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May 21, 2005
Revenge of the Sith Review - Apolitical
Last night, the wife and I went to see Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith with our friend Roxie. We showed up early, got into the admit line, and grabbed the ideal center-screen seats. What followed was a movie that met my expectations, explained many of the questions, and entertained. This will be a quick non-political review of the movie, with as few spoilers as I can give. Later, I'll give my viewpoints on the political discussion of the movie, with significantly more spoilers.
Revenge of the Sith wasn't without its problems. Yes, the dialogue was often poorly delivered. Yes, the love story was poorly delivered. At times, story elements seemed to happen because they were demanded by the original trilogy, instead of because they made sense.
All that said, it was a great movie. I truly enjoyed it. You can see the mistakes made along the way that led to the downfall of Anikin Skywalker. The opening space-battle scene was spectacularly done, but dissapointingly short. Likewise, the battle between the Jedi and Dooku left me wanting more.
Further on in the movie, more is what I got. Obi-Wan versus Grievous was an exciting, varied battle. Palpatine's arrest scene surprised many in the audience. Above all, Anikin and Obi-Wan's fight was the most exciting duel I've seen on film, surpassing the big fight in Episode I by far.
My son, at 10 years old, decided to wait to see the movie until he is 13 years old. In retrospect, I'm glad he did. He'll enjoy the movie when he does see it, but some aspects of this movie were deserving of the higher rating of PG-13. I heard repeated gasps from Roxie at times, as she was disturbed by what she saw.
I've said for many years now that George Lucas doesn't produce high art. Lucas is a master of the cinematic form of schlock. He delivers some of the best schlock around, but Citizen Kane it isn't. If you're expecting cinematic brilliance, Revenge of the Sith isn't the movie to see. If you're looking for a good conclusion to the Star Wars series, that's exciting and engaging, you'll get what you want out of this movie. I loved it for what it is.
Posted by Lockjaw at May 21, 2005 10:44 AM
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Comments
Depends on how you define cinematic brilliance really. Afterall, what it really comes down to is personal choices in genre. A person can swear up and down what a great movie "Citizen Kane" is, but if it doesn't do much for another person, that person is a moron? No. It's strictly in the eye of the beholder. For some (like me) a great movie is a good combination of sex, violence and special effects. If I want to see REAL acting, I can see something on the stage. If I want good writing, there are any number of classic novels I could read. But the big screen is all about presenting the stars as larger than life and for overwhelming the sense. It's wasted on such trivial nonsense as sentimental, touch-feely, Driving Miss Daisy movies. That you can watch on tv and get the same effect. Same goes for Kane. But Revenge of the Sith in that opening scene when you're seemingly riding along with the starfighters amongst the capital ships all going at it at broadsides and you can almost feel as if you're in the cockpit because of the way the camera moves...THAT is what the big screen is all about. Not listening to a bunch of melodramatic dialogue and not for watching a lot of hugging and crying.
Posted by: You Know Me at June 15, 2005 5:37 PM
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