Saturday, May 21, 2005

Have returned from seeing Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith at the Uptown in Washington. Always great to see films at that theatre, albeit the sometimes excessively long line (expected for such a place). The last Star Wars, the one that adjoins the two trilogies, was very satisfying in that all the questions you may still have are answered. The circle is closed, and the final pieces are locked into place. The low points go to the poor delivery of sometimes flat, dull dialogue that detracts from the overall spectacle, saturated with CG to the point at which the action is amassed into a dizzing blur. The magic of the Jedi loses its novelty in the process, as well, which is a shame.

Moreover, Revenge is an allegorical morality play, but one that is only half-formed. The Jedi, portrayed in my interpretation as moral absolutists, are defending their 'Old Order' from the Sith, who are the relativists, conceiving the whole business of ethics as tied to one's personal perspective. This point is amplified throughout, until the stirring climax, after which the circle is drawn to its conclusion. I could go into more detail here, but the film premiered just about two days ago (counting the midnight showing), so I'll not ruin anything for those left to see it, who number in the several millions

It's the last Star Wars; but, as A.O. Scott of the New York Times pointed out, it's the middle of the two trilogies. In other words, you are bound to see a lot of (successfully) patched ends and the like. More to the point, Scott's well-crafted review reads that the film "is about how a republic dismantles its own democratic principles, about how politics becomes militarized, about how a Manichaean ideology undermines the rational exercise of power." You know, that sort of artsy conjecturing from a premiere elite paper like The Times. Echoing the full-circle idea, Scott writes: "Democracies swell into empires, empires are toppled by revolutions, fathers abandon their sons and sons find their fathers." That's about all there is to it. And other such nondescript generalities. Well ... just see it. By the way, I didn't give away shit.

1 comment:

Entropy said...

I thought it was pretty stupid, but then I aways thought Star Wars was like a sci-fi western.