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PLOT: A maturing Anakin Skywalker goes to the dark side of The Force and becomes Sith lord Darth Vader. We experience the transformation in a dark, scary, yet thrilling climax. The story here logically sets up the events of Episode IV, the original 1977 Star Wars movie in which Darth Vader goes to war against his own children, Luke and Leia.
George Lucas just rescued his Star Wars saga from an ignominious death. The final instalment, with its gonzo action scenes and humanistic storyline, is flawed yet good enough to elevate the entire six-movie series.
Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge Of The Sith opens in theatres tonight, a minute after midnight (see Page 52 for theatre listings).
This movie actually makes its immediate predecessors The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones -- with their long passages, mechanical battle scenes and flat sex appeal -- a little better in hindsight.
That's because, for the first time, all the pieces fit together.
Revenge Of The Sith smoothly segues to the 1977 original, Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope. Lucas evens throws us a few spare bones, such as glimpses of Chewbacca, and Leia's Rebel Blockade Runner ship from A New Hope.
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That said, Lucas cannot escape blame for losing his way.
In the new trilogy, compared to the free-wheeling original, Star Wars became plodding, pedantic and sometimes silly. Critically, the romantic liaison between Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) is still as exciting as kissing your sister (ask Luke Skywalker what that was like when he was ogling Leia).
There is also a lot of clunky dialogue in Episode III and little of the snap & crackle of the original trilogy, which benefited from Harrison Ford's Bogie-like sarcasm as renegade Han Solo. And, if you want to see how a real action hero creates sexual frisson as he plants a kiss on the heroine, check out the original trilogy for Ford's lip-locks with Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.
In Revenge Of The Sith, we finally get to see when, where and how it happens that Anakin is transmutated into uber-villain Darth Vader, making the entire Star Wars series the Darth Vader biopic. These passages, starting with Anakin's lightsaber duel with former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and ending with the birth of his children, are at the heart of the new movie.
That is to say that Episode III actually has a heart. A mushy, sentimental one, in fact.
Anakin is seduced to the Dark Side by emotional triggers, not by a lust for political or military power. For me, that is the only shock and surprise in the byzantine unfolding of the vaguely religious plot. Turns out everything hinges on one man's emotions.
The actors generally sell the story in Episode III. To set up the tragedy and pathos that will envelop Darth Vader's fate, Christensen invokes the right gravitas and brooding quality. Obviously, that is more interesting to witness than the teen he played in Episode II.
McGregor is consistent in his contributions, as are many of the others, such as Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu and the digital versions of Jedi warrior Yoda and fabulous wheezy villain General Grievous.
But a Scot, Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, steals the most scenes. In playing pure evil, he personalizes the character so well you begin to admire the guy. This seemingly effortless acting trick actually has depth and subtlety.
The action in Revenge Of The Sith truly is spectacular, along with the special effects that deliver it. No Star Wars movie looks, sounds and moves this good -- in particular, the aerial battle of Coruscant and the half dozen major lightsaber fights that remain part of the retro-future quality of the Star Wars universe. In the dazzling effects, technology has finally caught up with Lucas' imagination.
But he imagines dark things.
There are intense and scary images that are unsuitable for young children. Parents must take care.
Older fans, however, can revel in it all. Even if this movie is short of perfection, it makes Star Wars complete.
(This film is rated PG)