Episode 3 review

“Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith”
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Frank Oz, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee
3 stars out of 4


The 3rd and final Star Wars chapter is the final bridge leading to Star Wars Episode IV, a New Hope. This chapter is the darkest of all six, the longest, it has the feeblest acting, but the action is great. The action and the long awaited moments are the only parts that save this movie from being a cinematic bust.

The plot is particularly simple, the Jedi are getting weaker, and Anakin Skywalker could be the final peace that the invisible Empire needs to conquer the galaxy. Anakin played by Hayden Christensen probably has the weakest acting out of the main characters, he tries to force emotions, and act tough, but he has nothing to show for it. Ewan McGregor who plays Obi-Wan-Kenobi is the most likely candidate for the best acting in the last 3 prequels. He is straight-forward and in Episode 3 he looks at Anakin in a weird way.

It starts off with Obi-Wan and Anakin on a mission to save the Chancellor, who is also secretly Darth Sidious, he wants Anakin on his side, and convinces him that if he turns to the Dark Side he possess powers that no Jedi could ever teach. The whole movie besides the action is Anakin pondering that decision and others trying to turn him away from the everlasting choice that determines the fate of all galactic activity in the future.

Padme is Anakin’s wife, she just stands by him throughout the movie, and we learn early that she is pregnant. It’s honestly sad how bad the acting is in the movie, and it’s ironic because Natalie Portman who plays Padme played 2 awesome parts in earlier movies of 2004, and was nominated in Closer, in this she’s just Anakin’s secret wife who seems to sleep in dresses, and lay on terrible dialogue along with her partner, the soon to be Darth Vader.

While watching the film you still can’t deny all of the long awaited moments and scenes when they are presented, along with those there are many tasty light-saber duels that will leave you tired afterwards. Most of the great scenes are all towards the end or at the end, the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin, the birth of Luke and Leia, Yoda against Darth Sidious, and the conclusion which turns Anakin into the legend villain, Darth Vader.

The question throughout is how did Anakin turn, and why. His strings are pulled so easily by Sidious that anything that Sidious wants done, Anakin will do. He explains to Anakin that if he wants his bad dreams of Padme dying to stop, that he will have to save her through ways that only a member of the dark side posses. Anakin easily agrees as the movie progresses. He is in turmoil also; the Jedi council obviously knows that the Chancellor is against them, so they assign Anakin to “spy” on him, Anakin transfers this news to the Chancellor, who also wants Anakin to “spy” on the Jedi council. The only problem I had with the movie, besides the acting, is how the transformation and turn of Anakin to Vader is played out, it seems as though the script uses cheap plot devices and bad manipulation skills by Sidious to turn Anakin.

The real problem for me was seeing fucking movie at 12:21, honestly for half of the movie I just kept thinking of my bed, because I was so goddamn tired. But since I didn’t sleep in the movie, this was all the stuff that I got out of it, bad acting, great action, un-convincing turn for Anakin to the dark side, or if you look at the bright side, some emotional scenes that close out the trilogy. I myself am not the biggest Star Wars fan; I have only seen the originals once or twice each. Again if I was a bigger fan, maybe more appreciation would have been granted to Episode 3, but as a tired movie fan that I was last night this is what I had to say. I liked it, just didn’t love it, but then again you will have a lot of people saying they loved it when they honestly didn’t.

NOTE* A 2nd viewing may increase my opinion, but maybe not.