Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - First Impressions
Wow.
Just....Wow. It's no wonder this movie has been sold out for several days here. Just...Wow. This movie - though it won't get it - really does honestly deserve an Oscar. Beautiful, gorgeous movie; great story, great imagery, just...great. Unlike the previous 2 films, which I liked but I think were meant for a different audience than the first trilogy, I think this is honestly a film everyone will like - whether one is a fan of the OT, the PT or both. Possibly even fans of just the EU, but I'm not quite sure they exist. 0.o
Cut for spoilers:
I really liked how much more advanced Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship seemed. In AOTC they seemed more like master and student; now they seem much easier with each other. You can really see how much their relationship has blossomed before Anakin falls to the darkside. When Obi-Wan says that Anakin is like his brother to him, I have no doubt that he is telling the truth. (Though I do rather doubt that Obi-Wan - or most Jedi - can love.)
Great constant throughout the film between Obi-Wan and Anakin's views on letting go, and I love that that motif is reprinted throughout the movie again and again. Anakin wants to help everyone - in the first few minutes of the film, he tells Obi-Wan he's going to help the clone fighter, and that he won't leave Obi-Wan either. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, has no problem with letting go of anything - not only does not he not have an issue with leaving the clone trooper to his fate, but he doesn't have any problem when
it's him that's in trouble - constantly telling Anakin to go on without him, even though if he did, Obi-Wan would certainly die. It makes his decision to leave Anakin on Mustafar burning to death less shocking - In Obi-Wan's mind, Anakin is already dead. Obi-Wan has let go. On the other hand, Anakin honestly can't let go of people from an early point on, I think, and that motif is imprinted again and again and again in the movie - he can't let Dooku live, he can't leave Obi-Wan behind even though it might mean he and Palpatine will die ("His fate will be the same as ours."), he can't let Palpatine die, he will do everything in his power to prevent Padme from dying, and to keep the republic from crumbling. Anakin turns to the darkside because he wants to help everything be better and just doesn't realize that there's not much he can do. It really ties in well, and I love how this was played on in the film.
I love the use of the trojan horse in the form of the clonetroopers - the Jedi take them in (and come to rely on the), but they've been waiting to kill them all along. The republic should have definitely looked the gift horse in the mouth there, and I think the fact that they trusted that this random army just happened to be growing on a planet that just happened to have been deleted from the Jedi archives (so they knew once someone caught it, they would go look) really says something about how Republic had become in it's last days. In fact, I love the theme of blindness throughout the PT and especially Revenge of the Sith.
The Jedi Order's fall is fascinating, especially when you consider that it really is their own actions that bring it about. Palpatine's actions, of course, being the catalyst for the downfall for the Jedi order, particularly Order 66, but the Jedi could have stopped him from exploiting their weaknesses had they been willing to change and adapt, but as the prequel trilogy shows us the Jedi cannot change. That is why, I think, the Sith win over the Jedi, here - they did change from the ancient days. They did adapt. The Jedi on the other hand, can't, and refuse to - which alienates Anakin from them, and in the end, costs them their entire order. Of course, the Sith degrade as well, and don't change, and so they, too, perish, when Luke's order comes around. I'm beginning to think the balance of the force is not so much a numbers game or metaphorical complex as it is a gigantic semi-conscious see-saw that makes sure that once an order begins to decay, it is supplanted by an order willing to adapt.
Jedi arrogance is well in effect in this one, too; why do they assume that the balance means the conquest of the Jedi over the Sith? That happened, but by all rights, the prophesy has not come to pass. Why do they think it is something in their favor? The Chosen One prophecy seems more likely to me to have predicted the end of the Jedi order, not the extermination of the Sith.
Palpatine really is the great Oz behind the curtain (well, if the wizard of Oz were an evil man set on attaining power) in this film. No matter what happens, he wins. Nice to get a bit more information on him, though I still think he remains a very enigmatic evil - which is something I really like about him. Palpatine is whatever evil you wish him to be.
I think Palpatine/Sidious is in fact Darth Plagueis's apprentice. The part where he talks about him never seeing death coming; ...There's no doubt in my mind that Palpatine is the one who smothered him in his sleep. It's a totally Palpatine-y thing to do and the way he talks about Plagueis is just a bit too personal for it to be merely a sith legend. I think he's stretching the truth and that Plagueis was his master, not just a master he knew of. This might also be a nod to the EU, I think, wherein Palpatine has approx. 204,300,340,240,304,001 clone bodies that he keeps coming back in. (This is, on a small rant, the main thing I have always found extremely distastful about the EU: It renders Vader's sacrifice into nothing and makes him a fool.) Perhaps it is presumable that clone bodies is the secret to immortal life and Plagueis taught his apprentice Palpatine how to transfer his spirit.
Nice to see Chewbacca again. The Kashyyyk part of the movie was smaller than I expected it to be (Chewbacca's return was announced so early, I thought it would play a major part), but I thought it played well. Loved seeing the clonetroopers turn on Yoda, and love that Chewbacca and the wookie leader work together to help him escape. Also love that I now know how to say Kashyyyk!
Was that a young Tarkin I saw in the end of the film with Vader and Palpatine watching the construction of the Death Star? If so? Squee. I miss that crazy Moff.
Was the woman in one of the scenes on the Tantive IV (I think) with red hair and a long white gown looking troubled Mon Mothma? It looks like her. Nice way of working her in, too, as well as the beginnings of the rebellion.
Is Bail's wife one of Padme's former handmaidens? She kind of looks similar, but maybe I'm looking for a connection that isn't there. (Wish she got a name.)
I have got to find the score for this movie. Beautiful score - John Williams really has out done himself on this one, and I think it's one of the best scores I've heard in years (if perhaps not one of the most original. But if something isn't wrong, why fix it?).
Just....Wow. It's no wonder this movie has been sold out for several days here. Just...Wow. This movie - though it won't get it - really does honestly deserve an Oscar. Beautiful, gorgeous movie; great story, great imagery, just...great. Unlike the previous 2 films, which I liked but I think were meant for a different audience than the first trilogy, I think this is honestly a film everyone will like - whether one is a fan of the OT, the PT or both. Possibly even fans of just the EU, but I'm not quite sure they exist. 0.o
Cut for spoilers:
I really liked how much more advanced Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship seemed. In AOTC they seemed more like master and student; now they seem much easier with each other. You can really see how much their relationship has blossomed before Anakin falls to the darkside. When Obi-Wan says that Anakin is like his brother to him, I have no doubt that he is telling the truth. (Though I do rather doubt that Obi-Wan - or most Jedi - can love.)
Great constant throughout the film between Obi-Wan and Anakin's views on letting go, and I love that that motif is reprinted throughout the movie again and again. Anakin wants to help everyone - in the first few minutes of the film, he tells Obi-Wan he's going to help the clone fighter, and that he won't leave Obi-Wan either. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, has no problem with letting go of anything - not only does not he not have an issue with leaving the clone trooper to his fate, but he doesn't have any problem when
it's him that's in trouble - constantly telling Anakin to go on without him, even though if he did, Obi-Wan would certainly die. It makes his decision to leave Anakin on Mustafar burning to death less shocking - In Obi-Wan's mind, Anakin is already dead. Obi-Wan has let go. On the other hand, Anakin honestly can't let go of people from an early point on, I think, and that motif is imprinted again and again and again in the movie - he can't let Dooku live, he can't leave Obi-Wan behind even though it might mean he and Palpatine will die ("His fate will be the same as ours."), he can't let Palpatine die, he will do everything in his power to prevent Padme from dying, and to keep the republic from crumbling. Anakin turns to the darkside because he wants to help everything be better and just doesn't realize that there's not much he can do. It really ties in well, and I love how this was played on in the film.
I love the use of the trojan horse in the form of the clonetroopers - the Jedi take them in (and come to rely on the), but they've been waiting to kill them all along. The republic should have definitely looked the gift horse in the mouth there, and I think the fact that they trusted that this random army just happened to be growing on a planet that just happened to have been deleted from the Jedi archives (so they knew once someone caught it, they would go look) really says something about how Republic had become in it's last days. In fact, I love the theme of blindness throughout the PT and especially Revenge of the Sith.
The Jedi Order's fall is fascinating, especially when you consider that it really is their own actions that bring it about. Palpatine's actions, of course, being the catalyst for the downfall for the Jedi order, particularly Order 66, but the Jedi could have stopped him from exploiting their weaknesses had they been willing to change and adapt, but as the prequel trilogy shows us the Jedi cannot change. That is why, I think, the Sith win over the Jedi, here - they did change from the ancient days. They did adapt. The Jedi on the other hand, can't, and refuse to - which alienates Anakin from them, and in the end, costs them their entire order. Of course, the Sith degrade as well, and don't change, and so they, too, perish, when Luke's order comes around. I'm beginning to think the balance of the force is not so much a numbers game or metaphorical complex as it is a gigantic semi-conscious see-saw that makes sure that once an order begins to decay, it is supplanted by an order willing to adapt.
Jedi arrogance is well in effect in this one, too; why do they assume that the balance means the conquest of the Jedi over the Sith? That happened, but by all rights, the prophesy has not come to pass. Why do they think it is something in their favor? The Chosen One prophecy seems more likely to me to have predicted the end of the Jedi order, not the extermination of the Sith.
Palpatine really is the great Oz behind the curtain (well, if the wizard of Oz were an evil man set on attaining power) in this film. No matter what happens, he wins. Nice to get a bit more information on him, though I still think he remains a very enigmatic evil - which is something I really like about him. Palpatine is whatever evil you wish him to be.
I think Palpatine/Sidious is in fact Darth Plagueis's apprentice. The part where he talks about him never seeing death coming; ...There's no doubt in my mind that Palpatine is the one who smothered him in his sleep. It's a totally Palpatine-y thing to do and the way he talks about Plagueis is just a bit too personal for it to be merely a sith legend. I think he's stretching the truth and that Plagueis was his master, not just a master he knew of. This might also be a nod to the EU, I think, wherein Palpatine has approx. 204,300,340,240,304,001 clone bodies that he keeps coming back in. (This is, on a small rant, the main thing I have always found extremely distastful about the EU: It renders Vader's sacrifice into nothing and makes him a fool.) Perhaps it is presumable that clone bodies is the secret to immortal life and Plagueis taught his apprentice Palpatine how to transfer his spirit.
Nice to see Chewbacca again. The Kashyyyk part of the movie was smaller than I expected it to be (Chewbacca's return was announced so early, I thought it would play a major part), but I thought it played well. Loved seeing the clonetroopers turn on Yoda, and love that Chewbacca and the wookie leader work together to help him escape. Also love that I now know how to say Kashyyyk!
Was that a young Tarkin I saw in the end of the film with Vader and Palpatine watching the construction of the Death Star? If so? Squee. I miss that crazy Moff.
Was the woman in one of the scenes on the Tantive IV (I think) with red hair and a long white gown looking troubled Mon Mothma? It looks like her. Nice way of working her in, too, as well as the beginnings of the rebellion.
Is Bail's wife one of Padme's former handmaidens? She kind of looks similar, but maybe I'm looking for a connection that isn't there. (Wish she got a name.)
I have got to find the score for this movie. Beautiful score - John Williams really has out done himself on this one, and I think it's one of the best scores I've heard in years (if perhaps not one of the most original. But if something isn't wrong, why fix it?).