The general consensus seems to be that Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the best of the underwhelming second Star Wars trilogy. I guess it is, but not by much.
The trilogy's first film, Phantom Menace, was a scourge on humanity but I thought the follow up, Attack of the Clones, was decent enough mindless summer entertainment (although I've only seen it once, and am rather terrified at the idea of revisiting it).
The problem with the new Star Wars films is that being mindless summer fun (or just plain fun period) is not enough. For many people they must be important, epic, meaningful masterworks. This would be fine if George Lucas wasn't one of those people.
Although Sith is even more visually dazzling than its predecessors it is every bit as emotionally hollow. Lucas' inability to tell an emotionally resonant story can't be blamed on a lack of effort or means. Which only leaves lack of skill. It is disturbing to watch a movie that tries so hard to be powerful, moving and exciting and yet fails to convey a single simple human emotion in an effective way.
And now, after three hermetically sealed movies filled with wooden acting and painful dialogue, does it even feel necessary to have seen this part of the story played out?
I say no, not if it wasn't any fun.
And if there's one thing this trilogy was it's boring. It defeated talented actors like Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson (and purportedly talented actors like Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman). It failed to offer any single new memorable character to stand with the likes of Yoda, C3P0, R2D2, Jabba the Hut and, uh, actual flesh and blood characters like Han Solo, Obi-Wan, Leia, Vader, etc. etc. It featured so much political and moral blather posing as legitimate dialogue it practically dared its audience to stay awake for the next "cool" battle scene. For three movies in a row, all over two hours long.
Yet it still seemed to capture the imagination of a massive number of people, if box office grosses are any indication: $431 million for Phantom Menace, $302 million for Attack of the Clones, $50 million on opening day alone for Sith.
But before anyone gets the impression I think Sith is one of the worst movies of the year or something (too late, right?), keep in mind I said it is better than Attack of the Clones, which I don't mind admitting I did find modestly entertaining.
Although most of Sith is seriously problematic it does come through at the end, with a final fifteen or twenty minutes that is at least entertaining, if not entirely compelling. But even then I was troubled as I found myself wishing they'd cut away from the climatic Anakin/Obi-Wan showdown and get back to the old British guy (Ian McDiarmid as the Chancellor gives the film's best human performance) and the special effect (ditto for Yoda on the CGI side).
In addition to the ending, the film's other standout element is its visual effects. There seems to be an effect in every scene, whether its a background detail or a fully formed character front and center. And it's all remarkable. I wasn't completely in awe of the visuals in either Menace or Clones but that's one department where I think Lucas seriously upped his game for the finish.
Too bad the same can't be said for the dialogue, narrative, performances and everything else that gives movies their humanity.
Oh well, at least we'll always have the first trilogy.
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