Review of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) by William B — 24 Feb 2018

Well, people thought Star Wars films couldn't get any worse with George Lucas writing and directing the prequels. They were wrong. Disney and Lucasfilm under Kathleen Kennedy went above and beyond on that one. Revenge of the Sith is a fantastic wrap-up to the prequel trilogy and a great send off for Anakin Skywalker. Aside from the cliché dialogue in some scenes, Episode III was definitely the best prequel. This film has two of the best acted scenes in the saga where both Anakin and Padmé stare out the window on Coruscant with the Ruminations song playing in the background. There's no dialogue because they're so far apart from one another, but you can feel Anakin's pain as his tears go down his face. He feels he has to betray the Jedi in order for Palpatine to help him save Padmé. The other great scene is the conversation between Anakin and Palpatine at the opera house. Palpatine tells Anakin the tragic story of Darth Plagueis, the Wise. In my opinion, it was the best acted scene in this trilogy with meaningful dialogue. The arrest scene between Palpatine, Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, and another Jedi could have been better. Palpatine lunged at the four Jedi and yet, not one of them attacked him quick enough and he ended up one of them.

Kit Fisto's death happened way too sudden. I knew it was going to come down to Mace Windu and Palpatine, but the Jedi deaths could have been a little more believable in this scene. The scene where the clone troopers betray and hunt down all of the Jedi on the different planets was another fantastic scene in the saga. The duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan was entertaining all throughout, but I thought it dragged on a bit too long. The other duel between Yoda and Darth Sidious was perfect. This film demonstrated Chancellor Palpatine's true strength and power with the dark side even without his lightsaber. At the end of the film, Anakin Skywalker ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader like what Obi-Wan said in Return of the Jedi. Padmé gave birth to Luke and Leia Skywalker as well. It shows the early stages of the first Galactic Empire at the end of the film and the construction of the Death Star as Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader stare out into space. I wish George Lucas could have showed more of Anakin's and Obi-Wan's friendship in this trilogy.