Well that clears that up then! (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2 DVDs))

Member Name: drewboy

Product:	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2 DVDs)
Date:	10/10/05 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Most of the effects, can stand alone as a film, answers a LOT of what people want to know .

Disadvantages: The love story, a couple of plot mistakes .

War is in full swing in the Republic, a far far away galaxy from our own. The Jedi Knights are fighting side by side with the soldiers from the Republic to try and regain peace against the threat of the separatists from the Trade Federation. Obi Wan Kenobi is landed with the missions to save the Chancellor of the Senate from the dark force after he was captured, and flanked by his student Anakin Skywalker, he flies into enemy territory. Will their efforts pay off and start the Jedi and the Republic on the road to peace? Will he still be able to keep control of the young Skywalker as once again he defies his orders in the battle? And ultimately, will good triumph over the perceived evil they are facing?



I defy anyone to say that they know nothing about the Star Wars saga. Having been around in some form or another for nearly 30 years, this 'episode', has been a long time coming and has been billed as giving the answers to all the questions that the original trilogy of films posed.

After what has been generally accepted as a disappointing couple of films by George Lucas, I was very hopeful that the third in his series of 'prequals' would live up to the hype that has surrounded it. In essence, it was THE Star Wars episode that all fans were waiting for. However did he pull it of?

Plot
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To describe the plot is any kind of detail, would give away too much about what happens in the later films. The best that I can think of, is that it does pretty much clear up everything that I can remember of the films I watched as a very young boy. I have deliberately waited for this film to come out before re-visiting the earlier three films as I didn't want to be sitting the whole way through the film waiting for things to happen to explain them. I am very glad that I did this. Watching the plot unfold, I found myself remembering different parts to the story and having various un-answered questions answered without me knowing it and feel that the plot development did move in such a way that people who are not fully aware of later goings on, would actually be able to enjoy this for what it is truly should be, a continuation of the previous, yet later made, films.

Characters
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For those of you who have seen the previous efforts, you will know the characters pretty well. We have all the Jedi masters from the previous films, Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor), Yoda et al, and their continuing mistrust of the Chancellor follows on through the course of the story. Obi Wan is still mentoring the young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), and the bond that the two have developed is very well portrayed by the actions of the two in the various battles they partake in. We get to see Chancellor Palpadine (Iain McDiarmid) tighten his grip on the power he has over the Republic and the characters trustworthyness is very much brought to the fore as his relationship with Skywalker develops. I didn't personally care much for the love story side of the characters of Skywalker and Padme (Natalie Portman) and felt that the characters well just not that realistic in how they were written. While yes it was obviously an important part of the story, the dialogue reminded me of some awful American teen TV show and could have been handled in a more intelligent way. In previous films, Padme was an important character and her wisdom was apparent. She just seemed like a necessary yet unwanted side show for the plot, and feel this could have been done better.I have read a lot about how the humour of the droids that was worked in the film just didn't work however I have to disagree. I very much liked the one liners that they came out with earlier on in the film, and gave them a much needed personality that I think fitted well along side the, now well known, personality of the droids R2D2 and C3PO that most people are accustomed too. Before, when the other droids were mindless robots, the two well known ones just seemed to stick out for me, whereas now, it is more believable that they have these qualities.


Direction
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As well as being written by George Lucas it was, like the other films, directed by him too. This shone though in the film but not always for good reason. While I do feel that it was quite a spectacular feature, one that really should be seen in the cinema for full effect, I do think that he reverted to a bit of over indulgence on the part of the special effects, and after the criticisms of the previous two films, I had hoped he would take this on board. The special effects were very well done but at a couple of points, it all moved just that little bit too fast for me, and I was left wondering if I had missed something as to how they got out of that particular predicament. I also think there was a major error at the beginning with regards to the enemy ship going down on the planet, as we ALL know that there is no gravity in space, so why would they all fall when it is attacked and ends up on its side? The CGI was for the most part, very effective but at the beginning, I did fell that the first couple of times the Jedi's jumped down a great height, it was a bit fake looking. Having said that, when I start to watch the originals again, I know I will be wishing they had the same technology back then! Of course the standard short scenes with little dialogue were used throughout the film, Lucas and Star Wars just wouldn't be the same without them, although some were just that little to bit short for my liking, but on the whole the worked well and continued what Star Wars has been in the past and firmly stamped his name on the feature.

Acting
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Overall, this was good with a couple of people standing out for me. Christensen, while improving dramatically from the previous film, was still rather wooden for me although he seems to have managed to perfect the evil and confused look rather well. Portman managed the best with what she was given, but I really didn't manage to build any empathy for the character as she just seemed to be either loved up or whiney about her troubled husband. I did feel that McGregor did very well at a rather dead pan Kenobi, managing to get in some subtle humour along the way however the star of the show for me was without a doubt Ian McDiarmid who was outstanding in the part of the Chancellor. He carried off the part with just the right amount of mysteriousness and the development of the character was handled spectacularly.

Soundtrack
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You really cannot talk about Star Wars without mentioning the famous soundtrack. The opening credits of course booms out the now very well known orchestral piece, and thoughout the film the music carries on with the orchestral theme although I have to say there were some instances where I couldn't help but recognise what I though were musical themes from other music. I doubt this would have been intentional, however for a film that has always had a distinct sound I was slightly miffed at this. Of course the famous death march was ushered in at the end, it just wouldn't have been the same without it!

Conclusion
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So, did the film answer those well known questions from years ago? Did it manage to stand on its own two feet as a film in its own right? I would have to say yes, is most definitely did. Where the previous two films were too obvious in the fact that they were there to set up the story, this one took the lead in giving fans and non fans loads of stuff to think about when re-visiting (or watching for the first time) the last three episodes and sets the scene up nicely for the episode four to finally have the correct place in the saga. I would so like to give the film five stars, however with the few points I have made above, I do feel that four stars is more appropriate.

Do go and see this at the cinema though, I do feel that it may loose a bit of the magic if you wait for DVD.

May the force be with you.


drew

(p.s - this is a film only review)

Summary: A nice way to end somewhere in the middle.....