total control over life and death.
While all Star Wars films strive for eye-popping spectacle, Revenge of the Sith stands out right from frame one as the camera follows a pair of starfighters through the upper atmosphere of Coruscant, where an immense battle rages between hulking starships and countless droids. It segues seamlessly into a spectacular attack on a capital starship, where our heroic Jedi chop through droids, navigate treacherous obstacles, and finally duel with an old enemy to rescue a hostage. This is all just the first half-hour. The film further stuffs itself with more over-the-top sequences--Obi-Wan duels a multi-armed Grevious, before hopping on a giant lizard to chase the droid general in some kind of donut-shaped bike with legs (I can't make this stuff up). When Palpatine is revealed to be a dreaded Sith lord, many Jedi confront him in a series of confrontations, including Yoda, who takes the fight to the senate rotunda and they straight-up trash the whole place.
All this action and special effects would bear no strength if it wasn't encased in a halfway-decent story. Fortunately, the film takes the time to ensure the right pieces are in the right places--this leads to some slower pacing in the second act. It is a necessary step though as the film meticulously raises all the right stakes, underscores all the right motivations, and makes all the right connections to convincingly sell the tragedy and make it emotionally-charged. The film showcases some of the series' most sobering moments, including a gut-wrenching montage of scenes where clone troopers ruthlessly purge the Jedi. It all builds to a confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader on a volcanic planet--as over-the-top as it is, the fight is every bit as thrilling and cathartic as I imagined it would be. By the film's end, it's satisfying to see how all the threads align with the original films.
Issues from previous films--awkward writing, stilted line delivery, lack of chemistry--still plagues this film in its worst scenes. I do believe the cast stepped up their game though, which makes the film far more palatable. Ewan McGregor is still on-point. Christensen plays a more solid hero, and his arc bears an emotional power that feels genuinely earned. Portman's character, sadly, doesn't kick as much butt or show as much power as before, but her performance is hardly to fault. Ian McDiarmid steals the spotlight in a wonderfully hammy role. Other actors--Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Christopher Lee--are as reliable as ever.
While other prequel films aged questionably, Revenge of the Sith looks impressive with its plethora of fantastic sets, props, and costumes. CGI effects continue to dominate the spotlight, but most of them hold up quite handsomely. Photography and editing are decent, to the point where some scenes stand out as a purer form of cinematic expression (most especially one eerie scene where Anakin and Padme regard each other silently across the city--it's an uncanny occurrence where something is felt through the images, rather than explained in dialogue). The imagery is punctuated well with a snappy sound design (although there are moments where I find the film noisy and the battle droids' wimpy dialogue grating). John Williams' music is as epic and emotional as the rest of the film.
This is the film that makes the prequel trilogy worth seeing. It does the work to build up the characters and their stakes, and it makes the inevitable downfall appropriately sober and bleak. It's not entirely without its problems--pacing is hardly perfect, some line delivery is still iffy, the action scenes might be a bit much. The film does deliver everything it needs to, including humor, spectacle, and a lovable family of characters. By its end though, it truly makes you feel the power of the Dark Side.
8/10
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