Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of The Sith

Hmm.

Just finished watching Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of The Sith, and the verdict is: Not too bad!

Visual Effects: Splendid
Sound Effects : "whooooaam" (lightsaber).. er good!
Lightsaber duals: Whoa Ho Ho! Fookin' great!
Space battles: Fookin' Great!
Ground battles: not too bad
Plot: needs to be improved
Realistic situations: a mixture of good and ok
Acting capabilities of actors/actresses: can be improved (especially Natalie Portman)

Anyway, I was pretty tickled by the fact the opening words apart from the title of the film was 'WAR!', because it just looked so damn stupid to have the first word as 'WAR!'. Followed by the fact that while the beginning of the film is really good, the rest of the film is pretty bloodsoaked, and rather scary, but also fascinating about how a web of lies can seal the fate of so many (especially Darth Vader).

Also, how scary it is to lead a bunch of people, and then have them turn around and stab you in the back (or in this case, fire lasers into your back).

So here I am, thinking that the story of Darth Vader is somewhat freaky (hello, you're dealing with the dark side of the force), well imagine what Darth Vader would look like compared to House Of Wax, which I'm seeing next week. I think Darth Vader would look like a standing joke with a sore throat.

However, I also see some lame points in this movie... on top of the stupid first word, you get stuff like Count Dooku having his hands cut off, and then being decapitated by Anakin Skywalker. I mean... Count Dooku had cut off Anakin's arm the last time 'round, so why this repetitive moniker? Then you have the battle droids whining and groaning after being cut down by Obi-wan Kenobi..... what the crap? I also don't know how it is General Grievious can come into this movie and suddenly becomes the man-in-charge after Dooku's death.

It's like this character of immense importance just pops up like that. Then this character just splits his arms into four arms, and all four arms wield lightsabers. Kenobi (well, he's a Jedi Master) makes short work of Grievious, then pumps a blaster into the heart of Grievious (who burns up and explodes)... and then proclaims the blaster is an inelegant weapon. RIGHT.

After that battle sequence, you get the destruction of the Jedi order, whereby all of the Jedi are killed by clones, Mace Windu is electrocuted by Chancellor Palpatine, who had been deformed by his own electricity when Mace tried to defend himself using his lightsaber; alot of Jedi across the galaxy are executed by clones as well, and then you have Anakin Skywalker killing young Jedi disciples. How horrific.

We also see Anakin strangling someone for the first time using the force. Ironically, it's his wife, Padme, and she promptly faints... only to be mistaken as dead by Skywalker.

To top it all is the climatic battle between master and pupil, Kenobi and Skywalker... which takes place on a volcanic planet. You have Anakin and Kenobi fighting lightsaber duals at dizzying speeds, but it gets them nowhere.. until they fight over lava, atop moving service droids, and then Kenobi jumps onto dry land. His apprentice leaps into the air to attack him, and Anakin gets his arm, and legs cut off by his former master, only to scream 'I hate you!' in vain as he slips closer and closer towards the lava.

In the end, because the lava is so hot, it ignites the cloth around Anakin's legs and the flames proceed to engulf the Sith Lord and leave him scarred and deformed. His Jedi mentor confiscates his lightsaber, and leaves him to die...

Then we see Palpatine (deformed himself) arriving on the volcanic planet and rescuing Anakin... only to place him in a ridiculously enormous suit which makes Vader sound like a kettle boiling over, and subsequently having officially the Coolest Breath Sound in the history of Cool Breath Sounds. On top of the 'suit-up scene', we see Anakin receive news that his wife had dies.. and he promptly wails in grief (now using his psuedo-sore throat voice). What the bummer.

In short, this movie has it's ups and downs, but it's ultimately a good movie which shows the transition from which the Republic transforms into the Empire, followed by the fact that Anakin Skywalker is burned into Darth Vader. We also witness the birth of Luke and Leia Skywalker, but ultimately, Padme dies at childbirth... leaving Obi-wan to put Luke into his Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's care.. while his twin sister Leia is adopted by Senator Bail Organa and his wife.

The circle is complete, and I guess I'll be investing in the DVD when it comes out sooner or later.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy