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Film review

Best 'Star Wars' prequel saved for last

By STEVE PERSALL
Published May 19, 2005

[Photos: Lucasfilm]

Ewan McGregor, left, returns as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen is Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.

	George Lucas doesn’t have as many creatures in Revenge of the Sith, but he does include a new villain, insect-droid Gen. Grievous, above.
	Back in black By Steve Persall Fans, fear not: This episode is a dazzling, dark and fitting conclusion to the saga that began with 1977's Star Wars. Go to review The saga so far Online extras: Quizzes, poll, and more

Editor's note: This is a condensed recap of our review of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which appeared this week in the St. Petersburg Times because bay area theaters started screening it just after midnight today. Go to www.sptimes.com to see the entire review, plus a recap of the previous five films and much, much more.

The wait is over and, overall, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is worth it.

A generation after George Lucas reinvented movie adventure, the Skywalker family saga finally has closure. Revenge of the Sith bridges the story between the three movies he made first (1977's Star Wars, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi) and the weaker prequels that followed (1999's The Phantom Menace and 2002's Attack of the Clones).

Revenge of the Sith is better than the other prequels, though much darker. We're finally reunited with the Darth Vader we loved to hate 28 years ago, and the reunion is the closest any of the prequels has come to an indelible screen moment.

It has taken a long time to bring the young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) from the spunky kid in Menace and the impetuous Jedi protege in Clones to the villain who will become Vader.

In Sith, Lucas cloaks Anakin in dreadful situations until the black helmet goes on and gives him a mean streak that earned the series' first PG-13 rating. How mean? One of Anakin's preliminary detours to the dark side of the Force involves killing children, although the deaths occur off-screen. But what else could we expect from someone we know is becoming the nastiest guy in the universe?

Lucas doesn't ignore the gee-whiz factor that made Star Wars popular. The opening 25-minute sequence is a stunner of battling spaceships and buzzing droids.

He still can't compose dramatic dialogue that doesn't sound stilted. But he doesn't tinker with as many bizarre creatures this time, getting most of his digital kicks with a new villain, the insect-droid Gen. Grievous.

There's less talk and more action than in the other prequels, which should please the masses. There are more Wookiees, almost none of Jar Jar Binks and absolutely no Ewoks. Above all, there's Darth Vader, who isn't onscreen much yet hangs over the entire movie like a shroud.

Lucas saved the best of his arguably needless prequels for last, finally justifying an entertainment empire and cementing a myth.

Grade: A-

Director: George Lucas

Cast: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, voice of Frank Oz

Screenplay: George Lucas

Rating: PG-13; sci-fi violence, gruesome images, mature themes that include child murders

Running time: 140 min.

[Last modified May 18, 2005, 10:01:06]