Revenge of the Sith: 20th Anniversary
Revenge of the Sith (2005).
The best of the maligned Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is the favorite episode among Gen Z fans.
Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith turned twenty this month. Feel old yet? To say it is the best movie of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is both a fact and not much of a statement. To claim it is the best Star Wars movie ever is blasphemy bespoke onto my elder Millennial ears, but it is also the sentiment of many Gen Z fans that I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with, chopping it up about Star Wars. I didn’t believe that this was true among that demographic despite being told this by several of its twenty-something members. A small sample size like this proved nothing to me. I was still convinced that most of today’s whippersnapper Star Wars’ fan would agree that The Empire Strikes Back is the standard bearer for absolute cinema. However, a late April trip to a local movie theater convinced me otherwise.
Disney/Lucasfilm re-released Revenge of the Sith last month to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, and of course I went to see it. When it came out in 2005, I only caught it once in the theater. For shame, I know. I put that on Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Those movies left me feeling empty and disappointed. Revenge of the Sith was a better movie than its two predecessors, but I wasn’t going to spend another damn dime on a second or third ticket when I could just put it into the DVD fund and watch it ad nauseum whenever I pleased. Even though I’ve seen Revenge of the Sith dozens of times since it was originally released, I couldn’t pass up the chance to see it again for its anniversary, on the big screen, with big sound, and my eleven-year-old daughter along for the ride.
I expected to see a building packed with other middle-aged dads and their children, and I wasn’t disappointed, but I was surprised to see the crowd made up mostly of those dang Gen Z youngbloods. They came out in droves, rocking context appropriate gear, and they were stoked. As they should be. The oldest of this generation likely saw the first Revenge of the Sith run in theaters, and this was a nice hit of nostalgia. The younger Gen Zers, though, probably never got to see Episode III in the theater, so this was their first time experiencing the bombastic conclusion to the Anakin Skywalker origin story. My daughter is one of them skibidi Gen Alphers, but she loved seeing this movie on the big screen as it was meant to be seen, even though she’s seen it at the house several times. It isn’t a perfect movie, but it is captivating. It features another two and a half hours of Ewan MacGregor crushing it as Obi-Wan Kenobi, John Williams’ golden touch, and some fantastic action. If you grew up with this one, it is easy to understand the appeal, and that appeal is real.
Love
1. Obi-Wan Kenobi
Ewan MacGregor is the MVP of the Prequel Trilogy. He is consistently excellent as the padawan and then Jedi Master versions of Obi-Wan. Sure, Disney did the character dirty with that bogus series they attached his name to and then decided to sideline him in (at best; at worst, they turned Obi-Wan into an idiot). In Revenge of the Sith, we see the actor’s range, from a mad cap rescue in the opening, to a sick duel with Separatist General Grievous, to the ultimate duel of the fates in the film’s climax. Masterful.
2. The Battle of Coruscant
Simply, a fantastic opening sequence for any movie, and the best opening sequence of the Star Wars movies. Is that a controversial statement? I bet Darth Vader and his stormtroopers blasting their way onto the Tantive IV and capturing Princess Leia was pretty exciting in 1977. It was cool when I first saw A New Hope in the late 80s, but it wasn’t anything like the space battle over Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith. This sequence also finally gives us a lengthy bit of excellent Anakin and Obi-Wan banter. Did they really have to be separated for most of these last two prequel episodes? That was the real tragedy of this trilogy. This opening sequence is the only meaningful part of the movie Obi-Wan and Anakin are in together before they meet again on Mustafar. Which brings me to…
3. The finale
We knew it was coming, but we didn’t know what to expect, and we got an epic throwdown between the master and the student. Brothers in arms and through the Force, Obi-Wan and Anakin spent years together, the former training the latter. The Clone Wars animated series as so much more context to their relationship than we were given on screen.
Hate
1. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
How dare they edit this infamous line of dialogue into the Blu-Ray version of Return of the Jedi.
In my ranking of Star Wars movies, Revenge of the Sith sits comfortably in my top three favorites behind Rogue One and the GOAT, The Empire Strikes Back. It brings to life the fall of Anakin Skywalker, the “Chosen One”, in a grand spectacle that will forever live in the hearts of Gen Zers and will continue to entertain this geezer for decades.
