so i saw star wars: revenge of the sith last night. it was definitely better than the last two prequels. but the rumblings that sith is better than "a new hope" (episode 1) or as good as "the empire strikes back" is just crazy talk.
star wars is a part of my history. in some ways, it is part of who i am. i saw the original film as a seven-year old and quickly became obsessed with it. i've lost count of how many times i've seen episode 4. let's just say "a lot." and i think i've seen every one of the many variation of the film that have come out over the years. there was a time in my life when i don't think i went a single day without thinking about star wars. i played star wars with my friends, drew x-wing fighters in my notebooks, and sent away for the boba fett action figure before it came out in the store. it's not the biggest obsession i've ever had in my life, but it's probably my oldest one. and for some reason, i guess that means something.
i was expecting episode 3 to be terrible. but i still wanted to see it. i have to get this stuff out of my system. and it wasn't terrible. it even cleared up a couple of continuity problems with the episode 1 and 2 (e.g. why C3PO didn't recognize tatouine in episode 4 when, in fact, he was originally from there according to episode 1. or why jedi die in the prequels, but they just turn into mounds of crumpled clothes in episodes 4-6). of course, episode 3 had it's own implausible bits. why would anakin be afraid of anyone dying in childbirth in a society with their medical technology? and how could anyone be surprised by twins? don't they have ultrasound?*
even more than any other film in the series, female characters were really sidelined. padme was never that great of a character. but in episode 1 they at least tried to give her some of the spunk that princess leah displayed in episode 4. padme's original spirit was completely absent from "revenge of the sith." instead she spent most of this film at home (figuratively) barefoot and (literally) pregnant. other than padme, i don't think any women uttered a single word in the course of the movie.
but the biggest reason why "sith" can't be compared with "hope" or "empire" is the feel of the film. episodes 4 and 5 (and even 6) had a light-hearted feel that is completely lacking in episode 3, as it was in episode 2. i think the problem was "the phantom menace." lucas tried to recapture the old humor in that film with jar jar binks. but it totally flopped, coming across as both racist and stupid. george lucas used to know how to have fun with his films without resorting to crude stereotypes, but after jar jar was uniformly panned (and completely edited out in at least one pirated version of the film), i don't think lucas knew what to do. so humor was mostly absent from episode 3.
the above criticism doesn't mean that i disliked the movie. it was actually quite likeable on a certain level. but as i left the theater last night, most of what i felt was relief that it was finally over. i have spent most of my life scanning the horizon waiting for the next star wars film to come. even when i decided i didn't like the series all that much anymore, i just couldn't take my eyes off that damn horizon. it's nice to finally move on
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* these aren't spoilers, don't give me shit about that. you can't have a spoiler in a prequel. we all know exactly where episode 3 is going right from the start.
