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Wookies do battle in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
I was a tad hesitant to see Revenge of the Sith at its initial 12:01 AM showing on May 19th. First off, I’m not a big fan of overly crowded theaters: I like to have a nice “buffer zone” around my seat. Second, a packed house forces the movie-going experience to become more of a group event. I wanted to be selfish and enjoy this final (?) Star Wars film by myself. So, I had every intention on avoiding the flick for the first weekend.
But a funny thing happened on my way home from work Wednesday evening…
I worked the second shift at my lovely place of employment Wednesday evening: 2-11 PM. So 11 o’clock rolls around and I hop into my vehicle and pull out onto Ocean Boulevard in downtown Myrtle Beach, ready to head home. Unfortunately, my typically 20-minute ride home was in jeopardy as this happened to be in the heart of Harley Davidson Bike Week here in the Grand Strand.
So I’m inching northbound… cruising the strip at a cool 3 or 4 miles per hour. There’re motorcycle engines revving needlessly on all sides of me, out-of-towners cheering the bikes on from the sidewalks, and policemen (and women) on bicycles ticketing some intensely moralistic girls who think it’s cool to flash passers-by. Free peep-show aside, my head soon begins to pound relentlessly as I eventually cut cross the southbound lane of traffic and begin my trek inland towards my soft bed.
I’m not sure why — perhaps it was the will of the Force — but I randomly passed the movie theater on the way home. I never usually go that way, but for some reason I did that night. It was close to 11:30. Traveling on comparatively empty 29th Avenue, I suddenly made a sharp left turn into the cinema driveway. Call it fate, or perhaps my... destiny... or just plain old poor driving. I parked the car and walked up to the ticket window. I didn’t expect there to be any tickets remaining for the 12:01 showing, but I asked the attractive young ticket girl anyway. To my surprise, they weren’t sold out! So I paid the relatively inexpensive $7.75 for the ticket and entered the building… and made a beeline for theater three.
As I entered the theater, I secretly hoped I wouldn’t have to share this experience with some drunken and annoying “biker dude” who’s idea of a good time was to talk loudly throughout the feature. Let’s just say I had a bad feeling about it. To my astonishment, there were literally just seven other people in the theater. I breathed a sigh of relief, and proceeded to take my seat in the upper-center of the newly renovated stadium-seat theater. All was right with the world.
I settled in and watched the seemingly endless string of previews... first patiently, then moderately impatiently. Finally, the all-too-familiar 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm, Ltd. logos and theme played on the movie screen, and my Star Wars goosebumps made their first appearance… one of many such appearances.
I could provide a detailed summary of the film, but odds are you’ve probably already seen it… perhaps more than once. So, instead, I figured I’d give you my thoughts on this keystone film of the Star Wars series.
Quite simply, I was more than impressed. I was literally blown away by the nearly two-and-a-half hours of Star Wars goodness that graced the screen before my eyes. I anxiously awaited Episode III, but went into it with lower expectations than any of the other prequels. Why? Well, I got burned pretty badly by the over-hype of both The Phantom Menace and, to a lesser extent, Attack of the Clones. And, while I really do enjoy both films, I didn’t want the hype to affect my enjoyment of this final Lucas masterpiece.
I’m not quite sure where to begin. Revenge of the Sith simply hit all the right marks, in all the right ways. Lucas masterfully clouds the line between good and evil, making Anakin’s internal conflicts seem that much more believable and involved. I was completely enthralled with the film from its first second through to its conclusion.
The opening space battle over the planet of Coruscant was captivating and downright exciting. I know, it’s all computer generated… but the camera angles Lucas employed throughout this battle rocked hard. Unlike the space battle in Return of the Jedi, this one is much more focused and less-encompassing. Instead of watching the “main engagements”, Lucas forces us to focus more on Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin’s (Hayden Christensen) current mission: successfully navigating through the battlefield on their way to rescue the kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). It personalizes the story right at the outset, and involves the viewer in the plot immediately.
The acting, the bane of Episode I and Episode II, was very strong this go-around… more natural I guess you could say. McGregor really finds his groove as the venerable Obi-Wan Kenobi in this his third crack at the role. An effort Sir Alec Guinness would likely be proud of.
Hands down, Hayden Christensen is deserving of a most-improved acting award here. He honestly did not look comfortable at all in Attack of the Clones, but here he fills those Anakin Skywalker boots very nicely. And considering he is a main element of the story here, the overall film quality improves because of it.
But by far and away, Ian McDiarmid steals the show. He took a bit of a back seat in the first two prequels as the gentlemanly, yet suspicious Chancellor Palpatine, but is catapulted above supporting-actor status in Sith. My personal favorite Palpatine scene is not a fight sequence like you might think, but rather during the seemingly innocuous opera scene. As the smarmy Palpatine calmly recounts the story of an ancient Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis, the look in his eye coupled with his devious smile gave me chills. Calm, quiet, reserved… this one scene stands out from an otherwise action-packed film, setting up a father-son relationship between Palpatine and Anakin – albeit a dark and twisted one based upon sheer deception and deceit.
McDiarmid is a hell of a swordsman too… that wasn’t CGI, was it?!
I’m so happy one of my favorite franchises went out on a high note. Episode III more than makes up for what it’s predecessors lacked. Sith harkens back to the days of the Original Trilogy – space operas with meaningful character arcs and captivating storylines.
But most important of all, after returning home at nearly three in the morning, I rushed to put Episode IV into my DVD player to put everything into context. Sith has restored any faith I’ve lost in the franchise, a franchise which will live forever in our imaginations.
I just wish I got that ticket-counter girl’s phone number!
Flick Figures: Multiple dead Jedi; a hacking general; facial deformation; Wookiee-fu; memory-wiped; heroes exiled; one rising empire; one fallen democracy; Younglings murdered; two future “new hopes” born; heads roll; hands roll; legs roll; total immolation; complete and total betrayal and carnage.
Next Week: In preparation of George Romero’s highly anticipated return to the genre he created with the release of Land of the Dead, The Horror Guru begins an on-going look at his famous franchise with “the one that started it all”: Night of the Living Dead.
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