Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Movie Review

Like thousands of other fans around the world last night, I had bought myself a ticket for the movie premiere. Then I had to stand in line for 2 hours with my friend Luc before we could get in. How crazy was the hype for this one, you ask? Well, at that theatre alone, 14 of the 18 screens were showing the movie at midnight. I didn't expect that at all, nor did I expect to wait in line with well hundreds of people before we were allowed inside!

Was it good? Yes, definitely. But not great. Far from that. It is without the shadow of a doubt the best prequel, but we are from the quality that differentiates the first trilogy from this second one. And I was more than a little surprised at the amount of scenes they cut out. I read the book last month, so I knew everything that would happen. Although there are a few surprises in store for even those who have read the book! Many of the scenes that permitted the story to flow better (such as the one when the Jedi arrive to take Palpatine into custody, and in which the senator is recording an audio file of the conversation, shaping the Jedi's words so they can later be used against them and convince the Senate that there truly were treacherous) are entirely left out. And that was to the detriment of the movie, I feel.

Again, the film is visually stunning. No, it's much more than that. To say that it is would be a gross understatement. But Lucas relies more on that than on the story itself, which is the main problem. Having read the book, I knew the dialogues left a lot to be desired. And the acting doesn't really give credibility to the dialogues in many instances. But again, we had expected that.

The first hour or so is all action and little substance. The rescue attempt was actually better in the novel than on screen, and I didn't expect that. Everything is a bit rushed, and the attempt at humour with R2 is just a bit too much. In my opinion, the movies doesn't really open up until Palpatine seduces Anakin toward the Dark Side of the Force.

At that point, the movie switches from scene to scene quite rapidly, and you cannot wait for the final showdown between Anakin and Obi-Wan. The execution of order 66 is another great scene. But as expected, a lot of the violence which was more graphic in the book, such as when the Jedi are being decimated, is implicit in this one. But overall, it doesn't take too much away from the story. The raising of Darth Vader is actually pretty neat, although he only says a few sentences.

Episode III creates a good transition between the first and the second trilogy. It's a good movie in its own right, even though it doesn't come close to the quality of the original films. But regardless of that, it is still a very good picture. If you are a fan, that is. I'm curious to see how the general public will react to it. I know I'll go see it again a time or two.

It's a bit weird because by seeing that movie last night, well a page from my childhood has been turned. . . And that's too bad. Indeed, nothing will ever touch the world the way Star Wars did.

Go see the movie and have no fear!

May the Force be with you all. . . Always.:-)