Year of Release: 2005
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Jimmy Smits, Anthony Daniels, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Bruce Spence, Silas Carson, Temuera Morrison
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review
George Lucas was finally able to close the first three chapters of his Space Opera saga in 2005, following the successful, but somehow not entirely well received, episodes I (Phantom Menace) and II (Attack of the Clones). The film once again centers its narrative on Anakin Skywalker, whom we first encounter with Obi-Wan Kenobi on a salvage mission of Chancellor Palpatine. While they do manage to save the Chancellor, Anakin cedes to his fury and violent tendencies, killing Count Dooku in the process. Anakin reunites with Padmé, who informs him of her pregnancy. While those are indeed happy news, Anakin stars having horrible nightmares of her death during childbirth. Hoping to manipulate Anakin further and create friction within the Jedi council, Palpatine appoints him to that council, as his personal representative. However, the other masters do not make him a Jedi Master, something that only further fuels his resentment. At the same time Palpatine tempts Anakin with the dark side of the Force, seducing him with the promises that it has the ability to save Padmé. Upon learning of Palpatine's knowledge of the dark side, Anakin communicates so to the council, who decide to confront and dethrone the Chancellor. Things however don't go according to their plans, and that starts a cascading series of events that leads Anakin on a dark path, one that eventually puts him at a confrontation path with his mentor, Obi-Wan.
While the prior films of the series tried to illustrate the machinations of the empire, and how multiple cultures, and planets were all involved in these somewhat complex narrative threads, one thing that was always missing, was one of the main propelling components of these films, the journey pertaining to its main characters. How were their journeys shaped, what informed their decisions, and how those informed the narratives that eventually flowed into the original Star Wars films from the 1970s. George Lucas was finally able to bring together more of those journeys, on par with the usual visual artistry, to "Revenge of the Sith", where this group of characters is able to be more than just simple archetypes, and actually have a true dramatic arc to their existence, and have complex relationships between each other. While of course this isn't a Eugene O'Neill stage play, the film does venture into a complex web of relationships, and how morality can be easily dissuaded when the promise of something meaningful is flashed before someone's eyes. Even if losing that morality, also means losing a sense of integrity and ultimately, humanity, everything that makes them who they are. It's a film that could have gone even further in its illustration of thirst for power, of manipulation of information, and how easily persuaded individuals choose to be when it furthers their own ambitions, something that has been lurking in them but that they have always chosen to avoid (in a lot of ways, the path to fascism, to terror). As it is, the film simplifies to a great extent Anakin's journey to the dark side, but George Lucas manages to maintain his visual flair, and keep the action set pieces always entertaining. The cast goes along for the journey, with Ewan McGregor trying a bit too much to stick with what Alec Guinness had done with the character, while Natalie Portman sadly has very little to do with Padmé, who takes a much more supporting and simplified role in this chapter. Ian McDiarmid truly shines and makes Palpatine a reptilian politician, one who cajoles, manipulates, in the pursuit of his own agenda, while Hayden Christensen sadly fails to properly embody the moral dilemmas of everything his character is going through (it's almost a bit of a too stark transition from who he was to what he's becoming). The production team is phenomenal, with highlights going to David Tattersall's cinematography, John Williams' indelible score, Gavin Bocquet's production design, and Trisha Biggar's costume design. It's a finely crafted film, one that could have been even more ambitious in its scope, but a film that redeems the rather contrived prior episodes George Lucas tackled from this iconic franchise.
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