I've never been what you might call a STAR WARS fanboy. Sure, I used to watch the original movies every year or so when they played on television, and I even had all three STAR WARS audiocassettes and read-along storybooks (R2D2 chirped out the page turns) when I was little, but I was hardly obsessed with the phenomenon. As I grew older, while I had a certain affection for the original trilogy, I kind of outgrew it, and the prequel trilogy has hardly won me back. While the latest (and possibly final) installment in the STAR WARS movie franchise, REVENGE OF THE SITH, isn't up to par with Episodes IV through VI, it's easily the closest the new trilogy has come quality-wise. It's not a great film, but it's certainly solid entertainment.

War rages throughout the galaxy, and a rift has grown between the powerful chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), leader of the Senate, and the Jedi council, who distrust him and are nervous about his rise to prominence. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), the now-grown apprentice to Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), has secretly married Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), who is now pregnant by him. As Anakin finds himself repeatedly chastised for his arrogance and fear by the Jedi Masters on the council, and terrified of his visions of Padme's death, he finds himself drawn more to Palpatine, the only person who seems to respect and confide in him. By the end of the film, Anakin is "seduced" by the Dark Side, renamed Darth Vader, and the rest, as they say, is history.

One of the failings of this film (just like its immediate predecessor) is that Hayden Christensen doesn't quite work as the future Vader. In his "romantic" scenes, he projects little more than self-interest, and his anger manifests itself as something closer to whining. Yet it must be said that, as a physical presence anyway, he has grown into the role. Anakin's cockiness at his abilities comes across in his fighting style, particularly in an early duel against Count Dooku (Christopher Lee).

The other performances are fairly inconsistent, to be honest. On one end of the spectrum is Ewan McGregor, who tones down his usual smirkiness and portrays Obi-Wan as a mellow and wise man who is comfortable with his skills even though he knows others are more talented than he is. Admittedly, his performance is indebted to Alec Guinness' legendary turn as the older Obi-Wan in Episode IV, and it's a credit to McGregor that he earns the comparison here. Another accomplished turn is given by Ian McDiarmid, who is especially effective in his early scenes with Anakin, as he subtly appeals to his young confidant's concern for his wife to plant the seeds of evil in the impressionable young Jedi.

However, other actors don't fare so well. With every film the casting of Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu feels like more of a mistake- Jackson, as good at anyone at righteous indignation, isn't nearly as effective when he plays the levelheaded deep thinker. Worst of all is Portman, who throws a wet blanket over the film whenever she's onscreen. Granted, Lucas' dialogue does her no favors, but her performance as the most clichéd sort of worry-wart wife is borderline laughable in spots.

One of the more fascinating subtexts in the film is embodied in the conflict between Anakin and Obi-Wan- while the apprentice believes in unconditional devotion to the government, the master believes that the ideals of a nation are what should be protected. This certainly struck a chord with me, as someone who loves what the U.S. stands for but is highly disillusioned with those who are currently in power. A more basic conflict between the characters comes in the clash between Anakin's passionate nature and Obi-Wan's cooler head- to set aside fear, and indeed most emotional connection, is key to being a Jedi, yet such behavior seems unnatural, and Anakin understandably finds this very difficult.

So as I said before, the film has quite a few flaws, but at the same time it's pretty darn entertaining. Part of the reason for this is that the CGI-heavy battle sequences actually work this time around- while episodes I and II seemed to used visual effects mainly for the gee-whiz factor, in SITH they no longer overwhelm the action, merely providing a (fairly-convincing) alternative to the original trilogy's stop-action techniques. I also liked the final face-off between Anakin and Obi-Wan on a volcanic planet, and I must admit that a little shiver of childhood nostalgia coursed up my spine when Yoda paid a visit to the Wookiees, although having him acknowledge Chewbacca by name felt pretty gratuitous.

Still, Episodes I through III can't quite match up with the original films, and I'm not exactly sure the precise reason why. I'm guessing it might have something to do with seeing the originals at a young and impressionable age, but I think it's more than that. The newer films are almost deadly serious, with nearly all of the principal players in the thick of intergalactic intrigue, speaking largely in elevated language and prone to dire declarations. The Jedi masters are especially humorless- in their commitment to the Force, they've decided they no longer need levity. The charm of the original films comes from the fact that Luke Skywalker, despite his pedigree, was basically a regular guy. He finds out about the larger conflict presumably by accident, and basically backs into his quest to find his father, become a Jedi, and restore the republic.

Likewise, the original films didn't seem to be in such a hurry to tell their stories. Yes, a great deal happens in Episodes IV through VI, but there were smaller moments, and the movies took time to visit the characters as they traveled from one corner of the galaxy to the next, instead of cutting away between their departure and arrival, as Episode III does on numerous occasions. The characters were hardly deep, but they had an archetypal appeal, and so did the relationships between them- in particular the antagonistic flirtation between Han Solo and Leia and the C3PO/R2D2 double act. This relaxed (by comparison) pacing also enabled small details at the frame's edge to become vivid- the creatures in the Mos Eisley, to name one example- and the closest Lucas comes in Episode to recapturing this is the character of General Grievous, a Jedi-hating droid officer who for some reason has a hacking cough. For once, Lucas remembered that sometimes it's the smaller touches that make all the difference.

Added 5/29: In retrospect, I've decided to change the star rating on SITH from four stars to three, because the film's flaws were more glaring to me upon further reflection. The film is entertaining enough in the moment, but days later I found myself thinking almost exclusively about the things that annoyed me- the bad dialogue, the wooden acting by Christensen and Portman, and so on. Another issue I have with the film now is the final reel, in which Lucas rushes to tie up every loose end so as to lead in to episode IV. Also, I've decided that Lucas is on crack if he really expects future generations to watch the STAR WARS films in numbered order. To begin with, episodes I and II aren't all that good, and exist mostly as buildup to III. More importantly, the climax of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is much more effective if you don't already know the truth about Darth Vader and Luke. So if I ever have a kid and I want to introduce him to STAR WARS, I'll watch episodes IV and V first, then III, and finally VI. If there are any questions about what happened in the preceding films I'll answer them for him to spare him the pain of actually sitting down and watching PHANTOM MENACE and ATTACK OF THE CLONES.

Recommended:
Yes