I want my own light saber!

EPISODE 3 ROCKS!!!

SPOILER ALERT - stop reading here if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to find out too much about it. Also, a warning - this post will be a bit longer than my usual posts.

I finally got to watch Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith last night and it was fantastic! It was packed with kick-ass action, dazzling special effects, and awesome battle and fight scenes (and often these multiple fight scenes are all happening at the same time, in true Star Wars form). Naturally, the Sith win out here, Darth Vader is born, and the Jedi order is essentially wiped out (remember from Episodes 4-6 that the only Jedis left alive during the rule of the empire are Obiwan Kenobi and Yoda, and then of course eventually Luke Skywalker too). This obviously gives the film a much darker tone and feel than any of the other episodes of this series, and all the violence and death that surrounds the rise of the Empire definitely made this movie depressing to watch at times. But that is part of the entire experience (and then you just remind yourself that Anakin finds his good side again in the end and helps Luke kill the Emperor to bring freedom back to the galaxy). And as Duncan told me last night, the most critically acclaimed of the series so far is the one where the enemy wins (i.e. Empire Strikes back). But hey, damn the critical acclaim. My fave of the series is still Return of the Jedi. Guess I'm a sucker for good endings. =)

But on to the movie. Or movies. For me, all 6 episodes really do feel like just one movie cut into 6 parts because it wouldn't fit into just 2 hours. So well when I say my fave is Return of the Jedi, I guess it is more like my favorite part of the 'movie' is the last sixth of it, but the whole set is my favorite 'movie' of all time. Talking strictly about what happened in this last installment though, some of the most memorable scenes for me are:

• When R2D2 does some minor ass-kicking of his own. You have here this little droid who has shown tremendous courage under duress and who has risked his, er, life so many times in the entire Star Wars series that you can't help but cheer for him whenever he shows everyone that he isn't as helpless as he initially looks.
• Obiwan's battle with General Grievous. When the General pulls out four mechanical arms, each of them wielding a light saber, you would've thought Obiwan would be intimidated. But he shows his true Jedi form and dismantles his opposition as only a Jedi can.
• The battle between Mace Windu and Senator Palpatine. Windu shows everyone exactly why he is one of the top Jedi masters. Even after the three other Jedis he was with had been executed quickly by the Emperor, he fought on bravely almost as if he wasn't afraid of the Sith Lord. And he did have Darth Sidious terribly close to death, and would've put an end to the evil machinations of the Senator had it not been for Anakin's interference. That scene also served as the impetus that led Anakin to become Darth Vader. Many people may say that they felt his metamorphosis was too quick, but that scene for me felt too real. Faced with the possibility of losing the love of his life, Anakin made a rash decision and crossed a line from which there was no turning back. Made perfect sense to me.
• The annihilation of the Jedi and the Separatists by Darth Vader. They say absolute power corrupts absolutely, and once Anakin made a commitment to turn to the dark side, he used his desire for greater power and his rage to grow in strength and power and to strike fear into the hearts of everyone. One of the darkest scenes of the movie came when the younglings seek help from Anakin as they do not know what do while the Jedi temple is under attack, and Anakin turns his light saber on. The faces of the younglings were like masks of confusion, fear, betrayal, and terror. Not for the faint of heart.
• Yoda's demonstration of why he is the head of the Jedi council. He was the only Jedi who sensed that his life was under threat, and thus was the only one who was able to survive 'Order 66' without any luck (Obiwan survived because he was too far away for the shot to be as accurate as it needed to be). And his battle with the Emperor showcased just how powerful he was. Of course we already knew that from Episode 2, but to see it again, this time against an even more powerful enemy, just made you want to cheer.
• The duel between Obiwan and Darth Vader. The scene prior to that provided the necessary emotional element - when Obiwan was virtually begging Yoda to fight the Emperor instead of his 'own brother.' It is also in this battle scene where Darth Vader begins to hate Obiwan (and if you will recall, in Episodes 4-6 you could always feel just how much Darth Vader hated Obiwan). And when Obiwan finally had Darth Vader beaten on the ground, I could feel the anguish and despair in his voice - "You were the chosen one" and "You were my brother" or something like that. I could thus understand why Obiwan couldn't truly bring it upon himself to kill Darth Vader with his own hands, and why he just left him there to burn.

So all in all a fantastic movie. I am planning to watch it again this weekend, and I can't wait for the original DVD to come out. I remember leaving the cinema thinking, 'I want a light saber!', almost as if I was a kid again and coming out of the cinema after watching Return of the Jedi with my family. I guess that is really why the Star Wars series is such a hit - you watch it and it makes you feel as though you were young again. It makes you feel like you want to be there, like you want to be a Jedi and wield your own light saber and be in a great team that fights to save the galaxy from oppression.

Apart from the depressing elements of the movie, there is one more downside to this last installment though: there won't be another one.