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Revisiting Star Wars: "Revenge of the Sith"
This week, in preparation for the premiere of The Rise of Skywalker, I'm rewatching all of the live-action Star Wars films. Some for the first time in years. As I go along I'm collecting some of my thoughts on how each film has changed in my own estimation, and how well I think they hold up overall in the story as it stands.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the prequel film I've probably seen the most, and I've always enjoyed it, but honestly I don't think I've ever enjoyed it quite as much upon this viewing - not even on the heels on finishing the original run of The Clone Wars. I always knew how George Lucas dropped certain lore elements set up in Attack of the Clones in favor of focusing on character here, but wow it was abundantly clear this time. This movie feels extremely tight and well paced, and incredibly focused on its core group of characters and their story arcs.
I have to be true to my own thirst and express how much Anakin fucks in this. Like god damn. Anakin and Padmé were very virginal teen romance in the last film, but in this one there is actual heat. And, not gonna lie, Anakin's slow descent to the dark side in this only made it hotter. (Well, until the Mustafar scene where it ironically wasn't.) I also appreciated that Anakin wasn't throwing constant temper tantrums in the first act and could have actual conversations and fun repartee with other characters, especially Obi-Wan. I was disappointed with their dynamic in the last film and this one has actual, believable affection (that feels in sync with their depiction in The Clone Wars) and, lowkey is red meat for the Obikin shipper in me.
Moving past that, though, I was honestly shocked at how economical this movie was and how fast it hit certain key plot points. Hell, Anakin turns to the dark side early in the second act! I remembered that happening way earlier, and the slow burn of the other characters putting together what's happened was gripping. Even with the clunkier dialog ("From my point of view the Jedi are evil!") the actors are given much better material to play with and they all nail it. All of Palpatine's scenes have this layer of delightful camp that have given us great meme material, and Ian McDiarmid is absolutely living. On the more serious side, there's large stretches where the actors are on screen in silence, acting to essentially create an atmosphere of mounting dread.
It's not just the abandonment of overplotting. Problematic elements and characters from the previous films (Jar Jar, C-3PO, CGI Aliens) still appear but take on significantly smaller roles. The visual effects is also much more stylized (for example: General Grievous) so it hides the elements of uncanny valley, and characters blend together with their settings much more naturally. Like, it's actually incredible how much better this film looks visually from the last one. Most impressive is Mustafar, which is 75% fire and lava visual effects, an element that has previous looked particularly bad. Even the more ridiculous powers like force lightning look better. It also helps that certain Jedi stunts are much more restrained, with only one more looking particularly odd (when Anakin and Obi-Wan do a weird windmill motion during their fight for some reason?).
Also, aside from the direct tie-ins to A New Hope, this film is much lighter on the out-of-place fanservice. The only real thing that sticks out is the appearance of Chewbacca on Kashyyyk, but its such a minor element that it doesn't detract from the movie. Yoda, while still engaging in a big Jedi battle with Palpatine, still looks bad design-wise but is utilized much better in the writing and, stewing in his failure, is actually likable for the very first time in the prequels.
Of course, there's still elements that can be criticized. Padmé losing the will to live is the big one that people probably bring up the most, with good reason. The other jedi in the Palpatine-Windu fight probably could have been utilized better and more convincingly. But aside from that it honestly feels nitpicky. I'm so happy with how this film ended up and tied the first two trilogies together there's honestly not much I can, in good conscious, complain about. George Lucas really went out on a high note with this one.
I also watched the movie's deleted scenes for the first time, courtesy of Disney+. Anakin speaking in binary is something I've heard about but it's something else actually seeing it and I can't believe they ever considered doing that. There's also two separate death scenes for Shaak Ti which is morbidly hilarious. Most of the other scenes are expanded versions of different scenes or reconfigured versions of existing scenes and fight sequences. The only one that really sticks out is a short scene where Padmé talks with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and other senators that sets the stage for the eventual formation of the rebellion. Having that scene in the movie would've given back Padmé some of her agency and tied in more directly with the political aspects of her role.
Honestly, I can only hope The Rise of Skywalker provides as satisfying conclusion to it's own trilogy, and I suspect certain visual elements from this film in particular will be called back to. Though if Anakin does make a rumored cameo, I suspect he'll have a shirt on and it'll be buttoned.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the prequel film I've probably seen the most, and I've always enjoyed it, but honestly I don't think I've ever enjoyed it quite as much upon this viewing - not even on the heels on finishing the original run of The Clone Wars. I always knew how George Lucas dropped certain lore elements set up in Attack of the Clones in favor of focusing on character here, but wow it was abundantly clear this time. This movie feels extremely tight and well paced, and incredibly focused on its core group of characters and their story arcs.
I have to be true to my own thirst and express how much Anakin fucks in this. Like god damn. Anakin and Padmé were very virginal teen romance in the last film, but in this one there is actual heat. And, not gonna lie, Anakin's slow descent to the dark side in this only made it hotter. (Well, until the Mustafar scene where it ironically wasn't.) I also appreciated that Anakin wasn't throwing constant temper tantrums in the first act and could have actual conversations and fun repartee with other characters, especially Obi-Wan. I was disappointed with their dynamic in the last film and this one has actual, believable affection (that feels in sync with their depiction in The Clone Wars) and, lowkey is red meat for the Obikin shipper in me.
Moving past that, though, I was honestly shocked at how economical this movie was and how fast it hit certain key plot points. Hell, Anakin turns to the dark side early in the second act! I remembered that happening way earlier, and the slow burn of the other characters putting together what's happened was gripping. Even with the clunkier dialog ("From my point of view the Jedi are evil!") the actors are given much better material to play with and they all nail it. All of Palpatine's scenes have this layer of delightful camp that have given us great meme material, and Ian McDiarmid is absolutely living. On the more serious side, there's large stretches where the actors are on screen in silence, acting to essentially create an atmosphere of mounting dread.
It's not just the abandonment of overplotting. Problematic elements and characters from the previous films (Jar Jar, C-3PO, CGI Aliens) still appear but take on significantly smaller roles. The visual effects is also much more stylized (for example: General Grievous) so it hides the elements of uncanny valley, and characters blend together with their settings much more naturally. Like, it's actually incredible how much better this film looks visually from the last one. Most impressive is Mustafar, which is 75% fire and lava visual effects, an element that has previous looked particularly bad. Even the more ridiculous powers like force lightning look better. It also helps that certain Jedi stunts are much more restrained, with only one more looking particularly odd (when Anakin and Obi-Wan do a weird windmill motion during their fight for some reason?).
Also, aside from the direct tie-ins to A New Hope, this film is much lighter on the out-of-place fanservice. The only real thing that sticks out is the appearance of Chewbacca on Kashyyyk, but its such a minor element that it doesn't detract from the movie. Yoda, while still engaging in a big Jedi battle with Palpatine, still looks bad design-wise but is utilized much better in the writing and, stewing in his failure, is actually likable for the very first time in the prequels.
Of course, there's still elements that can be criticized. Padmé losing the will to live is the big one that people probably bring up the most, with good reason. The other jedi in the Palpatine-Windu fight probably could have been utilized better and more convincingly. But aside from that it honestly feels nitpicky. I'm so happy with how this film ended up and tied the first two trilogies together there's honestly not much I can, in good conscious, complain about. George Lucas really went out on a high note with this one.
I also watched the movie's deleted scenes for the first time, courtesy of Disney+. Anakin speaking in binary is something I've heard about but it's something else actually seeing it and I can't believe they ever considered doing that. There's also two separate death scenes for Shaak Ti which is morbidly hilarious. Most of the other scenes are expanded versions of different scenes or reconfigured versions of existing scenes and fight sequences. The only one that really sticks out is a short scene where Padmé talks with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and other senators that sets the stage for the eventual formation of the rebellion. Having that scene in the movie would've given back Padmé some of her agency and tied in more directly with the political aspects of her role.
Honestly, I can only hope The Rise of Skywalker provides as satisfying conclusion to it's own trilogy, and I suspect certain visual elements from this film in particular will be called back to. Though if Anakin does make a rumored cameo, I suspect he'll have a shirt on and it'll be buttoned.