Star Wars Ends With Solid Sith

Wired news

All good things must come to an end, and all sort-of-mediocre things eventually peter out, too. And so we're faced with the third Star Wars prequel, Revenge of the Sith, simultaneously the most anticipated and dreaded film of the summer. Nearly a decade of hype, dashed expectations and Jar Jar Binks jokes have finally come down to this, by all accounts the last Star Wars movie that will ever be made. Cutting to the chase, there's a lot to like about the new prequel, so much so that I don't hesitate to recommend it to both Star Wars enthusiasts and casual fans -- no matter what you thought of the last two movies. Finally, director George Lucas delivers the film we've been waiting for, full of action involving characters we actually care about, and telling along the way the genuinely soulful story of a young man's fall from grace. The executive summary is that Episode III is easily the best of the prequels, and it's considerably better than the bloated and nonsensical Attack of the Clones. It may even be better than Return of the Jedi. Aside from a number of impressive set pieces (the movie's got light-saber showdowns galore), Sith's best feature is that it finally answers all those nagging questions about the galaxy from long, long ago, particularly about the role of the clones/stormtroopers in the future Emperor's monumental conspiracy to gain power. Here we get to see exactly how the clone wars go down, what happens to the Jedi, how the Republic turns into the Empire, and how earnest Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) plays the ultimate pawn in all of this. It's a long way from Attack of the Clones to A New Hope, but Lucas deserves credit for getting us from point A to point B -- logically (for once), and in just 138 minutes.

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