Review: Revenge of the Sith

Whew! We dodged a bullet on this one! Revenge of the Sith is a much better movie than feared. That being said, it’s not exactly a good movie; rather, it manages to create a satisfying conclusion to Anakin’s journey to the Dark Side and ties in pretty neatly if obviously to the “real” Star Wars movies.

On the good side are:

• Lots and lots of light sabers. Score!

• Excruciatingly well-executed special effects. The Coruscant skyline remains breathtaking.

• Lots of unexpected humor. R2-D2 steals the show.

• We’re finally done with this thing. It’s over.

On the bad side are:

• Wooden acting.

• Physically painful love scenes.

• The characters have all the psychological depth of empty hand puppets.

• The scene where Vader gets turned. Say what? Huh? That line of bullshit worked? Is the kid retarded?

• Vader’s big “Nooooooo!” Yikes, way to make your audience giggle during a climactic scene.

For me the biggest problem with the first three movies is that they portray Anakin as this sniveling brat who’s just waiting for somebody to turn him. “There’s good in him still,” says Padme. She’s nuts. This guy was a Sith Lord waiting to happen all along.

That the whole Jedi counsel manages to sit around and not get what’s happening in Anakin’s head—or, for that matter, that there’s a Super Mega Evil Sith Lord in the office next door—is almost enough to break the suspension of disbelief.

But hey, light saber! Shiny!