Star Wars: Episode III – The Revenge of the Sith
by Cheeto
Posted on 2 May 2021
Rating -
Revenge of the Sith is set three years after the onset of the Clone Wars, established in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002). The Jedi are spread across the galaxy, leading a large-scale war against the Separatists. The Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi to eliminate General Grievous, the leader of the Separatist army, to put an end to the war. Meanwhile, after having premonitions of his wife Padmé Amidala dying in childbirth, Anakin Skywalker is tasked by the Council to spy on Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and, secretly, a Sith lord known as Darth Sidious.
I am not a huge fan of the prequels, I didn’t care much for The Phantom Menace, and I despised Attack of the Clones. You’re probably expecting me to say that I don’t like the third and last installment of the prequel trilogy, if you thought this; then you thought wrong.
I LOVE this film, I know I have made half of the fanbase hate me and the other half love me, just by that one statement. The best and only way I can describe this film is it’s a mildly flawed masterpiece.
First we must delve into the negatives about this film (sorry to say there are some). Once again, we have to sit through George Lucas’ mediocre dialog, although not as bad as the other films, it still isn’t the best.
Believe it or not, that’s the only real negative I have about this film. Like I said before, I LOVE this film, I think it is easily the best outside the original trilogy, I even have it at number 3 on my Skywalker Saga tier list. Let’s delve into the many positives about this film.
First off, the intro is absolutely breathtaking, you get some lovely CGI in the bakground as we are pushed right into the battle of Coruscant. We follow Anakin and Obi-Wan as they just about get onto Count Dooku’s ship. The actual fight itself between Anakin and Dooku is amazing, it shows us that Anakin is a much more competent and powerful character than in the last film. This is good character progression. I love Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship (in the first part of this film). It is very natural and what you’d expect from friends of 10+ years.
I think that Senator Palpatine (later revealed to be Emperor Palpatine) is one of, if not the best character in this film. The way how he gradually persuades Anakin and abuses his trust, eating away at each layer until he gets what he wants. I loved the fight between him and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) as it was the first time in Star Wars that we’d seen Palpatine wield a lightsaber.
I think that General Grievous is a brilliant villain and is something that we hadn’t seen up to that point. I love the fight between Grievous and Obi-Wan, in which it is revealed that Grievous has four arms and four lightsabers. This poses a different task for a Jedi, that we hadn’t seen up to that point.
I love the scene in which Anakin betrays Mace (I hated what he did, but it was brilliant cinema) and then Palpatine says and I quote; “Hence forth, you shall be known as Darth Vader.” The order 66 scene is absolutely soul crushing as the clones turn on the Jedi’s and start to wipe them out. Anakin even kills the younglings. All of this happens while ‘Anakin’s Betrayal’ by John Williams plays. As bad as it sounds, the order 66 scenes are absolutely important as they add another layer to this film. It’s pure evil, and we are watching it, this is another thing we would’ve never experienced before this.
I think the way in which Palpatine tricks and manipulates Anakin into falling into the dark side is smart. I don’t think that George could’ve come up with anything better. The only minor thing is that it doesn’t take that long for Anakin to fall to the dark side. Don’t worry because it doesn’t take away from the film at all.
Lastly, I think that the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar is the best in the whole saga. It is so emotional as two former brothers try and persuade eachother that they’re in the right, and that the other should join them. The visuals are absolutely stunning with some world class coreography from both Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor. The piece of dialogue Obi-Wan has at the end of the fight while his former brother is lying on the floor, burning with no limbs left is heartbreaking and will bring a tear to anyone’s eye.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Yoda and Palpatine have a lightsaber battle. Yes, this isn’t a typo, they really do. It’s amazing to see the Jedi Grandmaster and the Sith Emperor fighting it out, it’s good vs evil, Empire vs Democracy.
Finally, the last scene I love is when Anakin gets his Darth Vader suit, he then truly is Darth Vader at this point. After he is put into the iconic suit, his first words are asking for Padme. This is genuinely depressing as he still has that love for her.
Overall, this isn’t just a film for Star Wars fans, it’s a film for everyone. I 100% would recommend this to anyone willing to go through a film with action, thrills and emotion.
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