Let's Begin With a Review

Revenge of the Sith (what did you expect? Pooh’s Heffalump Movie?) is the movie I was expecting to see when I first saw The Phantom Menace. It has the Star Wars universe essentials – lightsaber battles, ships being shot to pieces, jedi running amok, the works. It has a decent plotline and, unlike the previous two movies, decent writing. It is without question the best of the three prequels; if Phantom had been this good and the next two had improved still further, we’d be talking about what a masterpiece the Star Wars sextet is.

But, sadly, Phantom wasn’t this good and Revenge is not good enough to undo the damage done to the franchise. This is unfortunate because all the elements were there for Revenge to be a classic movie, better even than any of the original three. Anakin Skywalker’s fall into despair and subsequent turn to the dark side could have been a heart-wrenching, bitter tale where the audience is so drawn into the character’s anguish that they are half-ready to turn to the dark side themselves. It could have happened.

But it didn’t, because the part of Anakin was miscast from the start. Heydon is a decent actor – he did fine in Life as a House – and his performance was greatly improved compared to Clones. But he simply does not have the depth to portray Anakin’s pathos in a convincing manner. His lines are delivered like…well, like delivered lines. When he bows down to the emperor, it feels fake. The scene where Anakin gets ready to chop up the children should have been a showcase for watching his soul crumbling. Instead, we get an expressionless stare. The dark side is supposed to be about letting your passions control you; Heydon portrays no passion for anything from the mid-point of the movie on. Even his cry of “I hate you!” to Obi-wan at the end holds no emotion.

The trick to enjoying Revenge is to ignore what the characters are actually doing on the screen; instead, understand what Lucas was really trying for: The deep despair. Anakin’s feeling that he has no other choice. The turn to the dark side not only to save Padme (a clunky plot device that wasn’t really needed) but to receive power unequalled in any Jedi. Lust and despair make a great team. Project that onto the movie as you watch and pretend that Heydon is delivering his lines with a little more conviction, that he really feels what he’s saying, and you will enjoy the movie. If, on the other hand, you can’t get past the flat emoting, you won’t want to watch it more than once.