movie review - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
At last, the prequels climb into the realm of the original series. This is the 'final' installment of the series, and it delves into the descent of an angry young man into fascism. The man of course is Aniken Skywalker, father of Luke and Leia from the original. And the fascist result is none other than one of the most recognizable villains in movie histroy; Darth Vader.
This movie is a real standout as far as the technical aspects are concerned. Even more so than with the Lord of the Rings movies, this one is simply astonishing to watch. Clearly, more detail has gone into relatively throwaway things like the backgrounds (where, for instance, wars rage on) in this movie than are ever achieved in most ambitious CGI efforts.
And the sets and the costumes and the swashbuckling nature of the plot are all excellent. Needless to say, the action sequences are outstanding, and the overall feeling of the movie is as intended - full of dread and despair.
But the writing is afflicted with the same problem that struck the "first" two movies (the fourth and fifth in the series). These are: disjointed, unreal-feeling dialogue; inexplicable actions on the part of a number of characters verging on misuse of some of the characters; and unnecessary inclusions such as an extended sequence between the main protagonist and an irrelevant antagonist (an android that wheezes, inexplicably).
Overall, this movie is as I say, the equal to the orginal in many ways. It was a pleasure to see how much it was improved over the previous two issues.
P.S. I'm guessing that this is the final installment only for the time being. Originally, it was intended that there would be an additional three movies, and this thing is way too huge financially for someone else to not pick up that trilogy project. Perhaps someone else will co-write the final three with Lucas, and direct them as well.
Recommended.