Dave Gray
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« on: November 25, 2015, 04:10:28 pm » |
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Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Premise: Amid a galactic war, the Chancellor's capture raises suspicion and the Jedi promote his protege to act as a spy.
Rating: Still plagued by the same issues as the previous 2 films, but considerably less jarring, resulting in a film orders of magnitude better than the priors, but still just barely recommendable.
What I found with the movie over and over is the thought "This is better than I remember"....and then "Oh....right" It's like every scene starts off good and then smacks you in the face with something off-putting. Had there just been a little restraint, it could've been a really good movie. This is apparent immediately: The opening crawl pans into an epic tracking shot of war in the upper atmosphere. It looks good and is an impressive look at the war that really sets the pace for the film. And then by the end of the sequence, it's corny, wooden jokes and buzz-droids acting silly.
The script of this movie is solid. That sounds nuts, because some of the dialogue is outright gross, but I think part of that is delivery. The idea and layout of almost every scene is good, and in some cases, sounds great on the page. It's just done poorly. Let me set the stage for you: Clear your brain of what really happened in the film and then read this scene description. Just imagine how cool it could've been.
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Mace Windu learns that Palpatine is a Sith Lord. He brings 3 Jedi to confront him in his office. Palpatine, at first, tries to talk his way out of it, but Windu isn't having it and Palpatine knows that the jig is up. Palpatine accuses them of treason and then breaks out his lightsaber. He battles all 4 Jedi before taking out the lesser three. Windu eventually gets Palpatine on the ropes and realizes that he's too powerful to stay alive. In Palpatine's last moments, Anakin shows up, racked with guilt that he is letting his only chance at saving his wife slip away. In a defining moment, Anakin turns on Windu, and the Emperor finishes him off."
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That sounds SO COOL! Imagine 4 on 1 Jedi fighting in different-styles in tight quarters, while the Emperor dual-wields blades, singles out each man, and strikes him dead. You saw some really cool fight choreography for the Emperor on the Clones wars TV show that would've been pretty sweet in this context. As is, though, the scene plays out really lame. The exposition scenes lack intensity and urgency and never is it more apparent than in the scenes leading up to this battle. Anakin informs Windu of Palpatine's true self and they just quietly and calmly continue walking. Windu just learned that the most evil dude in the galaxy is right under his nose and he responds like he'd been given a sedative. When the Jedi arrive to Palpatine's office, he strikes two of them down and they just stand there and watch him do it. Once it's brought to your attention, you can't un-see it.
Even the bad moments have good in them (which fits thematically, I suppose). Perhaps the most cringe-worthy exchange of the entire saga comes between Anakin and Padme:
You're so beautiful.
It's only because I'm so in love.
No, it's because I'm so in love with you.
So love has blinded you?
That's not what I meant.
No, but it's probably true.
While you wipe the vomit from your lips, consider that this exchange is actually important. Love has literally blinded Anakin from the evil that he's closest to. It's a bit of subtlety in a trilogy not known for it and it's just too bad that it's done in a way that makes the hair on your arms stand up.
So many parts of the film are kinda cool, but ruined with something weird:
- General Grievous, the medical prototype for Darth Vader, wielding 4 lightsabers. But he has the moustache-twirling voice of someone who just tied a woman to the railroad tracks and a fighting style so devoid of any artistic merit as to make for terrible action.
- Obi Wan rides a giant lizard, but the more they show it, the faker everything looks.
- There is promise with a battle sequence on the Wookiee planet, but the layout of the action doesn't really make sense (why are Wookies charging into the water...where are they going?) and the presence of Chewbacca is a connection that diminishes the character.
- The final battle begins and is excellent out of the box. The choreography and backdrop are amazing, but it devolves into a CG video game platformer, jumping between falling towers and off of the heads of floating robots. It loses any sense of believably and sucks the drama out of the scene.
It's worth noting that, though not something that stuck out to me, my wife was put-off by the helplessness of Padme's character here, where she was the driving force of strength in the previous film. She's right -- most of the time, she's just standing around staring at Anakin, either lovingly or in tears...but not in control of her own situation.
The end of the film is the greatest that the trilogy has to offer. Though Vader's Frankenstein "Noooooooo!" is often maligned, it's a fitting moment of the literal creation of a monster. The last 5 or so minutes are beautiful and a great connection to the original trilogy.
You're left with a bearable film, but still not something great. It is so much better than what came before it, though, that it's worth setting it apart. There are haunting moments in this film, like the slaughter of the children and some of the interactions between Anakin and Padme and Obi Wan that stick with you, but any time the film sniffs greatness, it goes too far. Had this been the worst of the prequels, I think we would've thought differently about the era. But since it was the best and still just passable, it doesn't do enough to save the overall saga. Considering how bad those first two movies were, though, I'm glad it's as good as it is.
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