Just when the Jedi is about to bring peace and justice to the Republic…someone within has other plans…
Welcome back to another movie review! Today I’ll be reviewing the third and final film of the Star Wars prequels and that is Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith!
My General Thoughts:
To start off, let me just say that this movie is one of the best Star Wars films and it’s one of my favorite films of all time. Some people don’t like this movie, some do, and some are just neutral. But me personally, I LOVE this movie. I’ve watched this film more than the previous two prequel films. That’s how much I love it.
Hands down, this is the best movie of the prequels. As I’ve stated in my previous two reviews, if this movie was bad, then the entire prequel trilogy is horrible. I’m saying this because the entire prequel trilogy revolves around the third film. This movie makes the first two films watchable in my opinion. Even if the first two films are great but the third film wasn’t that good, then the prequel trilogy is not worth the watch. I feel that’s how much important the third film is. Don’t get me wrong, I wish the first two films is up there with Revenge of the Sith. If you’ve read my first two reviews; if those certain problems hadn’t occurred in the first two films, it would probably be up there with this film.
I’m not sure if George Lucas took a lot of time to think how he wants to execute this film but whatever he did, it paid off big time in my opinion. This film to me felt like his last chance literally to save the prequels. I’ve seen this film three times recently and it just gets better with every viewing for me. However, whenever I watch any Star Wars film nowadays on bluray; I decide to watch all of tbem because doing a marathon captures the magic of the beautiful story this film franchise is known for.
Overview/Story:
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 film directed by George Lucas which stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Jimmy Smits, & Christopher Lee.
The film is basically about Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) turning to the dark side and becoming Darth Sidious’ new apprentice. You see Anakin throughout the first few acts of the film struggling to see what he should do when he has nightmares of his wife Padmè (Natalie Portman) dying in childbirth since she is pregnant. Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is actually the Sith Lord the Jedi have been looking for and he’s been watching and sensing Anakin’s thoughts and feelings. He’s actually Darth Sidious. Darth Sidious’ old apprentice Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) gets killed earlier in the film by Anakin as he and Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) attempt to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Sidious) earlier in the film. He eventually persuades Anakin to join him since he promises him he can save Padmè from any type of death. From that point on, Anakin became known as Darth Vader.
Meanwhile a separatist leader named General Grevious escapes from his ship in the beginning and is hiding in the Utapau system. He clashes in a duel with Obi-Wan since he found his hiding location. He eventually dies and the Jedi think the war is finally over.
Darth Sidious has Order 66 to be executed and all the clone troopers of the Republic turn against all the Jedi across the galaxy. Obi-Wan and Yoda (Frank Oz) are the only ones of the Jedi that survived. Obi-Wan goes to Mustafar and clashes with Anakin. Obi-Wan eventually wins the duel and takes Anakin’s lightsaber as Anakin is burned alive. Darth Sidious comes to his aid and places him in the iconic suit and mask of Darth Vader. Padmè gives birth to Luke and Leia and dies due to the loss to live since Anakin turned to the Dark Side. You see a shot of Darth Vader and Darth Sidious at their starship looking over the space station named the Death Star as it’s still being under construction. Leia will be raised by Senator Organa (Jimmy Smits) and his wife at Alderaan. Luke will be raised by his aunt and uncle at Tatooine and Obi-Wan decides to keep a watchful eye on Luke.
That is basically the story for this film. For those that have seen the original trilogy, we all know what happens in the entire prequel trilogy. But thanks to this film, it was nice to see what exactly happened before the rise of the Galactic Empire.
Great stuff from the film:
There are so many favorite lines/scenes I have from this film. Majority of the lines/scenes in this film makes you get into the story and it makes you want to know what happens next. Like I said before, we all know what would happen in this film. But due to how great majority of the scenes/lines are in this film, you really wanna know how is the next few sequences are executed.
One of my favorite scenes from the film, is when Anakin and Obi-Wan are dueling Count Dooku. As Count Dooku fights Anakin while Obi-wan gets unconscious, he tells Anakin that he senses fear in him and he has hate and anger but he doesn’t use it. In that duel, Anakin is showing his rage against Count Dooku. This is one of my favorite scenes because it shows Anakin’s little steps to the dark side. Another great scene is when Anakin has the upper hand and is ready to kill Count Dooku. Even though he knows he shouldn’t, Palpatine orders him to kill him. Also the look on Count Dooku’s face says it all as he hears Palpatine’s commands. He knows Palpatine is Darth Sidous and he’s following everything according to his plan. But Dooku didn’t expect that him being scheduled to die is part of the plan too. This scene shows again Anakin’s small steps to the dark side. Seeing those scenes in the beginning of the movie makes you want to know badly what happens next with Anakin as how does he exactly turn into Darth Vader.
This next scene I’ll mention is not that memorable or great but I think it’s worth mentioning because it just makes the movie’s pacing really good. Right after General Grevious escapes and goes to the Utapau system, he contacts Lord Sidious and Sidious tells him the war is almost over. Grevious wanders how can that be possible since Count Dooku died. Sidious simply tells him: “His death was a necessary loss. Soon I’ll have a new apprentice. One far younger and more powerful.”
Again, this is another proof of why a viewer may get so hooked to this film and is hyped to know what would happen next. That mini scene alone sticks to the main story of the film and it sets up the next couple of sequences of how Sidious will plan on convincing Anakin to join him.
This is what the first two prequel films lacked in my opinion. They lacked many great major/minor build up scenes in which was one of the main factors that hurt the films. They did have a few great scenes here and there, but I just felt at times (especially Attack of the Clones) that the pacing was a bit slow and the film didn’t stick to the main plot.
My other favorite scene is when Palpatine was telling the tragic story of Darth Plagueis The Wise to Anakin. Once he told Anakin that Darth Plagueis The Wise could save people from any certain type of death, Anakin became really interested and was curious to know if this power could be learned. Palpatine simply told Anakin: “Not from a Jedi.” That was such a great scene because once again, it’s leading up to Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side. The scene where Anakin uncovers the truth that Palpatine is the Sith Lord was great. Palpatine reveals to him he knows the ways of the Force and he knows the Dark Side pretty well. He then finally tries to convince him to join him and become his new apprentice so he can save Padmè from certain death. Anakin had his lightsaber out once Palpatine tries to convince him. But Anakin doesn’t join the Dark Side just yet. He tells Palpatine that he’ll turn him over to the Jedi Council. I liked what George Lucas did right there. Even though we knew Anakin will turn to the Dark Side, Lucas didn’t let the character of Anakin easily turn just like that. So after seeing that scene, it makes you even more drawn to the story to know how exactly will he join.
My other favorite scene was when Anakin was having a conversation with Obi-Wan before he left to Utapau to fight General Grevious. Anakin basically confessed to Obi-Wan, that he’s been arrogant lately and he hasn’t been appreciative of his training. Obi-Wan on the other hand doesn’t believe that and cheers him up by saying good stuff about him like how wise and strong he is. He also cheers him up by saying it won’t be long till he becomes a Jedi Master like the rest of them. I believe once Obi Wan said all that to him, Anakin responded with a smile. I’m mentioning the way he responded because I believe that was used in Return of the Jedi of him as a Force Ghost. Before George Lucas altered the original trilogy, the Force Ghost showed Sebastian Shaw’s Anakin Skywalker. For quite a while I preferred Sebastian Shaw’s Force Ghost, but the more I think about it, I don’t mind Hayden’s Force Ghost and Shaw’s Force Ghost. The last few lines they say to each other as brothers and as two Jedi before Obi-Wan leaves for Utapau is this :
Anakin: Obi-Wan, May the Force be with You.
Obi-Wan: Goodbye old friend.
Obi-Wan bidding farewell to Anakin was really memorable and sad because that was the last thing he said to Anakin when he was in the Light Side. That’s the reason why this is one of my favorite scenes.
The duel between Obi-Wan and General Grevious at Utapau was pretty good. In the film, Grevious had about four lightsabers used in combat against Obi-Wan. But after a series of clashing here and there, General Grevious had no more lightsabers to defend himself. In the end Obi -Wan manages to destroy General Grevious with a blaster. I liked when Obi-Wan says “So uncivilized” to the blaster once he was done with it as he walked away from a destroyed Grevious. Thought that was a funny and clever line because it totally fits with the type of character Obi-Wan is.
The duel between Mace Windu and Palpatine was really good as well. They clash for a bit and you see Anakin leaving the Jedi Council to come to Palpatine’s aid. Mace Windu gets the upper hand and has Palpatine cornered. As Palpatine uses his force lightning on Mace Windu; Windu uses his lightsaber to block the lightning in which it’s deflected back to Palpatine. You see Palpatine’s face becomes disfigured and that disfigured face is the face you see in the original trilogy of Darth Sidious. As Mace Windu is about to kill Palpatine, Anakin takes out his lightsaber and cuts off Mace Windu’s hand. Palaptine takes advantage of this and uses his force lightning once more to finish off Mace Windu. From that point on, Anakin leaves the Light Side and officially turns to the Dark Side in which he becomes Darth Vader.
The death of the Jedi across the galaxy due to Order 66 was one of the memorable parts of this movie but of course it was really sad. The execution of Order 66 is actually the reason why the film is called Revenge of the Sith. The Sith in this film regained their glory of ruling the galaxy after more than a millennia of seeing the Jedi securing peace and justice to the galaxy. You see the clone trooper Commander Cody receiving the message from Darth SIdious to execute Order 66 and he does what he is told to do. He tells his men to shoot Obi-Wan from behind as he is leaving and Obi-Wan falls into the water. However, he manages to survive and secretly gets back to his vehicle and flees Utapau. Yoda manages to survive as well when he sensed the 2 clone troopers behind him were about to shoot him in Kashyyk. It was great to see in this film how Yoda and Obi-Wan managed to survive Order 66 because they are in the Original Trilogy in which all of the Jedi are extinct except them and Luke.
The scene where Anakin first lands on Mustafar and kills all the remaining Separatist leaders and droids shows him in combat with his lightsaber as a Sith. Once he begins to kill them one by one, you see him show his face and you see the debut of his Sith eyes. It shows that Anakin has been fully seduced by the Dark Side and the Anakin we knew as a young Jedi is gone.
The battle between Yoda and Darth Sidious was pretty good. Once again, you get to see Yoda in action just like in Attack of the Clones. Both show what they are capable of but eventually it was a stalemate and Yoda manages to leave with Senator Organa. He mentions to Senator Organa that he has failed and he’ll go to exile. It was interesting to know that he said that because in Empire Strikes Back and in Return of the Jedi you see him alone in the Dagobah system. So it answers our question why he was alone in Dagobah.
My favorite scene out of all the great scenes (in my opinion) that I’ve mentioned above or I have yet to mention, is when Obi Wan goes to Mustafar to confront Anakin and have a lightsaber battle with him. Obi-Wan was secretly in Padme’s ship so she first confronts Anakin and pleads him to come back and tells him she loves him. Anakin sees Obi Wan at the ship and doesn’t believe her so in rage he force chokes her. Obi-Wan orders Anakin to let her go and so he does but she is unconscious. Here are the lines they begin to say to each other when they finally meet and before they battle as a Jedi and Sith:
Anakin: You turned her against me!
Obi-Wan: You have done that yourself!
Anakin: You’ll not take her from me!
Obi-Wan: Your anger and lust for power have already done that. You’ve allowed this dark lord to twist your mind, until now, until now you’ve become the very thing you swore to destroy.
Anakin: Don’t lecture me Obi-Wan! I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Dark Side as you do. I’ve brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire!
Obi-Wan: You’re new empire?
Anakin: Don’t make me kill you.
Obi-Wan: Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!
Anakin: If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy.
Obi-Wan: Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I’ll do what I must.
Anakin: You will try.
I just love those lines they said to each other. Those lines show what each character’s loyalty is to who (The Empire, or the Republic) now after both of them were loyal to the Republic . The duel between them is really long and I think it’s the longest duel out of all the current films released so far. Both show how great they are with their lightsaber and with the Force. They eventually fight next to the flowing and rising lava and the duel between them is too epic. They fight on the flowing lava by using support and Obi Wan and Anakin talk for a bit:
Obi-Wan: I have failed you Anakin! I have failed you…
Anakin: I should’ve known the Jedi were plotting to take over!
Ob-Wan: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!
Anakin: From my point of view the Jedi are evil!
Obi-Wan: Well then you are LOST!
Those were pretty amazing lines they said to each other. Obi-Wan couldn’t have said it any better. Anakin is simply lost. Obi-Wan eventually gets the high ground and he finishes Anakin off with one final strike as he was trying to jump behind Obi-Wan. Anakin’s legs get cut off and he rolls down almost near the lava flow and gets burned alive. Obi-Wan watches him getting burned and says this:
Obi-Wan: “You were the Chosen One! It was said you were to destroy the Sith not join them! Bring balance to the Force! Not leave it at darkness!
Anakin: I hate you!
Obi-Wan: You were my brother Anakin. I loved you.
Obi-Wan telling Anakin that he was a brother to him and he loved him hits you in the feels. What he said makes that scene so powerful and very sad. You really feel sorry for Obi-Wan. It’s hard to to see two brothers fighting each other as enemies and are on opposite sides now. You see Obi-Wan taking Anakin’s lightsaber and leaves Mustafar with Padmè and C-3PO
The scene where Darth Sidious comes to Anakin’s aid at Mustafar and taking him to recover was pretty great too. We see Darth Sidious’ medical droids treating Anakin’s injuries and placing him in the iconic suit and mask of Darth Vader. Before he was placed in the suit, you see Anakin badly burned,etc. It was interesting to see how Anakin ended up like that in this movie before being in the suit because in Return of the Jedi you see see his injured face (Sebastian Shaw) being shown.
The scene where Padmè tells Obi-Wan that there is still good in Anakin before she dies is also worth mentioning. Not a memorable or great scene but it was interesting to see since in Return of the Jedi, Anakin comes back to the light side.
The scene where Senator Organa bringing Leia to his wife at Alderaan so they could raise her was pretty cool to see. It was a great scene because you get to see how Alderaan looks like for little bit. Alderaan is mentioned and has a big impact in the original Star Wars film so it was great to see it in the last act of the film. Seeing Obi-Wan bringing Luke to Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen at Tatooine was great to see as well. It was just great in general to see baby Leia and Luke in the final act of the film because both are in the original trilogy and in the Force Awakens as adults. They are one of the crucial main characters of the original trilogy especially.
My last but not least favorite scene is when Darth Vader and Darth Sidious look over the newly under construction space station named the Death Star at their Starship. I love that scene because you get to see the iconic Death Star, the TIE Fighters, debut of the Imperial officers, and the iconic Imperial Starship being revealed since those are shown in the original trilogy. As Darth Vader walks up to Darth Sidious, you see an Imperial Officer talking to him before he leaves. That is another reason why I love that scene because that Imperial officer is actually none other than Grand Moff Tarkin! If you’ve seen the original film of the original trilogy, you see Tarkin in his older years. So it was really neat to see him in the last act of this film. Smart move by George Lucas to include all of this at the last act of the film.
The musical score in this film:
The musical score in this film was EPIC! Of course during the opening crawl, you hear the memorable iconic Star Wars theme which gives you the feels. Not just for this movie but for all the Star Wars films (except Rogue One since that didn’t have an opening crawl). I’ve said this in my previous two reviews and I’ll mention that again for the original trilogy films and The Force Awakens.
I loved hearing Darth Vader’s theme for a brief moment when Darth Sidious tells Anakin he’ll be known as Darth Vader. When Obi-Wan gets “killed” by his own clone troopers at Utapau and falls into the water; you hear the Order 66 theme playing. The Order 66 theme was great. It was obviously sad but it was a great theme. You hear the sad theme playing when all the well known Jedi across the galaxy are being killed by the clone troopers of the Republic. The sad theme perfectly fitted with those scenarios.
It was nice to hear Darth Vader’s theme again for a few seconds in the background when the iconic mask of Darth Vader was placed on Anakin’s burned head. Also I enjoyed the orchestra theme that played when Darth Vader rose when he was completely treated for his injuries.
Hearing Princess Leia’s theme for a few moments when she was being brought to Alderaan by Senator Organa was pretty cool as well. Let’s not forget about Luke’s theme when Obi-Wan brings him to his aunt and and uncle at Tatooine. That was also neat. I liked that George Lucas included these stuff in the film because after all the prequels was made for a reason.
Hearing the binary sunset theme playing when Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are looking at the sunset with baby Luke in Aunt Beru’s arms was epic! That’s probably my second favorite theme in this film because once that theme played, it symbolizes that there is hope ahead for the new rebellion and Luke is their key for their hope.
My favorite score out of this entire trilogy is the Battle of the Heroes theme that plays when Obi-Wan and Anakin clash at Mustafar. Right after Anakin says “You will try.” to Obi-Wan, he flips and clashes with him with his lightsaber. Once they begin to battle, the Battle of the Heroes theme plays. I love this theme because right when this score hits, it fitted perfectly with the scene and it symbolizes something powerful. The score symbolizes two former brothers going at it after all that they’ve gone through together in the previous film and in the first few acts of this film. It symbolizes that it all comes down to this duel between them after all the great times they had working together as two Jedi and two close brothers. You hear the orchestra of Battle of the Heroes throughout most of the duel between them but I liked the orchestra of Battle of the Heroes playing especially when Obi-Wan and Anakin are looking at each other for a brief moment as they are using support to flow with the lava. Obi-Wan looks into the eyes of Anakin and his facial expression says it all. He is full of shock and disbelief. He trained Anakin like a caring brother all these years so he could be a gifted Jedi and now he can’t believe what had transpired with him lately. This brief moment is right before Anakin saying to Obi-Wan, “This is the end for you my master.” and resuming their duel afterwards. This is another reason why Battle of the Heroes was perfect for the duel scene. This is why I mainly mentioned Anakin’s and Obi-Wan’s chemistry in my review of Attack of the Clones because that film needed to show how good their chemistry is so it could set up something epic in this film. Like I said in that review, their chemistry was superb in which was one of the good things about that film.
My thoughts on the Cinematography:
I would say the cinematography in this film is really solid. I like the transition of Anakin officially turning to the Dark Side to Yoda sensing in Kashyyk of what just happened to Anakin. I also like the cinematography of Order 66 happening to Yoda sensing that all the Jedi across the galaxy are dying. One of the transitions that stood out the most was when Obi-Wan was asking Yoda about the person responsible for the death of younglings and it cuts right to Anakin in rage killing all the remaining Separatist Leaders in Mustafar. That transition stood out the most because it answers Obi-Wan’s question of who killed the younglings during Order 66. Another note to keep in mind is that the scene where Anakin turns on his lightsaber to kill the younglings as one of them asks him what should they do when there is too many of them is very depressing. Probably the saddest scene in the entire film. Another transition I liked was seeing people of Naboo at Padme’s funeral in which then it cuts to the Imperial Starship and the TIE Fighters. I liked that transition because I believe the scene of Padme’s funeral symbolized the final time you see the last of the Republic and the scene showing the Imperial Starship and the TIE Fighters symbolized the birth of the new Galactic Empire. Basically in that brief few moments you see how the Republic became the Empire.
The characters that stood out the most:
Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious:
The first but not the highest character that stood out the most was Ian McDiarmid’s character of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in this film was a complete snake. You can’t deny that. He knew Anakin’s thoughts and feelings so you can tell he was planning on what to tell Anakin beforehand so that way he could join him. I got the feeling he knew the Jedi Council won’t grant Anakin a Jedi master before he asked him to be his personal representative. So he was playing with Anakin’s head all this time. He had everything set up ever since Anakin was recruited by Qui-Gon to become a Jedi. He even knew Anakin was secretly married to Padmè and how he had nightmares of losing her in childbirth. He even knew about the tragic story about his mother so there is no question why he told the story of Darth Plagieus the Wise to Anakin. The part where he tells Anakin to not be a pawn of the Jedi Council, was ironic for me. It was ironic for me because he used the Separatists as his pawn for the entire time. I actually felt a bit sorry for Nute Gunray and his other Separatist allies at Mustafar when he was trying to plead Anakin for mercy and how Lord Sidious promised them peace since the war is over. He used Count Dooku, Darth Maul, and General Grevious as pawns too. It was all part of his plan. Ian McDarmid gave his best performance in this film than any of his other perfrmances in the other Star Wars films in my opinion.
Obi-Wan Kenobi:
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi was phenomenal in this film. He didn’t disappointed me at all in the previous two films but in this film he gave his best performance hands down. He had so many great lines throughout the entire film. It was great to see him say “Hello there!” to General Grevious because Alex Guinness’ Ob-Wan Kenobi says the exact same line to R2-D2 in the original 1977 Star Wars film. The way Ewan said that line was literally the same exact way Alex Guinness said it. Ewan McGregor was a great casting choice for Obi-Wan Kenobi for the prequel trilogy. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Ewan’s Ob-Wan was one of the great things about the prequels. You really feel sorry for Ob-Wan in this film because he felt he failed Anakin to be trained as a strong Jedi that will always obey the Jedi code. Even when he found out Anakin turned to the Dark Side and was the father of Padmè’s babies, he still wanted to help him come back to the light side and also just help him straighten things out as the caring friend he was to him. After seeing this film countless of times; Ewan McGregor easily became one of my favorite actors of all time.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader:
Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker was great. Just like Ewan, Hayden gave his best performance in this film in my opinion. I felt Hayden had to prove himself in this film of why his character will turn into Darth Vader because in Attack of the Clones, he just looked like a mediocre guy in those films that is trying to impress the beautiful woman so they can start a relationship. It was very tough to see Anakin joining the Dark Side. Like I said countless of times, we know what will end up happening in the end but just seeing it happening was shocking and sad. Anakin only joined the Dark Side to just “save” Padmè from childbirth. He was delusional and lost throughout most of the film. In the end he gained nothing because he was actually the reason why she died during childbirth. Padmè wouldn’t have died during childbirth if Anakin was still a Jedi and obeyed the Jedi Council’s orders. So in a way his nightmares did come true but only because his delusional actions/solutions caused it. If he was a Jedi and he just trained himself to let go everything he fears to lose (Yoda advised him that), none of this would’ve happened. He was considered the Chosen One that would’ve brought balance to the Force if he was still a Jedi.
Jedi Master Yoda:
The next character that stood out the most was Yoda. Frank Oz as Yoda never disappoints me. In this movie and all the other films Yoda is in; he always acts so wise. You really feel bad for Yoda too because he thinks he failed in general with all the chaos that has been going on. He tried his best but after that stalemate between hm and Darth Sidious, he decided to exhile. You feel a lot sorry for him when he was taking deep breaths as he sensed all the Jedi across the galaxy are being killed due to Order 66. But when it was his turn to be killed, he sensed those troopers behind hm were about to kill him but he showed them that he had plans of his own. That was pretty cool to see because that was Yoda being himself at his finest. Yoda was also one of the greatest things about the prequels. I had no problem wth him in this movie or the previous two prequel films. Don’t get me wrong, he is awesome in the Original Trilogy as well. It was great to see him in combat in the second film and in this film.
Padmè:
I enjoyed Natalie Portman as Padmè in this film. I didn’t mind too much of her character in the previous two movies, but I’d say I liked her performance in this movie more. Padmè only just wanted Anakin to come with her to Naboo so they can raise their child together. It’s sad because she even tried to make Anakin think positive that she’s certain she won’t die in childbirth. But due to Anakin’s arrogance and wanting more power caused him to not believe what she was saying. All she wanted from him was his love and support. She did not want him change in a way that would destroy the whole Republic. After all, she was the former queen of Naboo of the Republic. Very sad to see Padmè shocked and heartbroken when she heard all the things Anakin has done and is planning to do eventually. After seeing this film, I would say Natalie Portman is a good actress. I haven’t seen other films yet outside of Star Wars that stars her but I’d say this is my favorite performance by her currently.
Mace Windu:
Samuel L Jackson’s character as Mace Windu was great. He’s in the film for a good chunk of the movie. He was enjoyable to watch in the previous two movies but like most of the other characters, I liked him more in this film. He was actually one of the first few of the Jedi to sense that something fishy was going on that involved Chancellor Palpatine. You see Master Windu in this film so determined through most of his screen time to find out what’s been out of place in the Republic. His combat skills with his lightsaber was really good against Palpatine. Loved the part when he, and three other Jedi named Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tin confronted Chancellor Palpatine. Every time I see the scene where Palpatine is “defenseless” and cornered by Master Windu with his lightsaber, I always hope for Windu to finish him off and hope Anakin listens to Mace Windu instead. But it was impressive enough to see Windu getting the upper hand in his duel with Palpatine. Of course it would’ve been interesting to see Windu killing Palpatine because that would’ve showed a different result to the film. Samuel L Jackson as Mace Windu was great in the previous two films as well. Like I said in my previous review, Mace Windu is also one of the great things about the prequels. I’ve seen plenty of other films that stars Samuel L. Jackson but I currently don’t have a favorite yet. He is such a great actor without a shadow of a doubt.
Additional pluses to the film:
Jar Jar Binks is once again in this movie but he’s only in the final act of the film where he attends Padme’s funeral in Naboo. Great to see him not have a big impact in this film like in The Phantom Menace otherwise the movie would’ve heavily hurt the story. And I mean heavily. As I’ve stated in my Phantom Menace review, I don’t mind his character but his character is a time wasting character. It’s definitely an unneeded character and I wished George Lucas could’ve filled in something else that would’ve capture the viewer’s attention like how he did with this film. But at least it didn’t hurt this movie (thankfully) and he just makes a brief cameo in the end.
Chewbacca (Peter Mathew) is actually in this film! He is shown in the planet Kashyyk with the rest of the Wookiees as they team up with Yoda to fight off the invasion of the droid army. For those that’ve seen the original trilogy, Chewbacca has a positive impact in those films and he is actually one of the most beloved characters in Star Wars/cinema history. Great to see him in this movie for a small chunk of the film. Like I said before, I loved the fact that George Lucas added certain elements from the original trilogy into this movie because it fits into this film so well and it hits you in the feels for any Star Wars fans. 😉
A Few Nitpicks:
I only have two nitpicks for this movie. My first nitpick is Darth Vader yelling “NOOO!” when Palpatine told him his wife was dead. I just thought him yelling “NOOO!” doesn’t really fit with his character. It doesn’t hurt the scene but just for that brief moment it just feels annoying to hear. We all know Darth Vader from the original trilogy as the menacing evil Sith Lord who is tough and doesn’t feel any feelings for anyone. So when you hear him say that, it hurts the type of character he is known for. I haven’t seen the Return of the Jedi alterations George Lucas did but I heard Vader yells “NOOO!” when he throws Darth Sidious into the Death Star’s reactor shaft when he turns back to the light side. That hurt the scene in Return of the Jedi a little bit and as I stated above, it hurts his character a bit as well. But the theatrical cut of Return of the Jedi is way better since Vader doesn’t yell “NOOO!!” so it doesn’t feels annoying. But I’ll go more in depth when it’s time for me to talk about that film in that review.
My other nitpick is this film doesn’t show Yoda arriving at the Dagobah system once he exiles at the last act of the film. It really would’ve been great to see him arrive there in this film because in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, that’s where he has been living since the aftermath of the events that happened in this film. Don’t get me wrong I love the fact that George Lucas included other great elements from the original trilogy into this movie, but it would’ve been cool if he also added Yoda arriving at Dagobah as well.
But these are only my nitpicks. It doesn’t hurt the film by any means. The movie is still epic nonetheless.
Final Thoughts:
But anyways guys, I hope you enjoyed my review of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. I know I talked about a lot of the great scenes and lines in this movie but I felt I had to talk about majority of them because I feel this is the underrated film out of all current 8 films. This will always probably be the underrated Star Wars film because I’m pretty sure people will always talk about the original trilogy and the new trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, etc). Don’t get me wrong, the original trilogy is my favorite era and I love the Force Awakens. But I love and appreciate this film as well. This film is the MAIN reason why the prequel trilogy is worth watching. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this film literally saved the prequel trilogy. This film’s story went straight to the point, every minor plot was connected it to the main plot, the pacing was solid, and great performances by everyone. These are the things The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones needed a bit to make the films possibly up there with Revenge of the Sith. Revenge of the Sith is actually the first Star Wars film back at 2005 to have a PG-13 rating. All the films in the original trilogy are rated PG. So that was pretty interesting and once you see the film; you see that it rightfully deserves the PG-13 rating. The Force Awakens is the second film and Rogue One is the third film in all the Star Wars films released so far to have a PG-13 rating. Even though we knew what would happen in the prequels, it’s still has one of the epic plot twists in cinematic history in my opinion. That plot twist is Anakin joining the Dark Side even though he was supposed to bring balance to the Force and destroy the Sith as a gifted Jedi he used to be. Who would’ve thought the key person from the good side would join the enemy he was meant to destroy. Again, you knew what would happen if you’ve seen the orginal trilogy but it still makes you be amazed of how great the plot twist is. If you disagree, with anything that I’ve mentioned in this review, then that’s totally fine. If you dislike this film, then that’s totally fine too. I can like/love a film that you don’t like can’t I?
If you haven’t seen the prequel trilogy, then I would recommend seeing the trilogy just because for this film. Like I said in my previous two reviews; The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are watchable. They may be dull at certain points but trust me, it pays off since it leads up to the epicness that was desperately needed in this film. You can just watch Revenge of the Sith instead of watching the previous two films, but I would recommend seeing the first two so you can just understand the story in depth,etc. All up to you. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I only watch the Star Wars films on bluray when I’m doing a marathon because it truly hits you in the feels of the epic story this successful franchise is known for. Like always, I rate my movies out of five stars, so I would rate Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 5 out of 5 stars! I used to rate it 4 out of 5 stars, but the more I watch this movie, the more I love it so it rightfully deserves 5 stars in my opinion.
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The Elite Film Prodigy 