Revenge of the Sith - "Hello, There!"

I’ve enjoyed Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan since the beginning. Attack of the Clones made me like him even more. And Revenge of the Sith made him my favorite character in the series. He made the character more than an Alec Guinness impression. He made it his own. It’s no wonder why fans seem more excited about his upcoming series than any other recent Star Wars project.

Alec Guinness, though he hated the films, brought a bit of playfulness to the part in A New Hope, and Ewan McGregor amplified it. His encounter with Grievous is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. 

More importantly, his performance as Anakin lies defeated is heart-breaking. McGregor made Obi-Wan one of the most tragic characters in a series filled to the brim with them. You see true heartbreak in his face as he yells at Anakin. 

The new series about him has me more excited about Star Wars than I’ve been in years. And it’s not just because it’s about Obi-Wan, but also because McGregor is returning. 

Revenge of the Sith not only established Obi-Wan as the prequel trilogy’s greatest character, but it also made him an action hero. His moments early in the film, including the duel with Grievous, are awesome. And his duel with Anakin somehow tops the fight with Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace.

This is what makes Sith the most rewatchable Star Wars movie for me. It’s a straight up action / war film. I have a hard time just putting Empire or Jedi on because I want to get the entire story. But I have no issue with watching Sith out of the blue because it’s so entertaining that I don’t care if the entire story is fresh in my mind. It’s the most visually impressive film in the series, and I doubt that ever changes for me. 

As I’ve gone through the trilogy this time I’m reminded that a large segment of the fanbase still dismissively shits on all three films (even if the younger audiences from the time have become older and have been louder about their love of the trilogy). I could always understand why a Star Wars fan could hate Menace and Clones, but hatred for Sith has always confused me. This is exactly what I want from this series. 

But that’s just it, I suppose. It’s what I want from the series. And if I’ve learned anything about fandom after years of writing about movies, it’s that everyone brings their own personal expectations to every movie, and with a series like Star Wars, those expectations are huge. I’m just glad that these films met and surpassed my expectations despite their flaws. And I hope future Star Wars projects make me feel that way again.

Random Thoughts

“There are heroes on both sides.” Really, opening crawl? Just like there are “good people” at white supremacist rallies. 

I love how taking out the battle droids at the beginning is so simple at this point. These things were introduced in the first film as a serious threat (at least during the Gungan battle scene), and now they are completely used for comedic effect. 

Palpatine being able to grab onto Obi-Wan’s legs mid-fall and swing himself into safety should’ve been the final clue proving him to be a Force-user. The modern equivalent would be Mitch McConnell pulling off such a feat, and then just acting like it didn’t happen. No, there would be questions.

The “love has blinded you” scene still makes me cringe. What annoys me the most is how easy it would have been to fix it. Anakin truly does look like he’s in love with her in that scene. So just have him stand there watching her for a moment, and when she turns to him, have him say, “I love you.” End scene. 

Those Wookiee helicopter things look a lot like the ornithopters from Dune.

Obi-Wan’s face when Anakin admits to being arrogant is great. It’s as if he’s saying, “Fuck yeah, you are.”

I like all the different worlds in this movie. It’s like, “What should we do for this one?”

“I don’t know. Just make them all look like Nosferatus or something, fuck it.”

Grievous drives an It from South Park.

“I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi.” A few years late, aren’t you, Windu?

I need to start yelling “Unlimited power!” when I do cool shit.

“I will do whatever you ask.”

“Good. Go kill all the kids at the Temple.”

“Wait. What?”

Look, Anakin, I get it. You just helped to kill your least favorite teacher, and it seems like you don’t have any choices. But when your new boss gives you an evil-sounding name and tells you to kill kids, that should raise a pretty fucking big red flag.

“He is under a lot of stress, Artoo.” Yeah, killing a roomful of innocent children will do that to you, Threepio, you ignorant droid. Sorry, I’m still mad at him for those cheesy jokes he made in Clones.

I’m against the majority of the killing Vader does, but I was glad to see those Trade Federation fuckheads finally get what was coming to them.

I understand that Sidious is excited to not have to hide his true evil any longer, but he needs to tone that shit down. All those growls and laughs are a bit much.

Padmé dying of a broken heart or whatever is easily the weakest element in the film. I know she has to die at some point, but the abruptness of it causes problems. For instance, Leia claims she remembers her mother. Even ignoring that issue, couldn’t they just have had her die due to the force choking? Just have that medical droid say the choking sent her into labor early and she died from the complications of the birth. Just anything other than that she has “lost the will to live.” Hell, every time I’m hungover I lose the will to live, but here I am.

There are theories that Sidious drained her life to keep Vader alive. But that, along with the theory that he manipulated midi-chlorians to impregnate Shmi, is just doing too much work for the story with no evidence to work with.

“It was said that you would destroy the Sith!” Was it? What exactly is this prophecy? How is the Force balanced if the Sith are destroyed? Luke was right to want to burn those books in The Last Jedi.

Any issues I’ve had with Christensen’s performance disappear when he yells, “I hate you!” at Obi-Wan with such sincere rage.

“Ooh-bah. Ooh-bah.”

We better get at least the voice of Qui-Gon in the TV show. I still think it was a huge mistake not to have his Force ghost appear at the end with Obi-Wan.

Don’t bury her with that charm! It’s made from a japor snippet, hand-carved by Lord Vader himself. It’s priceless!

"Hey, Owen. I know you don't know me. But do you remember that space wizard that was here a few years ago? He stayed for a day, maybe less? Found your dead stepmother then took off? Anyway, here. Raise his baby."