Unlike Episode II, I had been looking forward to seeing Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith. I was looking forward to Episode I but after seeing that, I no longer was as excited about the series.

But the fall of Vader promised in Episode III was definitely enough to renew my interest!

I took our middle teen son with us who goes by the nickname online of Spawn. Before the movie, Spawn writes:

I think that Anakin will get his revenge on all the people that he hated in Episode 2.

I rarely will read reviews of movies I’m about to see because I don’t want it to taint my opinion. It’s human nature that if enough people like or dislike something to want to fall into step, so I kept an open mind and have stayed away from reviews of the film before seeing it. If you feel like I do and haven’t seen the movie then bookmark this post and come back after you’ve seen the film.

Here is the spot where people who don’t want to know much about the movie before seeing it should stop. I’m going to try and not spoil anything significant, but if you don’t want even a few spoilers stop.

I’m just making.

Lines.

So.

That.

People.

Who don’t want spoilers.

Will stop. Stop. Stop.

Ok, enough warnings let me start with the plot which the basics of is Anakin Skywalker in his continued path as a Jedi to help flush out a mole. Meanwhile the princess tells him she is pregnant (she says “baby” but we know it eventually will be twins) and Skywalker has dreams of impending doom for his wife during childbirth. It is through this fear that he is lured into and coerced over to the Dark Side. A series of political deceptions help shake Skywalker’s faith in the democracy and the Jedi council of which he is allowed to sit but not be named a Master Jedi. The Chancellor that Skywalker is asked to spy on turns him onto the concept that his wife can be saved through the childbirth by employing the one power that no Jedi can possess: the Dark Side of the Force.

We saw the first show at 9am and one of the things which I noticed once the show actually started (9:15am) is that the theater was about 70% — maybe — full. Throughout the film I got the feeling that most of the audience felt the same way as me. There were no cheers, no clapping, no boos either, but not a lot of excitement, even when Darth Vader came to be … which we all were waiting for to see the birth of this badass.

But it was not like that fanciful day in the seventies when I first saw Star Wars IV: A New Hope. People were cheering there for Luke Skywalker, Obi Won Kenobi, the rebel alliance and laughing at the droids and other banter.

There wasn’t much laughter in the theater for Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith. Ok, maybe a few chuckles here and there but otherwise it was very quiet. Not morgue quiet, not disinterest quiet, just … quiet.

Revenge of the Sith is definitely a dark film, which has already been widely reported. There are decapitations of unarmed opponents and plenty of other violence againt bots (mainly). No blood or gore really except for the final sequences (not blood, but something unpleasant).

We get to see Chewbacca and his home planet. Yoda gets it on with the saber. Those that want to see Yoda kick some ass will not be disappointed. These are both high points.

The cinemaphotography is fantastic and well beyond anything in the original series. The opening scenes especially have some really cool spaceship scenes. This is the area where George Lucas has always excelled.

As I left the theater I was thinking about ranking the films. Here’s how I’d rank the Star Wars films:

#1 (best): Star Wars IV: New Hope
#2: Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
#3: Star Wars VI and Star Wars III — a tie
#4: Star Wars II
#5 (worst): Star Wars I

I’m calling a tie on Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith. Sith is definitely better than II or the godawful Episode I. Would give Sith the nod over VI if they had brought Jar Jar Binks back to be carved up by either Jedi or the empire.

Sith didn’t really wow me, but it wasn’t boring either. It just reminded me alot in terms of pacing as Return of the Jedi, but without the cuteness of the ewoks (which arguably were annoying). I remember my stepmother crying when that one ewok died in Star Wars VI.

Sith doesn’t answer every question or bridge every gap from III to IV but it comes darn close. In particular I’m curious about how Chewbacca meets up with Han Solo. I’d have to go back and rewatch the original three films to see if that is explained, but it definitely isn’t explained in Sith.

Finally, the finances and future of the series. My prediction is that if this film doesn’t make over 200 million the first week, it has no shot at taking down Titanic. It’s going to make tons of money and be a hit financially, but will it be the best-selling film of all time in the theaters? I have my doubts. Will this bring in tons of money? Absolutely. Will it spawn the rumored final three pictures in the saga? It could. My personal opinion is that George should quit why he still can, but he seems to have been bitten by sequelitis and if the original story was a nine-part space opera, then if he doesn’t do the films somebody else might do it posthumously — and probably not as well. So if it’s a choice betwen Lucasfilms doing 7, 8 and 9 or some stranger? There is no choice there.

Also what about Harrison Ford? Would he come back for part 7-9? Luke? Where does he fit in. Mark Hamil has definitely aged so I’m not sure if he’d be pulled out of obscurity. Carrie Fisher? She doesn’t look anything like Princess Leia any more, but then depending on how far into the future 7-9 would be set, it might just work.

In summary on Revenge of the Sith, this film does do some of what the original three films did, but doesn’t capture the magic of the first two original films (IV and V). Is it fun? You bet! It’s the best Star Wars film in a long, long time and at least some of what Star Wars fans craved with Episode I. It is much better than Episode I and II. If you want to find out how arguably the most evil villain in sci-fi history was born, then there is probably no better fix, but if you are hoping for and expecting the magic of the first show the framework is there at least, if not the execution. Grade: B.

Now, I can go out and read what others have to say and think about the film and see if my feelings are validated or disputed by others. I’m particularly interested in what the critics at Rotten Tomatoes are saying (83% Fresh as of this writing, which is pretty good). I may link up some of the other reviews here as well, so might want to check back.

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