Review of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) by Halfwelshman — 09 Oct 2011

Unlike The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, which both have a damp squib of an opening sequence, Revenge of the Sith glues you to the screen right from the off, with a jaw-dropping scope of a huge battle raging in space above the glittering planet Coruscant.

There are plenty of other moments that will etch themselves into your brain, from the fan-boy-pleasing (if a little brief) trip to the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk, to the beautifully executed, yet heartbreaking "Order 66" sequence, and of course the climactic lightsabre battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan on the volcanic planet Mustafar.

George Lucas still can't do dialogue, and forces his poor actors to utter some of the most unintentionally hilarious lines in movie history (I'd have to say Obi-Wan's "younglings" line is the most offensive).

The actors do their best with the material they have been given, but there is only so much verbal hamminess one can take. Hayden Christiansen is still awful, and Natalie Portman isn't much better. At least Ewan MacGregor attempts to channel a bit of Alec Guinness into his performance, but still has the tendency to fall back on generic "camp" when the script lets him down.

The only actor who really impresses is the always excellent Ian McDiarmid, who takes his portrayal of Emperor Palpatine to Shakespearean villain extremes, and is an absolute joy to watch. The main thing that frustrates me about Revenge of the Sith, and about the Star Wars prequels in general though, is not that they aren't as good as the original trilogy.

What really annoys me is the extent to which Lucas involved himself. I understand that Star Wars is his baby, and he'll never quite be able to let it go out into the real world without holding its hand.

The thing is, Lucas isn't a great director. He doesn't have the charisma or the technical brilliance to be one. He's an ideas man. He really should have done what he did with Empire and Jedi - jotted down the story and left the front-of-house stuff to a more accomplished filmmaker.

While I can still get some sort of enjoyment out of all the Star Wars prequels (even the very-nearly awful Attack of the Clones), I'm left annoyed that they could be so much better if Lucas had taken a step back from his baby and hired a script writer and a director.

But when all's said and done, it may not be in the same league as any of the original trilogy, but Revenge of the Sith is the best of the prequels by quite a margin, and provides just what you want from a Star Wars film - fantastic entertainment.