And so, I arrived at the final part of the ‘Prequel’ trilogy, and it was a first time viewing to boot! After ‘Episode 2’ managed so entirely to sour my feelings towards the Anakin arc, I just…never could be bothered to find out exactly what happened in the end. and I do kind of regret that a little bit.

The film still has a lot of problems that the previous entries had, an overreliance on CG, overly busy frames that detract from the overall meaning and enjoyment of the composition…stilted and semi awkward dialogue and arguably one of the worst ‘NOOOOOOOO!!!!’s in cinematic history. BUT! there is a lot of good to be found here as well!

The script feels incredibly refreshing offering a vaguely coherent plot that carries for 3 acts quite comfortably, there are a few plot decisions that seem a bit farfetched to me personally and the pacing is still quite out of whack (but thats seemingly more of a ‘prequels’ problem than something unique to this film).

I think the significant difference between this film and the 2 before it, is this one actually feels like the writers were having fun. The first film felt like they were setting the table for a grand plan, which backfired spectacularly forcing them to alter their vision. The second film felt like 2 and half hours of ball fumbling. But ‘Episode 3’ has a lot to work with, key among them being the rise of Vader and the key beats for ‘A New Hope’ being established.

And I feel (for the most part) that the film handles these elements well. Its pooling from a solid source material to help establish the framework, they tone down the romance elements and go back to focussing on the key elements that made the franchise popular, rehashing and recycling old 40’s and 50’s adventure movie tropes.

That isnt to say the film isnt without it’s problems however. there is a LOT of padding present here, scenes run for WELL past their shelf life and the final fight runs to just shy of THIRTY FIVE Minutes and left me flip flopping between it being a fun and engaging finale, and border insufferable.

That being said, the characters are given a bit more…well…character…here. In particular Obi Wan and Anakins relationship seems a lot healthier and stronger than the previous two entries. Padme and Anakin actually get to emote a fair bit more, which helped things along. and the random aliens and comedy 50’s diners are paired back in favour of an espionage thriller plotline that I felt handled itself quite well honestly.

The direction and cine have the same issues from last time, just slightly less prominently. We still have a film that was seemingly almost entirely manufactured in a computer…which is a shame. But they do utilize more real set spaces for a big chunk of the runtime here, theirs a nice creeping sense of familiarity as the tech featured in the ‘Original’ trilogy slowly creeps into the fringes of this film.

Direction of the cast seems more relaxed and naturalistic. Theres still an heir of stiffness about it, but nowhere near as bad as the previous entries.

The cine is vivid colourful and arguably holds some of the more iconic imagery of the prequel films. I dont feel it really pushed the boundaries of what *COULD* have been on screen, but its arguably one of the least offensive on the eyes.

That being said, the edit is still QUITE a mess here. while we have less plots than the previous films, it still feels like quite an intense juggling act to follow Anakin, Obi Wan, Padme, Yoda, Palpatine and the 10 or so supporting cast plots as they all semi converge and run independently across the runtime. There really was no way to cut this thing to make it feel like a smooth and coherent production. But the editing team have tried there best.

Performances too get a bit of a boost Hayden Christiansen’s turn as Ani is more emotive and has a little more complexity here over his previous appearence. I still wouldnt say it was great…or even good. But its a lot better than last time…so thats a plus.

Ewan McGregor as ‘Obi Wan’ is probably the strongest performance of the trilogy here for me. He gets a full and well rounded range, he works with dry and witty and genuinely emotional scenes well. He has a decent physical presence and after two films of essentially playing a slightly quirky introvert, I feel here we really get the best out of the character…and i’ve made a note to check out that ‘Obi Wan’ Disney+ series he did recently, based solely off his performance here.

Score? John Williams. Nuff Said.

This is about as good an end that the prequels could have hoped for. Given the utter mess that trailed before it, I came away from this one ACTUALLY feeling like I just watched a ‘Star Wars’ movie. It had a semi interesting and fun script, it toned back its excesses to moments that really counted and the cast seemed to have been given a bit of leash to work more of a range. All small and incremental improvements. But ones that have added up to this probably being my favourite watch of the three and a relatively solid way to lead into the ‘Original’ trilogy.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith/