Thursday, May 19, 2005

Revenge of the Sith review

Ok, I promised no spoilers, so I will just comment on Revenge of the Sith in a general way.

First of all, a bit about me. I am a fan of science fiction, so I am drawn to many sci-fi movies, books, etc. However, I like to think I maintain enough distance from the "rabid fan" position to comment critically. The best Star Wars movie so far has been
Empire. The franchise started to go down in Return of the Jedi, with the sickenly cute, obviously merchandised, Ewoks. The worst movie was Phantom Menace. It is so kid-friendly as to make you sick. I have always thought Lucas was the Star Wars legacy in Phantom. Also, making it kid-friendly usually backfires. Sure, Star Wars was scary, maybe too scary for kids at the time, but as adults 30 years later, we still love it. Does anyone think people will still love Phantom in 30 years or will it be known as the worst Star Wars movie?

That said,
Revenge of the Sith was good. Very good. It is as dark as Empire, with lots of action. Christensen does a very good job protraying the fall and inner conflict of Skywalker. I must admit I did not think well of Christensen after Attack of the Clones. I felt his acting was a bit stiff and the flashes of evil seemed unrealistic. He may have improved, but I think he has more to work with this time. Portman does a good job as the conflicted wife. None of the great shots showing off her body that we saw in Attack, which is unfortunate. I have to say excellent job by McGregor, particularily when he confronts Skywalker about his betrayal of the Jedi (everyone knows this happens, so it should not be a spoiler).

Non fans and fans, even critical fans, will not be disappointed.

See this movie now.

Now a bit about last night.

The wife picked me up after work. She bought the tickets early, about 8:00 pm and picked me up at 10:30 pm. We got to the theater just before 11 and our theater had already been let in. I thought for sure we were going to get a crappy seat, but we did well. We had to sit for over an hour, the longest time I have ever waited for a movie. The audience was mostly kids in their late teens, but I saw a few my age. A sample of conversation overheard in the concession line by the wife:

Teen #1: Dude, I am going to be so wasted for school tomorrow.

Teen #2: Dude, me too.

Teen #1: Dude, I so don't want to go to gym tomorrow.

Teen #2: Dude, that sucks.

Teen #1: Dude, do you want a refill?

Teen #2: No. Dude I don't think I will make it through the movie without having to piss.

Yes, they really talk like that.

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