Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith-A Successful Attempt at the Aspirations of the Prequel Trilogy
Revenge of the Sith seems most successfully attuned to the operatic, Shakespearean aspirations George Lucas wanted out of the prequel trilogy. It's a grandiose Sci-Fi epic with a story that feels like a genuine Shakespearean tragedy with full emotional stakes. It's the story of the corruption and manipulation of a man who would go on to betray not just the entire galaxy but, most importantly, the people he loves and cares about.
The ultra-digital and CG-heavy look of the prequel trilogy is at its best here. The CG feels incredibly well blended with the live-action, giving each action set piece a very real, tangible feeling, which is a feeling some of the set pieces of the previous films lacked, particularly Attack of the Clones. The excellent blend of live-action and CGI extends to non-action scenes. It helps make the drama compelling, avoiding the distracting digital sets of the previous films that kept me from feeling compelled by the drama.
Some elements of the writing don't always work. The occasional clunky line of dialogue and moment of exposition dulls up the narrative, particularly during the scenes involving the political angle of the plot. The clunky writing is most apparent in the second act, which is where the film loses me. It features a lot of that clunky dialogue and expression on top of a messy balance between Obi-Wan's search for General Grievous and Anakin's storyline with Palpatine. But the film more than makes up for it in the third act, where Anakin's corruption and manipulation conclude in a grand, tragic way that feels genuinely emotionally devastating.
Despite some clunky writing and pacing in the second act, it all makes for a film that feels like the genuine operatic and Shakespearean Sci-fi epic that George Lucas wanted this whole trilogy to be. Visually, despite some visuals that have aged, the film also feels like Lucas's best attempt to innovate with CG and digital photography the way he did with the practical filmmaking of the original trilogy. It may be flawed, but in my eyes, it successfully executes everything George Lucas set out to do with this trilogy.
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