Revenge of the Sith and The Prequel Trilogy

Today continues Star Wars week here at the Island. This post discusses Revenge of the Sith as a part of the rest of the films from the Prequel Trilogy

Episode III is not without its weak points, nothing is. The biggest fault with ROTS is that it is so good that it makes the imperfections of the first two Episodes even more heartbreaking because now we know that George Lucas really can make a worthy successor to (but still not replace) the Original Trilogy. If Episodes I and II were as good as III, then the Prequel Trilogy would go down in the annals of motion picture history along side the Original Trilogy instead of as a foot note to it.

There are many reasons why ROTS is so much better than the previous Prequel movies. The main reason stems from an observation I had towards the end of my first viewing of the movie. I leaned over to Lisa and whispered, "This doesn't feel like a Star Wars movie..." She agreed. Upon further reflection we realized what we really meant was ROTS doesn't feel like a Prequel Star Wars movie, and that's not a bad thing. ROTS does not capture the inexplicable magic of the Original Trilogy, but it does ease us into it, transitioning the viewer into the witty, swaggery excitement we associate with those classic movies.

Excitement, while not the best word to describe the feeling of Episodes III - VI, is a good word because it describes what Episodes I and II lack. The biggest excitement of Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones was watching to see how it sets up the next movie. With ROTS, we know the next movie, we love it, so all of our money is riding on THIS movie to deliver, and thankfully, it does.

The attitude is changed in ROTS. We are thrust right into the movie, capturing the in media res feel of the original trilogy. Gone (mostly) are the heavy handed set ups, and Lucas' cramming everything he possibly can into a movie. Case in point, compare Chewbacca's role in ROTS with Jango Fett's in AOTC. In Clones, it didn't have to be Jango Fett (and Boba) to make the plot work. All his presence did was drain Boba of mystery and add a whole bunch of frustrating unanswered questions. What should have been a little cameo was thrust in our face with a "Ain't this COOL??" label on it. Chewie's appearance in ROTS, on the other hand, is a smooth nod to the fans rather than a jumping up and down, arm-waving, self indulgent tantrum.

In ROTS, Lucas lets the movie propel itself, finally creating tension and urgency, finally capitalizing on the slow march of fate that seemed absent from the previous films. I and II were a series of loosely connected events where III really allows the slow winding wheels of eventuality to shape things into the universe we are familiar with. Does it do it perfectly? No. Does it fix every plot hole opened up in the other two movies? No. The way I think about it, it shouldn't have too. I would rather have some answered questions resulting from a solid movie than see ROTS frantically run around to fix all of the loose ended mistakes the other two movies made and suffer in itself. People say that one of the reasons Episode III "suxors" is that Obi Wan should recognize R2 D2 in Episode IV. That's not ROTS's problem to deal with, blame Episode I for that.

ROTS feels like The Phantom Menace in many respects. It deals with a specific chain of events that are important to the story of the Star Wars Galaxy as a whole and to the story of Anakin Skywalker. While TPM dealt with the first event of dissention in the galaxy, the rise of the Sith threat, and the discovery of Anakin; ROTS deals with the final blow to the Republic and Anakin's final decent into evil. AOTC on the other hand, tries to set up an entire civil war, makes us wonder whether Anakin is evil or just PMSing, introduces a forgettable and needless villain (Dooku), and in general tries to weave way too many elements together that really don't belong together in the fist place. On top of all of that, Lucas realized that he also needed a love story, which, though it is very important to Anakin's character, feels like it was tacked on as an after thought.

I am glad ROTS redeemed the Prequel Trilogy for both believers and non believers alike. Some say Lucas has lost his touch, but, on my end any movie with Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and lightsabers will always stand the test of time.. Even if it does have Jake Lloyd...