Iain W. Reeve, A&E Editor

ith the release of Star Wars:

Revenge of the Sith this

week, most have been

focusing on whether or not this film,
unlike the other two installments in
the new trilogy, lived up to the lega-
cy left by the original trilogy. This
was certainly what was on my mind
at 12:01 Thursday morning as I sat
in a packed theatre of ravenous
nerds, some of whom, like me,
only had the courage to show
their horrid star lust at night.
But as the 20th Century Fox
logo appeared, accompanied
by the familiar drums, strings,
and horns, I realized as I sat
in all my nerd glory reading
the scrolling text that begins
every Star Wars chapter,
that this would be the last
time. I was suddenly filled
with a sense of dread in
knowing that I would
never again stand in line
to see another new Svar
Wars film. And while the
universe is not dying—
books and comics
will continue to

ca

12 | www.theotherpress.

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be popular and an inter-trilogy live-action TV
series is expected to launch in 2006—the
experience will never be the same.

This, of course, put all kinds of extra
pressure on the film I had sat down to see.
As the infamous scrolling text concluded I
thought, “Well, if it’s the last time it sure as
hell better be good.” And truth be told, it
was. Like both of the other films in the new
trilogy, Revenge has its weak points. As much
a master of character and world design as
George Lucas is, and while the overall story
does everything it should, the dialogue is as
weak as ever. Many critics have blamed a lack
of chemistry for the awkwardness that exists
between Hayden Christiensen and Natalie
Portman on screen; but I personally believe
that there are no two actors alive that could
shine together reading those lines. Most dia-
logue between the two amounts to little more
than “I love you more. No, I love YOU
more” type banter, devoid of any genuine
emotion. There are various lame duck lines
and poor deliveries throughout the film,
some even by solid actors like Ewan
McGregor and Ian McDiarmid. I blame poor
writing, and the fact that the vast majority of
the film’s locations are computer generated.
It’s hard to be in character when many of the
areas, objects, and, indeed, people you're talk-
ing to are not really there.

These faults, however, are minimal
beside the film’s many triumphs. The film
begins with a true return to Str Wars
form. A good balance of action with
whimsical comedy. It was this balance
that made the original films so
enjoyable, and while Anakin is
no Han Solo, he has some
genuine good moments.
Though I, like other critics,
have wondered how much
better the film could have
been with a better actor
behind the wheel of
favourite villain.
While the humour of the
film is slowly sucked out during

our

the film’s progression, the audi-
ence is treated to a sense of
doom and despair only previous-
ly present in Empire Strikes Back.
The shocking events through
which Anakin turns to the dark
side, the fate of the jedi, and the
cataclysmic duel with Obi-Wan,
all make for fantastic space drama.
I think the most unheralded story
here, however, is the visual trans-

June 8/2005