To
oversimplify... There are two kinds of men in
this world -- Ones who watch Sports and get laid
a lot & ones who watch Star Wars and get paid a
lot.
Last night, a
friend offered to buy me a ticket to a midnight
showing of "Star Wars 6" (And yeah, yeah... I
know about the episode order -- I just do it
that way to irritate you). The idea initially
sounded like hell on earth, what with having to
deal with fanatics and their silly masks,
pretend Darth Vader helmets and plastic
lightsabers. I almost said no. But I am not one
to pass up a free movie... after all, going to
100+ movies a year gets expensive!
This sixth "Star Wars" probably ranks as the
third best in the series. The original and its
sequel only surpass it. And as hard as it is for
me to say, there are many things worthwhile in
"Revenge of the Sith" *Lets out a giggle*.
I thought the special effects were state of the
art in many scenes... although in others I felt
that I had seen them all too often before, like
the way old cartoons use the same backgrounds
repeatedly to cut corners and save effort. But
the flight scenes in this film were quite
outstandingly done.
I felt that the storyline, although
predetermined and highly unsurprising, was well
paced and had a logical arc.
I liked a few of the lines that were clearly
inserted by Lucas as a jab at today's American
government. I didn't think Lucas was capable of
such innuendo. However, the rest of the script
was as dismal as we've all come to expect from
these kiddie flicks.
I was very disappointed to see as many
lightsaber duels as we did... the parade of
glowstick battles was tiresome.
There were also the prerequisite half-dozen
cringe inducing moments of utter corniness. I
went to a midnight showing with some very
devoted fans and even they let out a few
embarrassed laughs at unintended times.
If you can keep a straight face when Palpatine
and Windu face off, or when Darth Vader pulls a
Brando and screams "Noooooooooo!!!" to the
heavens while punching the air... well, then
good for you.
No doubt the same will always be true with the
fanboys... they will defend this movie, even
praise it as one of the best of the year. Why,
you ask? The answer is simple... because they
want to like it. It doesn't matter what appears
on the screen... if it has the words "Star Wars"
in the title, they are bound and determined to
like it. Sort of like the way Ebert is bound and
determined to like Jennifer Lopez or Angelina
Jolie movies.
"Revenge of the Sith" *Lets out another giggle*
is exactly what you expect it to be... it has a
little more weight that the previous two
dreadful installments. And with that weight
comes a better story. The acting is uniformly
abysmal... with minor exceptions from Natalie
Portman and the CGI Yoda. The script is, well it
is a George Lucas script. And the special
effects will be special for a year or two before
they become out-dated.
I will admit to liking the film better that I
expected to. It is the best of the recent three.
I presumed the film the would land squarely in
the D-range, but I wouldn't argue too much with
someone grading it a C, C+ or even a B-.
Anything higher is just an attempt to repair
tainted nostalgia. In the end, "Sith" is still
corny tripe made for six year-olds and nostalgic
thirty-somethings.
And if you think you have seen the last "Star
Wars" movie... then your picture appears next to
the word 'gullible' in the dictionary. Look for
Star Wars #'s 7,8 & 9 sometime around 2012-18. I
mean, how on earth could George Lucas pass up
the opportunity to have Darth Vader do more
Burger King commercials???
©
Written by TC Candler
Richard
Propes' Comment
"Star Wars Episode III- Revenge of the Sith" is
breaking box office records...it's a fact I
understand yet, at least partially, I find
irritating. It is a film that tries so hard to
do things faster and better and more powerfully
and more dazzlingly that it leaves out the
simplicity, charm and magic that defined the
original trilogy. In short, "Star Wars Episode
III- Revenge of the Sith" is truly awesome...but
it's really not that good.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
