George Lucas isn’t a good writer. He says it himself in an interview with Vanity Fair from 2005, leading up to the release of his final instalment in the Star Wars franchise, Revenge of the Sith. “I’m not a great writer” he told the magazine, before going on to say that “I’m trying to tell a story using cinema, not trying to write a great script”.
These revelatory and honest confessions from Lucas explain a lot. The first two out of his three prequels suffered largely from poor writing; especially when it came to the romantic relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala.
Yet, this weakness is actually a strength when it comes to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, in that the dialogue is kept to a minimum, in favour of all-out intergalactic warfare.
Out of all the Star Wars movies, Revenge of the Sith might not be the best, but it is definitely the most grandiose and spectacular. Really, this comes as no surprise; after suffering a backlash from fans and non-fans alike with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, Lucas quite clearly had a point to prove with this final part.
Essentially it was his last chance at redemption; a final opportunity to win back the trust and appreciation of all those he had alienated. In this sense, Episode III is a great success and a fantastic ending to an otherwise disappointing trilogy of prequels.
The action is relentless and the film hits the ground running, with a twenty-minute set piece that has aerial battles, lightsaber duels, explosions and a huge spaceship crashing into a planet below. It’s an impressive, well-constructed opening that constantly ups the ante.
This is what Lucas does best, and from that moment he continues to build and build action sequence upon action sequence, taking us to more planets than ever before and showing us the extent of these ‘star wars’.
It easily has the best action of all three prequels, ending with an epic lightsaber duel on a volcano planet between Obi-Wan and Anakin. I mean, it doesn’t get much better than that.
But, Revenge of the Sith doesn’t just work solely on this basis. It has the best story of all the prequels too, one which we all wanted to see from the very beginning; the downfall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader.
In comparison, everything that comes before Revenge of the Sith seems pointless; the two prequels feeling more like the support acts you have to respectfully, but impatiently stand through before the main headliner at a gig.
Lucas absolutely nails this essential part of the story by not getting too bogged down in exposition and dialogue heavy scenes. The case in point is Anakin’s turn to the dark side, which comes long before we see him as Vader.
The moment is actually a subtle and completely silent one, which sees Anakin and Padme staring out into the distance from opposing sides of Coruscant, at sunset. This is when a conflicted Skywalker decides which path to go down, and it’s done beautifully with zero dialogue.
Going back to that Vanity Fair interview, the film’s producer, Rick McCallum, says that Lucas begins shooting with a ‘detailed outline’ and continues to work on the script well into the post-production phase. If this is true, the success of Revenge of the Sith may be just blind luck. Either way though, you get the sense, more so than any of the other prequels, that everybody involved seems to be excited about this film.
John Williams’ score is back to its glorious, bombastic best, and the cast actually seem invested in their roles. For the first time in the prequels, I actually believe that Anakin and Padame love each other, which is only made possible by the solid performances – especially from Natalie Portman, whose “breaking my heart” moment, is indeed heartbreaking.
What’s better than the romance though, is the bromance between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Again, this time around the two actors seem to have some actual chemistry and it’s their back-and-forth which makes Revenge of the Sith enjoyable. I really, really like Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan in particular, who is the strongest, most consistent thing in the prequels.
It’s not all good, obviously; there are moments that beg belief, and make you wonder what Lucas was thinking at the time. Why are there Wookies swinging around in vines, making Tarzan noises? Why does Palpatine insist on constantly giggling like a naughty school boy? Why does General Grevious seem to have asthma?
Yes, there are plenty of things about Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith that stop it from being perfect. But, especially when it is compared to the films that came before it, it is, thankfully, a satisfying conclusion to this first trilogy, and the perfect set up for what is to come.
You can read Joe Richards’ previous articles on the Star Wars franchise here.
words JOE RICHARDS