My Obligatory Star Wars Episode III Review: "Revenge Of The Sith" (2005)

If you haven't heard of Star Wars by now you probably have been living in a cave somewhere in Siquijor. The third and final installment of the Star Wars prequels "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", finally premiered yesterday in theaters worldwide. And I tell you, it kicks more tail than all Jedis put together.

I'm gonna be a little spoiler-unfriendly on this one. It's very hard to describe it without giving out some details. I assure you though, my review won't give much.

We find Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in the peak of his Jedi abilities and, obviously, will be witness to his descent into the darkside and to become the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Also in this we see how Anakin turns into the dark lord in very graphic detail. I can talk about this movie all day but I would inevitably spoil the movie for whoever hasn't seen it.
We also see Chancellor Palpatine and his inevitable revalation as the dark Sith Master Darth Sidious otherwise known as the Emperor in the old trilogy. Talk about an extreme makeover.
We also see Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as a senior Jedi Master and General to the clone army and as a younger version of Alec Guiness, the Obi Wan of the old trilogy.
Padme(Natalie Portman)has become more mature and more beautiful, and pregnant to the twin Jedi heirs Luke and Leia.
The best and most memorable performance is awarded to Ian McDiarmid who plays Palpatine. We see a lot of him in this one. The scenes that eluded him in the old movies, where even as the dark master behinfd the Empire, served more as a backdrop to Darth vader rather than a main villain. As they say in showbiz, it's his moment to shine.

Other characters like Mace Windu (Samuel Jackson) and the master Yoda (Frank Oz)also make some cool, although not really surprising, character developments. Mace's "electriying" exit and more of Yoda's bouncy Jedi action.We also see Count Dooku's bowing out, hands down (or out) to the new apprentice.


The introduction of new character General Grievous was a welcome surprise to many SW fans. His 4 armed lightsaber duel with Obi Wan is definitely one for the books, however no one can beat the Darth Maul vs. Obi wan duel. We also get introduced to the Wookies and their planet, here we see a Chewbacca cameo of sorts, although he doesn't do much.

The first 20 minutes of the movie are simply amazing. The movie starts at the peak of the Clone Wars and we are thrust right into it via The most elaborate space dogfight scene ever created for film.




We are also treated with multiple lightsaber duels in the beginning, middle and latter parts of the move, something that old Georgie should have thought of in the earlier movies.

What the movie lacked, though, was more Darth Vader. we only get to see him five minutes before the movie ends. I just wish that he had been given more screen time and an action sequence.

All in all, pound for pound, it is the best of the Star Wars prequels and is in every way, the Star Wars prequel we all wanted to see.


Check out some other great (albeit spoiler-rich) reviews, both positive and negative from retrocrush, Roger Ebert and Kevin Smith

Rocketboy's Rating: **** (4 out of 5)