This film, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, posed an interesting problem for George Lucas. With this last episode of the prequel series, Lucas had the daunting task of explaining a future everyone already knows. We already know that Anakin becomes Darth Vader, we already know that he has two kids, Luke and Leia, and we know that the Republic has fallen on hard times.

With everyone already knowing the ending of your film, how do you make it interesting? Thankfully, Lucas has become a master storyteller over the years, and makes the journey the interesting part of the film, rather than it’s conclusion.

All of the actors chosen for this highly-anticipated prequel seemed unlikely choices at first. Ewan McGregor (of Trainspotting fame) as the young version of the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi? Natalie Portman (of such varying films as The Professional and Now and Then) as Anakin’s love interest, Padme? Two different unknown actors to portray the man who would be Darth Vader? No one believed in Lucas’ choices - except Lucas himself - and Episode III proves him correct.

Ewan has evolved over the course of the films, coming to take his character more and more to heart as the films have progressed, and increasing his believability in the role in great leaps and bounds. By this third film, another actor would be hard pressed to take over the role he has now made his own.

Natlie Portman has grown somewhat into her role as well, bringing the hope of good to a no-win situation, and making believable the tough choices that Anakin must face. Palpatine does a decent job as his role gets indescribably bigger in this film, and young Anakin (finally) also begins to shine as he goes through the events leading to his transformation into Darth Vader. They all come together to achieve the believability needed to make Episode III work as a worthy introduction to the previous trilogy.

The events of Episode III leading up to the legendary first trilogy come at the viewer at such a quick pace, the viewer never has a chance to get bored. Whereas the second film interspersed the action with the growing love story between Anakin and Padme, this film has none of that. Every sequence is precisely tuned to keep the fast pace going, so the viewer never really has a chance to collect their breath.

With it’s 2-plus-hours length, that’s a long time to go without being able to pause, and it does begin to wear a little. By the end of the film, the viewer is glad it’s over, but at the same time sorry, because it was such a thrilling ride.

This fast pace of Episode III, unfortunately, does gloss over a little of Anakin’s descent into evil. It doesn’t give the viewer a real feeling of the desperation he feels which leads to his turning, or of the strife he goes through when he confronts old friends later. This turning is the event viewers have waited through 3 films to see, and when it comes, they are oddly disappointed with the ease with which it happens.

The special effects, as usual, are stunning. They are done in grand sequences, with effects occurring in almost every frame of the film. It’s impressive how the filmmakers were able to put so many together in such a short amount of time, without too many adverse affects. True, some of the effects, mostly involving characters moving around during fight sequences, seem a bit rushed, but overall the effect is quite astounding.

All in all, Episode III neatly ties together this prequel trilogy with the original with skill, updating the films without demeaning the originals. Episode III is by far the best of the three prequel films, outshining the others mostly by the actors finally all performing up to par. There is not one single actor that doesn’t do a decent job in this film - which is more than can be said of the other two.

The combination of good acting, special effects, and a conclusion the viewer has been dying to see make Episode III worth watching again and again. This is one film that’s a must-have when it hits DVD for any Star Wars fan.

Even if you’re not a fan of the previous films of the prequel series, you have to see this one - and don’t worry, it does just fine standing on it’s own as well.

 

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