Decision ‘08

Decision ‘08 At the Movies - Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

First, the basics. There were God knows how many screens in Austin showing the movie, but we had the only digital projection system in town, and thus, when I arrived forty-five minutes early, there were already about 150 people ahead of me. The general manager of the theater came out and said a few words about how pleased he was with the reception and how great the digital projection was compared to a 35mm print. Then Darth Vader himself came out (a very convincing costume, too), walked down the aisle, with his famous respirator breath, and stood before the curtain. Vader lit up his light saber, waved his hand, and the curtain parted.

The digital projection is indeed phenomenal, and has a very convincing depth to it that borders on the three-dimensional. The opening sequence was absolutely breathtaking, and easily the best Star Wars action sequence since the run on the Death Star in Episode IV (yes, that’s right, I said that. I don’t know how it plays on regular film, but on digital, it’s a thrill). Lucas has clearly reached a comfort level with digital technology that is unsurpassed, and that makes me believe that Roger Ebert may be on to something when he says there may yet be that final trilogy. Curiously, some of the scenes from the final battle on the volcanic planet seem ‘fakey’; I’m surprised Lucas let them go; perhaps he simply ran out of time.

I’ve said little about the movie. The movie is a colossal failure if one judges it on a literary or a philosophical plane. The dialogue, as usual, is horrible (though not as bad as some would lead you to believe), the plot has holes big enough to send an Imperial Battle Cruiser through, and worst of all, Anakin’s descent into the Dark Side is unconvincing. Whether Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman are good actors trapped by bad material or simply bad actors, I do not know; I do know that to carry all the mythological freight now invested in Darth Vader, it would have taken a great actor indeed.

Having said all that, the movie is a spectacular triumph by the standards of old B-movies, westerns, space operas (of which Star Wars is the progenitor), and all the other pure popcorn entertainment genres; indeed, on that level, the movie may be the best of its kind ever made. One has always had the feeling that the whole six-movie double trilogy has been a bit of a con game; Lucas plays coy with what he did or didn’t know, plotwise, but I submit he knew next to nothing. The movies were always about adventure; everything else was secondary. And if he had to pretend to have some epic story arc to get his movies made and try out all his wonderful technological toys (not to mention all of the green stuff he’s made), then so be it, here’s your epic story.

So, in the end, the story has failed us; we invested too much in it for it to ever meet our expectations. Lucas is not Dostoevsky; he’s not Tolkien; he’s not even C.S. Lewis. The Star Wars plot has no life, and had precious little to begin with. It’s been a grand adventure, though, and to all the critics I ask: aren’t you glad you at least took the ride?

13 Responses to “Decision ‘08 At the Movies - Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith”

1 Fred Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 6:23 am
And speaking of giant holes in the plot, my friends and I were wondering why Darth Vader, the universe’s supreme villain, with the resources of the Galatic Empire at his call, just never got around to finding his son, who was sent to stay with his brother under his real name. Boy, talk about hiding in plain sight.
2 Mark Coffey Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 6:35 am
Yeah, and Ben Kenobi - what??? You mean, he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi? Gadzooks!
3 Jojo Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 7:04 am
Because he thought Padme died along with the baby.
4 Punditish Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 7:06 am
Not “even” C.S. Lewis? I how you’re not implying anything negative about moi’s favorite all-time author, Mark.

Anyway, I agree with most of what you said, though I found Christiansen to be fantastic in the second half of the film. He and Portman were terrible together (probably on account of the dialogue, at least somewhat), but I found his anger to be pitch-perfect throughout the last hour or so.
5 Mark Coffey Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 7:10 am
I guess that’s plausible…but how well-sourced is that story? You didn’t read that in Newsweek, did you, Jojo? I kid, I kid..but shouldn’t Luke at least have changed his last name (or had it changed for him when he was just a babe)…Leia did, after all…
6 Mark Coffey Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 7:11 am
Punditish, no, I love C. S. Lewis…but I place him behind Tolkien and Dostoevsky (that leaves a lot of room for greatness!)…
7 Clint Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Haven’t seen the new movie, yet.

But — I always thought Luke was hidden “in plain sight” in case Vader did come looking — so that Leia would definitely escape notice.

That’s why Obi-Wan was on guard near Luke — since that’s where Vader would start looking, if he ever suspected.

Thus, Leia getting captured and sending her “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi” has to come either as extreme irony, or another great big D’oh moment for the Jedi.

Also, I always imagined a fairly complex psychological thing going on with Vader and Tatooine. It was his home world, and yet a galaxy-spanning empire didn’t have a major outpost there? Like sending Luke there was in some ways hiding it in a deliberate blind spot.

Anyway… looking forward to the movie, without any expectations of a plot that won’t make me cringe if I try to think about it too much. At least tell me that Jar-Jar doesn’t have a major role…
8 Mark Says:
May 21st, 2005 at 3:48 pm
Clint, good points on Vader and Tatooine; the movie won’t make you cringe, I doubt, and will probably thrill you at times…and thankfully, Jar-Jar doesn’t even speak in this one! (Though I did share the hope of many that he would come to some bad end…)
9 Clint Says:
May 22nd, 2005 at 12:14 am
Mark-

I’m particularly sensitive to gaping plot-holes in movies. I tend to walk out of the theatre thinking about them.

One of my favorite movie genres is the elaborately plotted con and heist movies where at least once in the movie absolutely everything that happened turns out to mean something other than what we thought. (see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Foolproof, Italian Job, Paycheck, etc.)
10 Mark Coffey Says:
May 22nd, 2005 at 12:36 am
I love those, too, but my personal favorite is The Usual Suspects (and L.A. Confidential was pretty sweet, too)…
11 Clint Says:
May 22nd, 2005 at 9:29 am
Absolutely — The Usual Suspects is a classic example of the genre — and, with L.A. Confidential, convinced me that just about any movie with Kevin Spacey was going to be worth seeing. (This turned out not to be true, of course, but it was a rule of thumb for a time.)
12 Mark Coffey Says:
May 22nd, 2005 at 3:54 pm
Clint, funny that you say that…I also adopted the Spacey rule…and I also lived to regret it…
13 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » The 1st Annual Decision ‘08 Academy Awards Spectacular Says:
March 5th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
[…] Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith was this year’s box office king, but was nominated for one little measly award, for Makeup…I reviewed the film here… _______________________________________________________________ […]