Kevin Smith Reviews Revenge of the Sith

link that doesn't work

SITH" SPOILERS

You've been warned...

- "Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, *** awesome. This is the "Star Wars" prequel the haters have been bitching for since "Menace" came out, and if they don't cop to that when they finally see it, they're lying. As dark as "Empire" was, this movie goes a thousand times darker - from the triggering of Order 66 (which has all the Shock Troopers turning on the Jedi Knights they've been fighting beside throughout the Clone Wars and gunning them down), to the jaw-dropping Anakin/Obi Wan fight on Mustafar (where - after cutting his legs and arm off, Ben leaves Skywalker burning alive on the shores of a lava river, with Anakin spitting venomous sentiments at his departing mentor), this flick is so satisfyingly tragic, you'll think you're watching "Othello" or "Hamlet".

I saw a gorgeous digitally projected version of the flick, and lemme tell ya': this is a beautiful looking film. The opening space battle sequence is the best in any of the six "Star Wars" movies. Grievous and Kenobi's lightsaber duel is bad-ass, with Grievous rocking four sabers. The Clone Wars end rather early in the flick (about the halfway point), leaving the rest of the film to concentrate on Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, and the resulting slaughter of the Jedi.

Perfect example of how dark *** gets: remember the Younglings - the kid Jedis in training from "Clones"? As a result of Order 66, when Anakin invades the Jedi Temple with an army of Clone Troopers, he enters the Council room to find a gaggle of said younglings hiding behind the seats. They see Anakin and emerge, asking "What should we do, Master Anakin?" The query's met with a stone-cold Anakin firing up his lightsaber. The next time you see the kids, Yoda's sifting through their corpses on the floor.

Yes, it's just that dark - and rightfully so. This is the birth of Darth Vader we're talking about. The only comic moments in the flick are given to R2D2, and while good, they're all pretty few and far between; the order of the day is dark, dark, dark.

Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor steal the show, but Hayden Christensen silences any naysayers who wrote him off as too whiney in "Clones". This is the flick that feels closest to Episodes 4, 5, and 6, because - for the first time since "Return of the Jedi" - there is a clear villain. And for all the shadow-play Palpatine has been upto in the last two flicks, his treachery is about as subtle as John Williams' score in "Sith." Whether he's slowly drawing Anakin toward the Dark Side during an opera/performance art piece with his promise of the Sith's power of life over death, or he's engaged in a balls-to-the-wall lightsaber duel in the Senate with Yoda, his "Little, green friend" (his words, not mine - which I kinda dug, because, interestingly, I think it's the first time anyone's acknowledged that Yoda is green in any of the "Star Wars" flicks), this is the Emperor's movie.

The last fifteen minutes dovetail nicely into Episode 4 (or just plain "Star Wars" for you non-geeks), and the movie is full of link-up moments as well.

- At flick's end, Threepio and Artoo are given to Captain Antilles (with the caveat that the Protocol's memory be wiped).

- The twins, natch, are split up. Leia heads to Alderann with Bail Organa, and Obi Wan hands Luke over to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru (indeed, the closing shot is Owen holding Luke while looking out over the setting suns of Tatooine - mimicking the shot of the adult Luke doing the same in "Star Wars", complete with callback cue from Williams).

- After he succumbs to the Dark Side, Anakin tries to convine Padme that he can overthrow Palpatine, and together, he and Padme can rule the galaxy as husband and wife.

- Vader and the Emperor stand beside a younger Grand Moff Tarkin on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, overlooking the earliest construction stage of the Death Star.

- Yoda telling Obi Wan that, as he heads to Tatooine to hand over Luke and go into exile, that he should spend his time learning to commune with those who've crossed over to the next stage of life, as Yoda maintains he's been doing with Qui Gon (and Ben will later do with both Luke and Yoda, in "Empire" and "Jedi").

- And, hands-down, the best link-up to "Star Wars" moment that I enjoyed the most: Bail Organa and Yoda stepping into the hallway of the Rebel Blockade Runner that opened "Star Wars". Unlike all the high-tech CGI wizardry of the rest of the prequel Trilogy, this is a low-tech looking set, right out of circa '77, and for some reason, it really captured my imagination. I mean, this is the same exact hallway in which we got our first look at Vader, oh so many years ago, and I appreciated the *** out of Mr. Lucas including it - because it really felt like a nod to the hardcores.

Look, this is a movie I was genetically predisposed to love. I remember being eight years old, and reading in "Starlog" that Darth Vader became the half-man/half-machine he was following a duel with Ben Kenobi that climaxed with Vader falling into molten lava. Now, twenty six years later, I finally got to see that long-promised battled - and it lived up to any expectation I still held. I was sad to see the flick end, but happy to know it's not the end of the "Star Wars" universe entirely (I've read stuff about a TV show...).

"Sith" doesn't happen; "Sith" rules

*sory about the censoring asterisks, 12ozers. I got this off another message board that censors.

good to hear it doesn't suck.

That's cool to hear about the tie-ins to 'Episode 4 (or just plain "Star Wars" for you non-geeks)

ahaha

Totally fucking stoked!

I'm guessing you have access to that forum. Is it 100% sure that post was made by Kevin Smith? I know it's his site and everything, but it sounds like it should be an article on the site, not a thread topic.

i'll be gluing honey buns to the side of my head.

thanks.

Originally posted by El Mamerro@Apr 27 2005, 04:21 PM

I'm guessing you have access to that forum. Is it 100% sure that post was made by Kevin Smith? I know it's his site and everything, but it sounds like it should be an article on the site, not a thread topic.

Quoted post

No, I can't say I'm totally sure it's Kevin Smith. I stole the article from a poster on a message board I frequent. The poster generally knows what he is talking about, though...that's about all I can say. :/

im going to cry like a baby during this movie. for many reasons.

watching the tragic downfall of the chosen one and all the lives he destroys along the way.

this will be the LAST starwars movie.

ive bee attatched to this since i saw the first movie in the movies when it came out.

for those that dont know me, starwars isnt a movie. its a religion. i read the books and follow the extended universe. when chewbacca died i work black to work for a week.

people are going to be lucky if i dont jump out of my seat and start punching them thinking that they are clone troopers.

im not one of those dress up fopr the movie or dress up for the convention jack asses, but man i love me some star wars......

may the force..........

blunts

I understand where you're coming from, man. I've read a ton of the novels, but I did stop a few years ago. I didn't even know that Anakin II and Chewbacca had died until recently. I read almost 40 of the novels, but I stopped around the time the second X-Wing book came out. Stackpole is a pretty good writer, though, so it's nothing against him.

I'll be damned if I get sucked into that shit again, though. If anything, I'll just stick to the concept art books. I always enjoy receiving those for my birthday.

By the way, if this movie turns out to be as good as I think it may turn out to be, I will be happy because of this:

I will justify it by saying that Lucas wanted the story to evolve, from childish and stupid to all out excellent. I mean, Phantom Menace was a big disappointment, but if ROTS is good, then I will see some sort of evolution. Return of the Jedi is one of my favourite movies of all time, so that would be the best one, in my opinion. Also, I don't see how Kevin Smith thought the Coruscant space battle could be better then the Battle of Endor. Now, THAT will never be beat.

stopping at the second x wing book was the wrong idea. that means you didnt get to wraith squadron. those books were dope. but none the less the hand of thraw two book set was fucking amazing, and the whole New Jedi Order series is painful to read but amazing. i mean... like everyone dies. chewbacca, anakin solo, elegos a'kla, the entire planet of Ithor.....i mean.... its just rough. in ever book tons of people you have gotten to know are all dead. in viscous fashion. and it ties in the book from between episode one and two with anakin and obi one going to see zenoma sekot, the living planet, plus the jedi Vergere from the outbound flight project.

ok enough geeking.

(I've read stuff about a TV show...).

yikes

Originally posted by KING OF HELL@Apr 28 2005, 08:58 PM

... the hand of thraw two book set...

if you mean Thrawn, then I will have to read those. I fuckin' love that guy! Have you ever played LucasArts' Tie Fighter? In my humble opinion, it is the best combat flight sim ever made, and it's, like, ten years old! Thrawn is the main guy in it. It had a lot to do with Mon Mothma defecting to the Imperials, if my memory serves me correctly. But man, I fear that once I get into it, I may not stop. I'm already back into comics, and it's taking a gigantic toll on my wallet. To the point where I starve myself just to get 'that book'.

yeah that was a typo. hand of thrawn. its a dope series, plus like i said... the damn NJO series was amazing. i have to be extra careful. i made a decision to get rid of almost all of my collectibles (3000 bucks worth) because it was way to consuming and i kept getting real behind on bills because new shit kept comming out or i would find something at some shop somewhere.....

but the books are done well.

Well, I figured I should look up NJO on the net to see if it's a trilogy, or a five book set. Wtf? It's like ten or fifteen books! That's pretty daunting.

yeah man. its rediculous. but like i said, its worth it. just start with vector prime. freakin insane. so many people die and luke and mara have a kid.....just read the hand of thrawn books first. just two books. but the njo series. the chiss are in it alot. thats thrawns people. they go to his place.

According to Spielberg, you will cry at the end.

...

I can't wait!

can't wait. and if Kevin Smith say's it's okay, than damn it, that's good enough for me.