Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith review

Star Wars fans have had a tough time of it these last seven years. After the huge disappointment of The Phantom Menace and the modest return to form of Attack of the Clones, expectations for the third prequel have been muted. Any fears can be calmed however - Revenge of the Sith is a wholly satisfying affair and the movie that fans have been waiting for for over twenty years. With one big question to answer - just how does Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader - George Lucas ties up all of the knots in a thrilling and engaging film that stands head and shoulders above any of the other prequels.

In this third film, Lucas also asks some big questions about good and evil as well as man's ability to resist temptation in order to further his position. It is a darker affair than the other two, but it also puts the trilogy into context: whereas Phantom Menace had a childlike quality to it, and Clones was a coming-of-age film, Revenge of the Sith is a more mature work that examines the philosophical questions that have given the saga such a universal and long-lasting appeal.

Sith begins in typical fashion with an elongated battle sequence as Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) attempt to dodge the Clone wars and rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from the clutches of General Grievous, the leader of the Droid army. Once their mission is accomplished - and after a hand-to-hand battle with Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) - the heroes return to Coruscant.

But all is not well on the home of the crumbling Republic and the Jedi Knights. The Jedi Council, and in particular Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) are suspicious of Palpatine's motives and charge the young Anakin to keep an eye on him. Anakin is puzzled by the request, and simultaneously worried by the news that his secret wife Padme (Natalie Portman) is expecting their first child.

The crux of Revenge of the Sith is the relationship between Palpatine and Skywalker, and thanks to an effective script and some notable acting from McDiarmid it raises the level of the trilogy considerably. As Anakin ponders the difficult situation he finds himself in and the various solutions to it, the plot becomes Shakespearean in tone, and Macbeth-like, Anakin must decide whether his personal situation should take priority in the battle between good and evil.

Once the decision is made, the exact circumstance of Vader's creation is played out amidst a background of treachery and battles. We find out just why he had to don his infamous mask - likely to be a special moment for diehard fans - and in an impressive final sequence, Lucas crosscuts between several plotlines and answers questions that have plagued onlookers for years.

The single criticism one could level at the film is that some of the lines go beyond the corn factor we have previously encountered. Unfortunately, most of these go to Ewan McGregor) and as a result the character of Kenobi does suffer. But with McDiarmid stealing the acting honours with a performance that equals anything Alec Guinness did, this is an acceptable flaw - after all the films have always been dogged by some miserable one-liners.

An undoubted smash hit, Revenge of the Sith restores our faith in the saga and gives Lucas' achievement an emotional heart to accompany its spectacular technical accomplishments. The Force is stronger than ever, and most viewers will want to rush home and put on Episode IV to put everything into context.