Film Review: Star Wars Episode 3

The Real Force Behind Star Wars
By Rianne Hill Soriano

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor and many more
Directed by: George Lucas

Official Movie site


Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith gives closure weaving the two trilogies into one great opus from the real master behind the force, George Lucas… backed up with his great number of dedicated and creative behind-the-scene heroes from the Star Wars of the 70’s and 80’s (Star Wars of 1977, The Empire Strikes Back of 1980, and The Return of the Jedi of 1983) to the prequels of our era today (The Phantom Menace of 1999, The Attack of the Clones of 2002 and The Revenge of the Sith of 2005).

Just a trivia, George Lucas had his cameo role as the blue skinned Baron Papanoida who appears during the opera scene. Now take a short glimpse of the ‘named master’ as a character from his very own creation.

There are lots of foreshadowing in par with the classic trilogy -- without losing the touch of the sequel from the past by using the 80’s style transition effects and the standard opening text known ‘not so long ago in a galaxy, far, far away…’ -- which really seems so appealing to fans inside the theater. Lots of loose ends has been tied up with excellent imagery compensating the classic Star Wars look without falling into the temptations of having ultimately greater visuals courtesy of technology. In simple metaphor, take it as if there is no major generation gap between the first trilogy and the second trilogy. The bridge has been made well. The opening sequence is a jaw-dropping collage of moving ships in battle, starting off with a long shot filled with those known ‘star war lasers and machines.’ The sound design (from the lightsaber sounds, to the aircrafts moving, to the holograms opening here and there, and lots of others) is not left out by the visual effects. Even the scoring can name John Williams a master of the Star Wars music which further executes actions and emotions into ‘moments.‘ The problem with a hard-core effects-filled film as this is, at some point, it tends to be a victim of losing its heart to the true drama of human emotions. The good, kind-hearted and well-brought up Anakin lacks the hesitation and moving/striking moments as he struggles and consumes himself into the Dark Side. The film relied way too much with visual/physical changes on Anakin more than giving a few more seconds of good acting to manifest his real emotions on screen and justify his slaughtering of the young and old Jedis alike and his own home. Even the great love between him and Padmé does not have enough motivation. It is not thoroughly expressed in the film. No tear-jerking moments to the light-hearted audience (even with the death of Padmé or the pain of Obi-Wan losing a brother and an apprentice as Anakin), just feast your eyes to the splendid costumes, the lightsaber fight scenes, the thousands of magnificent CGIs, the challenge in the cinematography (imagine the process of lighting C3PO whose whole metallic body is like a walking golden mirror– now let’s see if we can figure out where the camera and the lights are through the reflections all over his body…), and the opulent production design. But where is the deeper and more consistent motivation of Anakin taking the final fall into the Dark Side? Just plain words to say, to justify the undying love he has for Padmé, but with the treatment, not much heart to capture the very emotions of love, fear and confusion… In fact, R2D2’s fun role and light acting provides a more effective comic relief compared to the supposed heaviness of what Anakin’s human side could have been. In this installment, it’s too disappointing to see the warrior-type Padmé of Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones suddenly an almost useless home girl who never touched a weapon once again. At a certain point it can be justified as she is pregnant and can’t do much battle with it. But this is a film anyway, if Anakin or Obi-Wan kill a hell of Droids in a smash of their swords and even manage to jump here and there from a moving/falling elevator, why not a supposedly strong woman full of grief (after learning about what happened to Anakin) killing at least one Droid or at least escaping like a heroine from some falling possibly lava or perhaps at least making a stand or any striking word in the Senate? It’s as if she is such a weakling all through out – unable to do anything to save her beloved, not even through words, unable to save herself or fight for her love, just a damsel in distress surrendering to the death to escape the pain of losing Anakin to the Dark Side. No hope, as stated in the film, that she is physically healthy but has no will to live after giving birth to her twins Luke and Leia. And the fact that a high profile and officially single queen like her is noticeably pregnant with twins doesn’t even raise an eyebrow in the Senate. It may not be one of the main plotpoints in the story, but at least it could have been interweaved into the script to promote a more credible escape to the issue, and a probably a logical explanation for it.

The fight scenes were again the big highlight of the film, especially the lightsaber battles between the various evil Darths. The final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin on a volcanic planet has been choreographed well.

The political intrigues exposed in the film can probably be found satirical by some. It can dwell on with the own issues of the world as now, and even during the past. The universal human emotions and baggage as love and hate, courage and fear, truth and deception, selflessness and power struggle, that too much search for power corrupts, are all but human aspects. The genius in Lucas is uncontestable. Coming up with the first trilogy from 1977 to 1983, to the relieving of the ‘Star Wars franchise’ until now, he is nothing but a great man, a master in his own right – an artist who knows himself and his story pretty well, and a businessman who knows how to make money from his story, which is sooner or later, a legend in film history. People have watched the sequel: Star Wars of 1977, The Empire Strikes Back of 1980, and The Return of the Jedi of 1983; and the prequel: The Phantom Menace of 1999, The Attack of the Clones of 2002 and The Revenge of the Sith of 2005 (most likely, in that order). And now, after bridging the first trilogy of the late 70’s/early 80’s to the new trilogy of our times, people, especially the fans, would demand for the past episodes to be enjoyed either on the big screen or the video format. And after watching the Revenge of the Sith, there’s a great urge, of course, to refresh on what happens to Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and the rest of the characters, through watching the old trilogy all over again. Brilliant Lucas. Brilliant creative and production team he has formed all these years. Brilliant strategy has it become, really. While perhaps having a predictable storyline as it bridges the first three Star Wars around two decades ago with the new trilogy succeeding Episode I and II, the technical side of Episode III has been spectacularly done. It has not left the harder-edged yet classic feel of the original Star Wars trilogy. All six of them can be justifiably combined into one great master creation. All of them… really entertaining… Of all trilogies I have watched so far, this is one of the best and undoubtedly a legend to be seen in books. Well, LOTR is still on the top of my list, I think this one ranks the second so far. With its technical excellence and that ‘great Star Wars appeal’ vs. the weakpoints I have stated in this article, I would rate this film 4.5 out of 5. May the force be with you…