Episode III - Review of the Sith

As I took my seat in Hollywood's Arclight dome theater at 9:30 AM Saturday morning, having only turned in for the night some 6 hours before, a chill went up the back of my spine. Finally, it was here. This was the moment that I and every other fan had been waiting for since Attack of the Clones but really since The Phantom Menace failed to meet expectations building since childhood. Then the introduction, as familiar as family - the 21st Century Fox shot followed by Lucas Films. And once the introductions were finished (you've got love that films that still only need two production companies to make) the John Williams Star Wars theme came on with the prologue to Episode III. George Lucas did not disappoint.

Episode III is by far the darkest of in the double-trilogy, but it makes sense. Its subject matter is how does democracy, fighting to hold on, die? In a dark and subvert messiah narrative, how does the savior fail and plunge into the depths of the darkness he was supposed to rescue us all from? In short, how do good hearted individuals and well intentioned societies go over to the dark side? Of course we have been given the preview answer in words from Yoda's wisdom in Phantom: "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering," but none of the previous Star Wars films has force us to confront in tangible, real, and manifest terms what that prediction/admonition truly means. All this is to say that George Lucas is a great story-teller and he back to his best. The narrative more than compensates for unconvincing romantic dialogue and exchanges and at-times stodgy general dialogue. The action sequences are terrific, though the space confrontations still do not challenge those of the original three episodes. The light saber battles have gotten progressively better and more intricate with each new episode and this film features two epic ones.

The first is the showdown that we were deprived of in Episodes V and VI, the battle between Emperor Palpatine and Yoda. They are equal matches for one another with both extensive knowledge of the Force and beautiful manipulation of light sabers - Yoda's acrobatic moves are juxtaposed with the Emperor's elegant strokes. But truly the battle we have been waiting for is the one between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin, by this point Darth Vader. This is the climax where we will see how, in their first battle, Obi-Wan is able to stave off death and defeat the superior Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, which he fails to do so many years later in Episode IV. The setting is the volcanic country, Mustafa, which looks so unstable in its omnipresent surface eruptions that it might explode upon itself. With the red overtones from the lava, hate and anger meet hurt and disillusion. Anakin's fall gives us a sense of just how quickly Lucifer's fall from heaven into hell might have been as he is steaming with bile and deluded with visions of grandeur and supreme power, one might describe as hubris. And though by this point Anakin is a more skilled Jedi than Obi-Wan and wields a more fearsome light saber, Obi-Wan's noble mission to save the galaxy from its gravest threat, even in the face of striking down the apprentice he has mentored since boyhood and self-described brother, gives him the added goodness boost that heroes enjoy. But as we of course know, he does not finish the job (though he assumes that Anakin's days are limited).

So too does Yoda fail to defeat Emperor Palpatine, though he does not lose the battle either. Instead, we see Yoda's wisdom and superior mental capacity, most of all in patience, as he maps out a new strategy for success. A momentary (albeit a very long one) retreat for ultimate victory the choice chooses Yoda does. We almost instantly know that he is banking on winning the war rather than the battle. So what are the reasons why Episode III is perhaps the second (perhaps third) best of the double trilogy? To start, the large themes and narratives it deals with are complex, deep, rich and challenging. The movie more than any of the previous five engages politics. It really considers what tenuous ground democracies stand on. It forces us to confront the fact that our enemies may have similar or their meritorious intentions for their opposition. But the movie also forces us to watch a film whose ending we generally know. What's more, unlike the rest of the franchise that has been generally upbeat and optimistic, we must witness what we know is going to be the darkest chapter of the tale that will end in tragic and melancholy fashion. In fact, the last part of the movie, the point from which Anakin turns to the dark side and Senator Palpatine initiates the execution of Order 66, for the clones to eliminate all of the Jedi, there is non-stop sadness, beautifully complemented by John Williams' score, as we see almost the entire Jedi order eliminated and the Galaxy plunged into what will become the dark years.

Episode III is George Lucas' most ambitious film since the original Star Wars: A New Hope. He has successfully captured his imagination on screen and once again told a story that titillates the senses. Not only are the eyes stimulated but the heart and mind as well. This movie finishes on inverse parallel low level to the high level that Return of the Jedi finishes on. The film reminds us that even in the darkest hour, we should fear not, for though Siths will have their revenge, the Jedi will return. That is to say, even when the darkest hour has come, a new hope is on the horizon.