Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comes out this Tuesday and rest assured, if you haven?t already seen it, you haven?t missed much.

A bright three-year-old can fill in the gaps between episodes II and IV, but then, that?s not really why we watch movies, is it?

There are a lot of virtues and problems with Episode III, and for that matter, the Star Wars franchise in general.
I won?t dwell too long on either the virtues or problems ? everyone knows them already ? except to say that both can be traced back to one simple fact.

George Lucas is a great storyteller, mediocre writer, and awful director.

As far as the storytelling is concerned, I?m no expert, but I?m told that many of the plotlines are lifted from classical mythology, which is what gives them a timeless quality.

These timeless stories are what make the original three movies so popular.

Moreover, the characters are archetypes which people identify with, and which people sympathize with, even if it is happening a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
However, Lucas definitely isn?t a good writer.
If he were, he wouldn?t have villains named Count Dooku and General Grievous.

If he were a good writer, the only two characters that run through all six movies wouldn?t be a grammatically incorrect green elf and a whistling garbage can.

And Lucas is a downright terrible director.

It?s widely unknown that Lucas directed neither Episode V: Empire Strikes Back, or Episode VI: Return of the Jedi ? the two movies widely cited as the best in the series.

For that matter, Lucas didn?t even write the screenplays for Episodes V or VI, other, better writers helped.

Unfortunately, Lucas took a much more dominant role in the filmmaking process when he made the new trilogy, this simple fact may be the single reason that the original trilogy succeeded and the new trilogy flopped.

However, there are other problems with the new trilogy movies, especially Revenge of the Sith.

Lucas would have done well to slash his special effects budged by 90 per cent. There are one or two scenes where the visual effects really add something to the movie, but the rest of the time, it?s totally gratuitous.

I realize, of course, that one of the main reasons people go to these movies is for the visual effects, but sooner or later people have to realize that it?s a passing thing.
At this point, filmmakers can do pretty much whatever they want with computer-generated images. From having a gecko sell insurance to creating whole planets, it has all been done.

The other major problem that runs through the new trilogy, and especially Revenge of the Sith, is that Lucas seems to become too much of a Star Wars fan himself.

The movie reads like a series of fan requests; a list of match-ups and settings that they were dying to see.

(The fight between Yoda and Emperor Palpatine, or the battle on the Wookie home planet, both of which were largely superfluous to the plot, but a lot of fun for diehard fans.)

But enough of the problems with Revenge of the Sith. It?s definitely nothing special in and of itself, but people will see it for the same reason people saw Matrix: Revolutions: because it completes the series.

Personally, I?m happy with how Revenge of the Sith concludes the Star Wars series, and I call upon the force to prevent Lucas from making any more Star Wars movies.

As it stands, not only does Episode III complete the series, it also totally changes the way we watch the original three movies.

Instead of being about the education and triumph of Luke Skywalker, all six movies are now about the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker.

I think that?s really cool, and elevates it to a level far beyond the Buck Rogers B-movie that it originally was, (and, incidentally that justifies the changes Lucas has made to the original three movies, especially airbrushing Hayden Christensen?s face into the end of Return of the Jedi, which is what brings the whole thing full circle.

All told, I found Episode III: Revenge of the Sith every bit as disappointing by itself as Episodes I and II, but infinitely more worth watching because of it?s implications for the series at large.

And while you?re watching Revenge of the Sith, ask yourself this about Lucas:

Is the guy who just directed swordfights in outer space really the same person who?s going to revive the Indiana Jones franchise in 2007?






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