And So It Ends

I finally had the chance to go and see what may end up being the biggest movie of the summer, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It is definitely the darkest of all six of the Star Wars movies and much better than Episodes I and II, but it still didn't strike me as being worth seeing more than once. The special effects were definitely made to be seen on the big screen and were awesome to watch, but the acting was awful and the dialogue was weak. The only reason I went to see it was to finish up the saga. I was raised on the original trilogy and had seen the first two prequels, so going to see the last one was really a no-brainer.

One thing that really stuck out at me was a line near the end of the movie when Anakin and Obi Wan have their encounter on the volcanic planet. Obi Wan Kenobi tells Anakin that "only the Sith speak in absolutes," or something along that line. Throughout the Star Wars tale the "power" of the force is split into two distinct sides: the "light side" and the "dark side." The Jedi, the good guys, use the light side of the force while the Sith, the bad guys, use the dark side. There is always a clear, absolute distinction between the good and the bad with no gray areas. Then one of the main Jedi says that only the bad Sith split it up in absolutes that way. I found that to be rather ridiculous, and also rather offensive as I myself believe in absolutes.

An irony I saw in the movie was the fact that Anakin's attempt at saving Padme's life by going to the dark side ended up being the very thing that killed her in the end. His doing the wrong thing for the right reason ended up causing more grief that there would have been otherwise.

Well, that is my take on the movie. For some reason I do not feel the same despair at seeing the Star Wars saga coming to a close as I did when the final Lord of the Rings movie came out. For me, there just wasn't a very strong connection with the characters or the story line.