Reviewed by Andrew Wooding

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Director: George Lucas (2005)
Distributor: 20th Century Fox Film Co. Ltd.    Certificate: 12A

The six-part Star Wars saga is finally complete, and what a bumpy ride it’s been. The first film (Episode IV – A New Hope) was shot on a shoestring budget with unknown actors, and yet in 1977 became the highest grossing film ever up to that time. It was also the first film to make significantly more money from its merchandise (toys, books, records, etc) than from people seeing it in the cinemas, a true sign of the dedication of its fans. In short, Episode IV (then known simply as Star Wars) was a phenomenon.

Three years later saw the release of Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, a maturer, more introspective film with a downbeat cliffhanger ending. Then, after another three long years of waiting, the cliffhanger was finally resolved in 1983 with Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, which contained a powerful resolution to the Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker storyline, but also included the embarrassing cutesie Ewoks (which one suspects were only included to boost toy sales) and virtual remakes of scenes from Episode IV (the attack on the Death Star springs to mind). With Episodes IV-VI out of the way, how long did we have to wait for Episode I? 16 whole years, that’s how long!

Now we have the final (and third instalment) of this six-part saga. What do I think of it? Well, I wrote all the above to prove to you that I am not an uncritical Star Wars fan. I am fully aware of all the series’ weaknesses (as well as its strengths) which is why I am more than happy to report that Star Wars III is nothing less than stunning and has completely restored my faith in George Lucas as a storyteller, director and all-round showman.

It will come as no surprise to people that this film is significantly more downbeat than The Empire Strikes Back, but as for that film’s slower, introspective scenes … well, there’s no time for those in Revenge of the Sith. This film never lets up. It starts fast with the half-hour rescue of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (superbly played by Ian McDiarmid, who has really come into his own in this film), then piles on the battles one by one, with only occasional pauses for breath with scenes of political intrigue and personal anguish.

A word of warning: this is a very dark film indeed and is definitely not for younger children. It more than deserves its 12A rating in the UK. In fact, there is one scene – set in the Jedi Temple – that I know will give me nightmares. It makes me shiver just thinking about.

Star Wars fans know that this film has a lot of loose ends to tie up from Episodes I and II, and more importantly needs to set the scene for Episode IV. I went into this film with a mental checklist of all the plot points and apparent contradictions that George Lucas needed to tackle, and I am happy to say that, as far as I am aware, he has tackled each one, most within the last half-hour of the film. Even a few familiar faces and images from Episode IV turn up and they transported me back to those exciting days of 1977.

In short, Revenge of the Sith is a triumph that blew me away, and I know that I will be sitting down to watch this many times. I only wish that Episodes I and II could have been this good. Roll on the forthcoming Star Wars TV series…

THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH 

Some key themes: The misuse of power: good vs evil

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” - Lord Acton, historian (1834-1902)

“Unlimited power!” – the Emperor in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

“Again, the devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4 v 8-10).

As you can see, Jesus didn’t give in to the devil’s three temptations to misuse his power, including this third temptation to rule over all the kingdoms of the world. But after seeing Star Wars: Episode III, read this Bible passage again and see how closely it resembles Anakin Skywalker’s relationship with the evil Emperor. In one scene, Anakin talks of ruling his empire, a clear parallel with Satan’s temptation to rule “the kingdoms of the world and all their splendour”. And as for bowing down and worshipping the Emperor … well, I don’t want to give too much away! But I’m sure it’s no secret that Darth Vader wins at the end of this film at the expense of the Jedi. Evil wins. Good fails. End of story. Or is it?

I know that in writing the Star Wars saga, George Lucas wanted to create a modern-day myth. He has definitely done that with this film, dealing with age-old powerful themes such as good vs. evil and how power can be used to destroy. These themes appear throughout the Bible, particularly the Old Testament stories of Judges, Kings, battles, and even the slaughter of firstborn children. Revenge of the Sith also reminded me of a Wagnerian opera (no doubt helped by John Williams’ epic score), a Shakespearean drama, a Greek tragedy, stories of corruption at the heart of the Roman Empire, and more. The themes in Revenge of the Sith are not new - they have been there since mankind began (unfortunately) - but it is all the more heartbreaking and powerful to see these themes played out on the big screen with big budget effects, a pounding score and characters we know and love making tragic wrong decisions.

It might be coincidence, but the Emperor’s secret order for his agents to destroy the Jedi is referred to as “Order 66”, which sounds remarkably like 666, the number of the beast in the Bible. However, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the penultimate scene with Yoda (a Jedi, and therefore one of the goodies) is set in a white corridor, where he says: “A little more knowledge might light our way.” Whereas the following scene (involving a member of the Sith, one of the baddies) is set on a fiery planet which looks remarkably like traditional images of hell.

The Jedi are described as selfless – those who only care about others. And the Sith, who use the dark side of the Force, are those who only care about themselves. Well, at the end of Episode III, it looks like “those who only care about themselves” have won. Evil has triumphed, then the end credits roll!

Sometimes it looks that in real life as well. Guilty people seem to escape justice, and innocent people suffer. But we forget that there is a bigger picture. We forget that God is a good of justice and that in the end all things will be made right: “But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time comes when all things will be made right again. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets” (Acts 3 v 21).

Focusing on what we see now is like focusing on just this one episode of the Star Wars saga - it all looks bleak and hopeless. Which is why, in prayer and in our whole lives, we need to step back and look at the bigger picture. In George Lucas’s case, the bigger picture took three more episodes to tell, one of which was called A New Hope, and the final of which was named Return of the Jedi. He was showing that good wins out in the end, justice prevails, and even the worst of people can be redeemed by God (just look at Darth Vader’s last scene in Return of the Jedi – he finally turns against the Emperor, describes himself as “saved”, and ends up in Jedi heaven with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi).

Take heart. If your life feels like Episode III at the moment, there may be more Episodes to come, and one of them might be called A New Hope. After all, with God, all things are possible!

Discussion questions....

· Which is your favourite of the six films in the Star Wars saga, and why?

· What and who do you think should be in the promised Star Wars TV series, due to debut next year (2006)?

· Do you think it was right that Anakin was forgiven his sins in Return of the Jedi? After all, he did some pretty nasty stuff in both Episodes II and III, and I personally would find it very hard to forgive him. Can anyone be beyond God’s forgiveness? Think of people like Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden.

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