About a week ago I caved to all the media hype and went and saw the new Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith. I must say, as much as I wanted to hate it, I left the theater eating some of my Lucas-bashing words.

            I’ll admit, my reasons for wanting to see the movie in the first place were less than admirable, especially for a film student. I should have wanted to see the film because of Lucas’s break through digital technology or its significance in film history. Instead, I’ll admit I went to see it because I think Hayden Christensen is really sexy. The other two reasons were much farther down my list of motivations.

         When the film began with a big effects-filled battle sequence, I started to think it might be just another Episode II, which by most accounts was not Lucas’s best work. It definitely started off as a very teenage guy movie: lots of effects, crazy video-game style camera movement, things blowing up left and right, you know. It was only after a little while when I stopped drooling over Hayden Christensen like a horny school girl and started actually paying attention that I began to care about the story and the characters.

Here’s what I got from it:

The first half, at least, was rather typical of the “new Star Wars” stuff that seems more like an effort to bring in some extra money than a chance to explore the “complicated and detailed” story Lucas claims to have in his head. Most of the dialogue was bland and boring and other than some unconventional shots, it was like watching someone play a really well made video game. Of course, Hayden was hot, so it kept me relatively interested.

Once Anakin Skywalker (soon to be Darth Vader) starts to turn to the dark side, things start to get more interesting. Suddenly, the actors have some emotions to work with and the whole thing starts to feel a lot more like a real movie. Because I was a Hayden fan, and I had grown to like him from watching smaller movies like Life as a House and Shattered Glass, I couldn’t wait until the kid got a chance to actually act. He seemed to really get into the character as misguided Anakin started doing progressively more evil and sinister things.

The climax battle on the lava planet, aside from being some of the sexiest footage of Hayden I’ve seen, was shot in a refreshingly different way and the music seemed to be carefully placed rather than just slapped together. For the most part, it was interesting and almost captivating despite some over-the-top moments. For example, at one point Obi-Wan and Anakin are dodging huge bursts of lava or standing on a broken piece of rigging as they sink into a lava pit, yet they still keep fighting each other despite the fact that at any second they could both be burned to a crisp. I understand the key words with Lucas are “bigger” and “more intense”, but there does come a point where the audience is just not going to buy it. Still, for the most part, I’d say the sequence is good.

The best part for me was the entire sequence in which we see the “construction” of Darth Vader. Having studied film, I know a little about the impact the original Star Wars trilogy had on American film making as well as its impact worldwide. Darth Vader is one of the most well know villains in cinema history and it seemed like Lucas really thought about that fact during this sequence. Both the pace and angles of these shots were unlike any other sequence in the series, and that includes the original trilogy. To me, it seemed like he was putting together something just for the hard-core fans of the series, the people who had waited since the 1970s to finally see these moments. Though I’m not a Star Wars super fan, I still thought it was a cool way to give your audience exactly what they want. There’s one shot in particular (and no it’s not the “Lord Vader… rise” shot they show in every single trailer, Burger King commercial, and spoof) that I found to be particularly cool and pertinent for uber-fans who were dying to watch the birth of Darth Vader. I’m not going to say what it is, but if you see the movie, you can probably figure it out. Even Lucas-style editing, for example his use of cool transitions like checkerboard wipes, seemed to be a little tribute to the people who has stuck with the series for so long.

Though the story had some weak points (the strong and active Padme from Episode II was been rendered a passive pregnant housewife?) the film still remained cooler than the second and third Matrix installments. I was especially thrilled to find some direct lines from Bush speeches in the dialogue for the bad guys of the film.

          Just watch out for little things like how many times two characters are walking as they talk about the plot. I understand they’re Jedi knights, but c’mon they’ve gotta want to sit down at some point. Or be sure to notice how many times Padme is sitting on a couch when someone arrives only to deliver some intense news and then just takes off like, “well, good luck with all that.” Or, my mom’s favorite, the hugely over-dramatic acting by Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine during a critical event. I know it's Star Wars but, damn, it's not a cartoon!

I would recommend that people see Star Wars, but you won’t be devastated if you just catch it on DVD. It takes a long time to get good and there are so many effects shots it can sort of desensitize you before the cool ones start. Let’s just put it this way, not even George Lucas could make a film that perfectly combines large-scale effects and solid story like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.