Revenge of the Sith

Well, I'm not going to pull punches...this is a disappointment. The only real reason I think that this will be a favorite of audiences is because of familiarity. Familiarity with the characters from the first 3 films, but mostly Darth Vader. And I'll say that I DO like the transformation. They give Anakin a mountain of motivation to go to the dark side, and his decision to do so is understandable. But the things that come out of his mouth and several others in the cast is incomprehensible. George Lucas is a genius even in his writing, but his genius is in writing the overall story and developing the characters. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Star Wars is HIS baby, but there must be a room full of sycophants around Lucas who are afraid to lose their jobs. There is no other explanation for some of the most simplistic and boring dialogue in the history of science fiction film. It's just a bad as the political scenes that bogged down The Phantom Menace. Worse than the dialogue though, is the way that it's delivered. We know that all of these actors can act, they've all done great work (Hayden Christensen - Shattered Glass, My Life as a House, Natalie Portman - Closer, Garden State, Samuel Jackson - Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown), so we know it can't be their fault that they appear to be emotionlessly reading off of cue cards. For some reason, that must've been what Lucas wanted. And when they are involved in these "talking head" scenes, there's nothing visually captivating whatsoever...simple static camera shots and actors whose feet are cemented to the ground. Not only do their faces show no emotion, their bodies do as well. The only actor to either rise above the direction or completely ignore it is Ewan McGregor. Christensen is painfully even-keeled and wooden until his eyes glow yellow and he's suddenly MAD! And there's a scene that is completely spoofable that's meant to be a climax of sorts...I had to stifle a laugh. It was that bad! All that being said, it still is worth a watch...of course! The battle scenes and light saber fights are amazing (although the one where Windu bites it has some laughable moments with one of the "dark side" characters - no spoilers here!). The war on the Wookie planet is just OK though, and there's a moment that will completely take you out of the film...totally unnecessary and unfunny (kids will like it...remember Tarzan). The climactic fight where Anakin's destiny is revealed is awesome...and violent. In summation, this film is by no means a wreck, it's just not near all that it could have been. It's still nowhere near the original film or Empire. While I give it only a 6.5 out of 10 which is a video/DVD rental rating, you should actually see this one in the theater...everyone else is going to. It's an awesome looking film and if anything, we can thank Lucas for that.
- veg

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Postscript: I've read a few posts on some Star Wars boards that are REALLY funny...they seem to take it personally that any "half-wit" with a website would dare question the greatness of Revenge of the Sith...and none of them have seen the film yet. There is no agenda with my review, they're just my opinions. But this is in fact a poorly acted film with dialogue that is far below average. When I say that's a fact, it's a fact in my world. Now whether or not you care what goes on in my world doesn't matter, unless of course your somebody who's tastes run parallel to mine a majority of the time. That's what reviewers do people, they give opinions. It's up to you to either ignore or absorb what they have to say. Before I ever started writing (which was in 1999), I never allowed a critic's opinion to sway my interest in a film. I'd read reviews and then see if what they had to say was close to the truth...in my opinion. So go see the film, judge for yourself, and tell me with a straight face that Hayden Christensen isn't wooden...hell, Samuel L. Jackson is wooden in this thing. I'm a FAN! I only say these things because I wanted it to be so much more. And to excuse the "bad acting" because of green screens...come on! There are plenty of directors who have had no problem getting emotional performances from their actors who were on green screen.

The supercala.com scale goes from 1 to 10 and a 6.5 (which this got) is a positive rating on supercala.com. Unfortunately on rottentomatoes, their negative scale starts at anything below a 7. And why do I say "see it in the theater" if it only gets a rating worthy of being rented? Because this film is review proof. Even if George Lucas walked up to me and said "This film isn't very good.", I wouldn't care...I'm gonna go see it anyhow. And so is every other movie fan on the planet. So yes, don't deprive yourself the experience of seeing the end to one of the best film franchises of all time in the theater, go! Just don't expect it to be best of the 6...or even the last 3.

They're just opinions...everybody has em, and by definition, they can't be wrong.

opin·ion - a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.

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Post-Postscript:
An email was sent to me from the creator of Rottentomatoes.com, Senh Duong. Here's how it went:

Hi John,
I just read your postscript on the Episode III review. I just want you to know that you’re actually allowed to choose Fresh (recommended) or Rotten (NOT recommended). We do this because critics regard borderline cases differently – 2.5/4, 3/5, or in your case 6/10. It doesn’t have to be 7/10 to be Fresh. If you consider 6.5/10 a positive, then it should be Fresh. Sorry about the confusion. I guess our language is confusing.

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Senh V. Duong
Rotten Tomatoes

Truth was, they did in fact have something in the "Fresh/Rotten" selection that said above a 7 was positive, and below a 7 was negative...and it is now gone. It was probably just a suggestion, but it looked official as though that's how you were supposed to rate the film regardless of your own rating system (again, anything above a 6 on the supercala scale is a positive review...only "mildly" positive, but positive nonetheless). So rejoice ROTS fans who want every reviewer on the planet to give the film a positive review regardless of their opinion...my review is now on the "Fresh" side of the tomato-meter! NOTE...I didn't change my review or the number rating that I gave it, just changed the rotten to fresh according to the newly changed RT guidelines that no longer tell you what rating equals a fresh or rotten. Cheers!

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Oh my god! This is funny stuff. Read this if you get the chance (spoilers-a-plenty!).