The Critics Speak

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Critic: Steph Lewis
On a scale of 0 to Awesome, I rate this: Fun
Released: May 19, 2005
Director: George Lucas
MPAA RATING: PG-13, for sci-fi violence and some intense images.

Synopsis: Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) remains the Jedi apprentice of master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Battling dark forces that threaten the Republic, the duo quickly eliminates enemy Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), and Anakin proves--as he states more than once--that his powers have doubled. An intimidating warrior with superior knowledge of the Force, Anakin becomes the pet of Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who is connected to the dark side. Meanwhile, Padme (Natalie Portman), the senator and former queen who is secretly married to Anakin, is pregnant, and Anakin is tortured by dreams of her dying in childbirth. With Obi-Wan on Utapau battling cyborg General Grievous (Matthew Wood), and Yoda (Frank Oz) joining the Wookiees of Kashyyyk, the sage warnings of the Jedi council (Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits) go unheard by Anakin. His moodiness and glowering are a clear precursor to his inevitable, terrifying metamorphosis into Darth Vader, the dark leader of the evil Empire who haunts the remainder of the series. John Williams's famous orchestral score with its thunderous marching themes adds more continuity, with refrains reminding viewers of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, in which Padme's children Luke and Leia take charge. --Taken from Rotten Tomatoes

My Take: Not as bad as Episode II, but just not as good as Episodes IV-VI. There were some interesting points and Ewan McGregor is hot when he fights people. Don't even get me started on the horrid, crappy acting by Hayden Christensen. Ugh. As usual, Lucas really has some awesome special effects contrasted by shallow character acting. My favorite parts were the fight scenes, especially the one between Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine. It's wicked cool when Yoda uses the force when he's fighting. I also enjoyed the fight scene at the end between Obi Wan and Anakin because the special effects of the lava and stuff were neato frito. So, overall it was a fun movie to watch and I fully expected to see the shallowness in acting. The best part was watching all of the teenagers exiting the movie theater while showcasing their Darth Vader impersonations, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"