Okay, turns out politics is the worse place for Jar Jar Binks and Darth Vader is a complete twat. And not in a good way.
The sixth/third Star Wars film, Star War Episode III: Revenge of the Sith takes place three years after the events of the previous film, with the Jedi leading a massive clone army in a galaxy-wide war against the Separatists, with Obi-Wan Kenobi in particular fighting General Grievous, the leader of the Separatist Army.
Oh yeah, and there is the small matter of Anakin Skywalker discovering his wife’s pregnant as he gets closer to Palpatine, the Chancellor of the Galatic Republic and secret Sith Lord. Naturally, since Anakin has a long history of being called Darth Vader, this plotline doesn’t end well.
This is probably the visually biggest Star Wars film yet, with big spaceships, narrow-bladed lightsabers and a CGI-animated, martial-arts leaping Yoda to keep you happy. Plus, all the questions about how the prequels fit in with the original trilogy finally get answers. But there is something lacking in this film. Take General Grievous as an example. On the surface, General Grievous is a menacing villain, who looks cool but is ultimately a bit disappointing, mostly in how unmemorable a villain he is.
Part of this comes from how terribly Lucas puts across his point of view, to the point that they come across as delusional. At one point, Yoda tells Anakin that he must “let go” of the things he love, which means to me dealing in an absolute. But Obi-Wan proclaims near the very climax of the film “Only a Sith deals in absolutes,” which suggest that questioning, doubt and perfectionism pave the road to wisdom. No wonder poor Anakin is so confused during this film. No one can make up their own philosophy.
Actually take away that “Poor” part from that “Poor Anakin” remark, because after all these years, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is a petulant coward and brat that chooses to become evil simply because he didn’t get the promotion he wanted. Instead of the meaningful anti-heroism Lucas was clearly trying to bring out, we have this bitter twit being gulled by the Ian McDiarmid’s Senator Palpatine by ego stroking and patently false promises. This is made worse by the fact, the moment that Anakin reaches his tragic downfall and tells Palpatine he’ll do whatever he wants, Palpatine just says “Goooooooodd!” like a cross between a constipated devil and a cat. It’s less dramatic and more bloody stupid.
Star War Episode III: Revenge of the Sith can’t be faulted for lacking surprises. It’s whole purpose is devoted to startling twists but answering the questions that came before and after it, coming across a gigantic puzzle that completes a big picture. But while it has bigger actions and bigger plot movements, it ruins one character and can’t decide what moral it wants to preach.
