Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

****
Release Date: May 19th 2005

After three years of fighting in the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker falls prey to the Sith Lord's lies and makes an enemy of the Jedi and those he loves, concluding his journey to the Dark Side.

Director: George Lucas (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Indiana Jones Trilogy)

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee

Finally a Star Wars film worthy of its franchise! Deeper and darker than ever before, Revenge of the Sith gives us the one thing we've been waiting for; Anakin's turn to the Dark Side.

Starting with the best and most intense opener of the prequels, Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) are on a mission to save the captured Chancellor Palpatine (McDiarmid) from the clutches of General Grievous. What follows the title credits is a 76 second continuous shot that pans over the ongoing battle between the clone and droid armies. 

There are over 2, 200 visual effects shots in ROTS, more than Phantom and Clones put together. Everything we see is strikingly stunning. Industrial Light and Magic, the effects team behind the whole saga, have spent hours upon hours to open up the Star Wars universe even more; Utapau, a planet in the outer regions, is where Obi-Wan travels to find Grievous is contrasted against the fiery planet of Mustafar where the last and greatest battle contains real footage of Mt. Etna.

The mood and the tone considerably darkens as Anakin's switch to Darth Vader is near. Ian McDiarmid's Palpatine has more attention this time round. He takes on Lucas' script with ease and pulls off the inevitable stunt of manipulating Anakin.

The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones lack a lot of plot-driven set pieces that means Revenge of the Sith could be the one and only prequel film that's worth watching (when it comes to the story of Darth Vader). ROTS feels a little rushed because of this. Hayden Christensen pulls off the shift from Light to Dark without fear but from the moment Anakin starts having troubled visions, to his confrontation with Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) it all happens too fast.

Lucas' scriptwriting is marginally better than before. The dialogue has hard edges, but it's mainly down the flawless acting. Well let's face it, it's only taken two films for the actors to start warming to their characters!

Revenge of the Sith was the last chance that George Lucas had to impress his fans, so it's safe to say that he didn't disappoint.  

Overview: The best of the prequels, Revenge of the Sith is all we want from a sequel-prequel, and much, much more.