My wife and I just saw Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. I am feeling very torn on my enjoyment level of the film. I feel I am of two minds about it. On one hand, as soon as I saw "A long time ago in a galaxy far away..." I felt like I was seven years old again, it was 1977 and I was sitting in the theater with my mommy and daddy. It didn't matter if it was a bad, poorly crafted film - IT'S STAR WARS!!!
Now, there were some things in the film that were extremely well done, and Lucas should reap all the praise for these. Unfortunately, these things all happened in the first and last half hours. The first half hour was action; Anakin and Obi-Wan in a space battle, boarding General Grievous' ship, lightsaber action and duels, and the rescue of the Chancellor of the Republic. All action, all exquisite, and all of it holding me in the same rapture I felt at seven years old.
In the last half hour, all loose ends were tied up leading us into Episode IV: Senator Organa's ship from Alderaan, the exile of Yoda, the birth of the twins, Luke and Leia, and their separation, start of the construction of the Death Star, and of course, the completed transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.
Now, the critics panned this film, and while my inner seven year old is still jumping up and down with glee, I am also a 35 year old who did graduate from film school, who was inspired to go to film school because Star Wars was the first real movie I ever saw, and who has been a fan of the entire series for 28 years. 28 years is a long time, the bulk of my life, and perhaps I am a little harsh in my judgment, but I feel the meat of the movie was a betrayal that stretches back to Episode II:Attack of the Clones.
First, and just to get it out of the way, the introduction of the Wookie species, and one Wookie in particular, was basically a throwaway part. The Wookies in Episode III could have been any race, and Chewbacca was reduced to that of a cameo bit part. There was no reason in the story for it: Chewbacca never had any interaction with Yoda any further than what we see in this film. I can only speculate that there are bits that might be released in some super-special edition of the DVD for home sale that might explain this. It is either that, or Lucas thought it would be good to introduce our beloved Chewie in his native habitat, as some sort of weak tie-in, but Chewie seemed like a leader of his people, some high ranking general, at least. So we are to gather that he, in the space between Episodes III and IV went from a leader and hero among his people to the sidekick of a smuggler in the outer rim? I'm not buying it, George, and don't think anyone else will.
Now I get to the point where I feel I am repeating myself from Episode II: Hayden Christensen. I don't think there has ever been anyone as badly miscast in the century of modern cinema as he has been. His acting was as compelling as a turnip and sardine salad. He acted in such a way that I was hoping he would put the helmet on earlier in the movie so we could no longer see his unchanging facial expressions.
In a perfect world, I could go back to the making of Episode II and direct him myself. Lucas said he felt it was unfair of the universal panning of Christensen's performance, saying he was directed to be aloof and arrogant. I didn't get aloof or arrogant out of either II or III, all I got was seemingly unfeeling and mean-spirited. If Anakin was portrayed as lovable, good natured, and just, his fall to the dark side would be much MUCH more meaningful than falling from arrogance - he was already halfway there. I guess the Anakin Skywalker character does need a fatal flaw that would allow him to seek out the power of the dark side, but that was already built into the story: his forbidden love for Amadala. How many times does Yoda have to say love leads to passion, leads to jealousy, leads to anger, leads to the dark side before even Lucas notices his own script? Anakin's forbidden love for Padme, and the threat of her life ending in childbirth should have been enough to push him over the edge - this, coupled with the power he could not control (an invention of mine - after all, it is said many times in the movie that he was more powerful than most of the Jedi council) would have been a compelling way to push our hero to the dark side. The way he acted the part, Christensen was already Darth Vader long before he met Palpatine. The basic script and direction was already a definite problem before shooting even began.
I have to mention the scene where the transformation to Darth Vader is complete, and he asks the Emperor if Padme survived, and he says no, and Darth Vader, the drama queen, releases this booming, overdramatic "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO". I can't even begin to say what all the problems with this scene are. It could have been handled in so many ways and so much better. It is the scene that shows he is now fully in the Emperor's power, that he has been completely seduced by the dark side, the moment we have been anticipating though Episodes I, II, and III, and we get the equivalent of the scourge of the galaxy, the embodiment of pure evil, crying like a schoolgirl. Without completely re-writing and re-blocking the scene, couldn't he have used his vast force powers to show his displeasure by destroying the medical bay, or attacking the attending droids, silently? Or not even going that far; he is on the dark side now, where pain and anger are power. There were so many options open to Lucas, and he chose the cheap one, the easy one. I just felt it wasn't in keeping with the myth, and I feel a little ripped off.
Lucas' need for over-using computer generated images is also a bone of contention for me. Lucas says he is pushing the envelope, which is a good thing, but making central characters completely in the computer was a mistake for the Star Wars franchise (case in point: JarJar Binks). Yoda, R2-D2, and General Grievous are all central characters to the story, and they were all computer generated, and while on some level it can work, too much of it leads to disaster. Movies made with a lot of CG (Lord of the Rings, for example) used CG primarily behind the central action, or during large action sequences, which in both cases allow the eye of the viewer to focus on the story and not the technology.
Lucas also took the opportunity of releasing a movie to make some fairly heavy political statements in the subtext of the film: the war will continue, despite the military achieving objective after objective; the leader will not relinquish his power because of the state of war; and the idea that some people will say it is treasonous to speak against the leader, while watching the treason of allowing the decay of the Republic that happens from the top. While I might agree with these views and the attempt to draw lines between the film and the Evil Empire we are living in today, I don't want to be beaten over the head with them when I go to the movies - if I wanted that, I would watch Fahrenheit 9/11 again.
Now, I distinctly remember a rumor from 1977, one that was repeated well into 1983, and then forgotten as Lucas said I, II, and III would be the last movies - but the original plan was for 12 movies. I read an interview with Mark Hamill where he said Lucas approached him about appearing in Episode VII while they were filming the first one in 1976 in Tunisia. Hamill asked when it would be shot and Lucas said 2011. In 2011, I think Hamill will be in his early 70's, and he may not relish the prospect of a geriatric Luke (but knowing Lucas, he will probably just be CG).
But I know I will be there if it happens, 41 years old, and feeling like it is 1977, and I am 7, and I am there with my mommy and daddy, going back to a galaxy far away.
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