Iro's One Movie a Day Thread

I found The Devil's Rejects to be entertaining in a disgusting violent way. Zombie missed the mark a bit with House of 1,000 Corpses but I feel he finally hit his stride here.

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Suspect's Reviews

Zombie has something about his films that I like, that atmospheric crazy colorful lunacy, which seems to be all over his works. But then there's also something about them I can't stand.

But, that said, I still hope he will make a "perfect movie" some time in the future. I think The Devil's Rejects was the closets he ever got and the only Zombie movie I kind of like, but I'm still not entirely convinced.

It's his best film for sure. Halloween 2 is his worst.

No point of trying to pick apart your review of The Devil's Rejects; even a fan like me should understand it's not for everyone. It just seems to suit my taste well, as does Natural Born Killers, which strangely is a movie I dislike. Go figure.

You got that right.

H2 is one of the worst movies I have ever seen and I don't mean that in an over exaggerated kind of way to prove a point. I actually do mean it's absolute garbage and beyond terrible...

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I totally agree. Here's my review of that crap.

I'll concede that it's probably the best of the three Zombie movies I've seen, though it doesn't really have much competition. At least Halloween had Malcolm McDowell in it, but that's about it. But yeah, to me it's the wrong kind of violently/disgustingly entertaining. I'll go in for the fantastically gory like Evil Dead or Story of Ricky, but the violence in The Devil's Rejects comes across as mean-spirited in a way that I can't really shrug off.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

#629 - Beginners
Mike Mills, 2010



An anachronic tale of a man learning that his father is not only gay but also dying of a terminal illness.

For the most part, Beginners feels pretty standard for a quasi-independent dramedy. The protagonist (Ewan McGregor) learns that his recently widowed father (Christopher Plummer) has actually been in the closet the whole time that he was married, which leads to him immediately becoming very active in the LGBT community and taking on a much younger lover (Goran Višnjić). This is followed up very quickly by the revelation that Plummer has also contracted a malignant tumour that is slowly but surely threatening to kill him. The story mainly jumps back and forth between three different time periods; McGregor's childhood, his time with his ailing father, and also during his burgeoning relationship with a young woman (Mélanie Laurent). Juggling a number of anachronic narratives featuring McGregor is a bit of a gamble but it pays off just fine. This much is borne out by the repetitive use of motifs such as McGregor describing various time periods by referencing certain period-appropriate characteristics such as U.S. presidents and the changing of certain social norms.

There's nothing overly objectionable about the ways in which Beginners goes about delivering its narrative. The film ends up being middle-of-the-road despite its more experimental juxtapositions of different time periods in concurrence with McGregor's artistic sensibilities. It's also pretty standard as far as the filming techniques go. As such, Beginners' main strength becomes about its actors. Plummer understandably won an Oscar for his work here as he willfully embraces the various nuances of his Oscar-baiting character, conveying his character's highs and lows with equal aplomb. McGregor makes for a significant source of gravitas as a frequently conflicted protagonist even as he deals with various issues not just when it comes to his father's deteriorating condition but also through his difficulties in relating to Laurent (who is herself a very capable performer whose character gets her own difficult back-story). The technique on display is pretty straightforward when it's not indulging frequent time-shifts or expository montages, but it is said time-shifts and montages that give the film some personality. Beginners is ultimately a pretty decent example of an indie with some good performances (especially from the dog who serves as Plummer's pet) and also manages to prove tolerable despite its occasional concessions to quirk (such as the dog silently being subtitled as if he is responding to McGregor).

#630 - For a Few Dollars More
Sergio Leone, 1965



A pair of rival bounty hunters - one a nameless cowboy, the other a former Army colonel - join forces to take on a gang of murderous thieves.

Original review found here.

#631 - Legend
Ridley Scott, 1985



In a magical fantasy realm, a young man must save a princess when she falls prey to an evil demon.

I do wonder how Ridley Scott's career might have gone if Blade Runner had managed to prove more of a success, especially now that I've seen his most immediate cinematic follow-up to that rather maligned science-fiction film. Legend thus shifts into far more accessible territory by having Scott helm a project that is very much rooted in the sort of fantasy trends that were prevalent during the mid-1980s. Here, the plot revolves around a young forest-dweller (Tom Cruise) showing a princess (Mia Sara) the unlikely sight of two unicorns. The unicorns are immediately attacked by goblins working in the service of a dark lord (Tim Curry), resulting in Cruise and Sara being separated. It is up to Cruise and a band of fairy folk to defeat the Lord and save the day. Unfortunately, the main flaw with Legend is that it fails to distinguish itself in any major way. A number of notable high-fantasy adventures from the era tried to justify their narratives by giving them realistic framing stories (with the most notable examples being Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and The Princess Bride). Legend opts to play its tale of an enchanted forest incredibly straight, which is unfortunately reflected in just how flimsy it feels. This much is only borne out by the extremely lean running time, which barely scrapes the 90-minute mark and yet still feels padded out.

As I've noted in virtually every instance of my reviewing a Ridley Scott film, I definitely have to give some credit to the man's capacity for delivering some fairly impressive technical detail even when the various concepts of display threaten to look ridiculous. Some of the elements are a bit too silly-looking such as Cruise's Peter Pan outfit or his various good companions, but they are compensated for by Curry's impressive appearance as a bright-red devil and even one well-done scene involved a possessed black dress (it makes sense in context). There's a lushness to the cinematography that at least means the film is fairly pretty to look at as well. Veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith sadly delivers one of his lesser scores here. Cruise and Sara may not be the strongest leads - the former seems to be on autopilot in his extremely simple role while the latter at least gets some room to stretch that is at least more interesting than the usual damsel routine - but Curry's trademark deep voice lends his villain even more menace. Legend may have well-captured visuals but they are in service to an incredibly weak story and characters that are not good enough to carry a film, even a short one like this. Recommended for major fans of high fantasy and Scott obsessives.

#632 - Highlander: The Final Dimension
Andrew Morahan, 1994



An immortal swordsman must confront his past when a vicious adversary who has been buried for hundreds of years unexpectedly resurfaces.

The original Highlander was a fun little B-movie with a good high concept about a secret race of immortals who must duel each other to the death in the hopes of being the last one standing and thus acquiring a magical prize. The problem with such a concept is that its narrative and conclusion don't exactly open up a lot of room for sequels. This is why Highlander 2: The Quickening is especially reviled among sequels because of how drastically it had to change the existing canon in order to accommodate a sequel (most notably dropping the low fantasy angle of immortal warriors in favour of some nonsensical sci-fi premise that recast said immortals as amnesiac aliens banished from their home planet). While Highlander 2 is a prime example of a sequel that goes off the rails completely, its immediate successor Highlander: The Final Dimension goes in the complete opposite direction by choosing to shamelessly rehash the first film. Taking place eight years after the events of the original Highlander (and disregarding the events of Highlander 2 in the process), The Final Dimension starts by showing series protagonist Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) traveling to Japan to visit a wise immortal (Mako) only to be tracked down by an extremely vicious immortal named Kane (Mario van Peebles). Eventually, Kane and his crew of evil immortals are sealed inside a mountain for centuries and are only broken out during an excavation being overseen by archaeologist Alex Johnson (Deborah Kara Unger). Kane then makes it his mission to find MacLeod and travels to New York in order to find him and kill him.

While I can't blame the creators for wanting to recreate the same kind of magic that made Highlander a cult hit in the first place, this mainly extends to empty replication. It's pretty obvious that Kane is meant to be the same kind of vicious barbarian as the original film's Kurgan and any differences that van Peebles brings to the proceedings are either negligible or too ridiculous (such as his centuries-old character's reaction to a condom). Unger's character is also familiar in that she is supposed to be the civilian scientist who stumbles upon the secret of the immortals while also becoming something of a love interest for MacLeod (which is made extremely straightforward when MacLeod has flashbacks to his romancing of an 18th-century French noblewoman who also happens to be played by Unger). MacLeod, well, he's still MacLeod and Lambert's Wiseau-like accent is still in full force. Even Mako channeling the same kind of wizened mysticism he displayed in Conan the Barbarian makes very little difference here. Other sub-plots are recycled, such as MacLeod once again becoming the prime suspect in a police investigation (which naturally doesn't go anywhere). The addition of Kane being able to perform illusions and sorcery does little to spice up the sword-fighting aspects and its application is frequently baffling (especially when taking into account the shoddy effects work involved).

Though you'd think it'd be hard to overtake or even measure up to Highlander 2 when it comes to being a bad sequel, Highlander: The Final Dimension manages it just fine. For all its faults, at least Highlander 2 took a stab at trying to do something different, which makes its failure weirdly admirable. The Final Dimension, on the other hand, feels like an attempt to apologise for its predecessor's weirdness by attempting to restart the continuity and play things extremely safe (use of sorcery notwithstanding). Of course, in doing so it still plays serious havoc by contradicting the established rules of the game (apparently MacLeod was able to win despite Kane still being alive, which is pretty ridiculous even for this franchise). The action is also pretty weak and the film feels very dated in a lot of ways, especially that score (which seems to rip off Mötley Crüe completely during the final fight) and the cinematography, which is occasionally eye-catching in its garishness but often feels as trashy and '90s as you'd expect from this film. Very difficult to recommend even to people who liked the original.

#633 - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
George Lucas, 1999



Two Jedi knights are brought in to solve a trade dispute that soon escalates into a major military conflict.

Yep, I'm running the series and in chronological order. The saga begins with The Phantom Menace, which I'm not entirely sure I could truly bring myself to hate purely on the basis of nostalgia value. I was nine when this came out in theatres and naturally in the middle of the target audience, so of course I really liked it. Of course, I aged out of that before too long (but not before seeing it a lot, and not always of my own accord) but of course I'm still willing to re-watch it just to see how it holds up even now. Unfortunately, nostalgia and fond memories only go so far when it comes to this film. Everything that I was willing to overlook back in the day has now come roaring back in full force as I re-entered a galaxy far, far away. The tale starts off with the introduction of Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) who start the film trying to resolve a trade dispute between the small planet of Naboo and an opportunistic corporation. Action breaks out before too long, with Neeson and McGregor being forced to rescue the planet's queen and attempt an escape to the galaxy's capital city-planet Coruscant, but circumstances maroon them on a desert planet called Tatooine where they encounter a young slave named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) whose gifts as both a pilot and mechanic prove to be quite advantageous.

To be fair, there are some qualities that I do like about The Phantom Menace. Some good actors are assembled here and they are able to elevate some of the material on display, especially Neeson and McGregor as the calmly confident master and his fresh-faced but capable apprentice respectively. Lucas' tendency towards visual perfectionism is shown off frequently, resulting in some decently-crafted production design and practical effects. Though the computer-generated effects are naturally more pronounced, they are handled with competence more often than not (even if they are a bit too obvious in some instances). This extends to a fair bit of the action as a lot of the usual Star Wars action set-pieces are indulged, whether it's high-speed pursuits or lightsaber duels. Some moments are handled well, whether it's an underwater chase that sees the Jedi heroes attempting to escape from a series of dangerous deep-sea creatures or the climax involving their two-against-one duel against malevolent Sith lord Darth Maul (Ray Park). There's also something to be said for series composer John Williams' score, which evokes all the original trilogy's leitmotifs while also providing solid additions of his own (most notably during the aforementioned climatic duel).

Of course, these moments are all but cancelled out by a lot of the less impressive things on display. The film's pacing is alternately quick and slow, either pushing through a story quickly (especially during the first act) or getting bogged down in seemingly extraneous matters (most notoriously during the sections on the city-planet Coruscant, which mainly consist of political diatribes and various council meetings, though the entire Tatooine sequence is pretty sluggish as well). The attempt to set up a climax that has four separate sections is ambitious but doesn't exactly pay off when at least one or two of them aren't too interesting anyway (and that whole ten-minute pod-racing segment used to be so amazing but now it does feel unnecessarily long). The character of Jar Jar Binks naturally becomes less tolerable with each viewing, especially once I realise how forced his presence is in some cases (this was the viewing where I finally realised how little sense it made for an amphibious creature to be out and about on Tatooine, but hey, this movie needs to feature its comic-relief character somehow). The same goes for Portman and Lloyd as the youngest heroes, who do their best but just aren't that good. Solid actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Brian Blessed aren't put to the best use as they are relegated to small roles. These are just a few of the factors that lead to me realising that, while I don't really hate The Phantom Menace, I definitely feel like I've seen it more than enough times. It's visually decent, but there really isn't anything here to make me want to revisit it...until the lead-up to the next film or trilogy, that is.

#634 - Red River
Howard Hawks, 1948



A cattle baron plans on conducting a massive cattle drive but runs into trouble when his draconian demands cause his subordinates to mutiny.

John Wayne might just be the most iconic actor in the Western genre, serving as a strong representation of the classic pre-revisionism Western as a result. Despite that, he was still able and willing to appear in films that challenged his status as the strident hero of the wild frontier. Red River is a prominent example of a film where Wayne is made to play a character with more depth and flaws than usual that push him beyond being a mere anti-hero. He starts off as a member of a cattle-driving operation whose decision to strike out on his own proves fortuitous when his former convoy is attacked. Starting off with only two cattle and a couple of subordinates, he soon carves out a large tract of land for himself and becomes a prominent cattle baron in his own right. Years later, he plans to launch what is then the largest cattle drive to ever happen along with his faithful offsiders (Montgomery Clift and Walter Brennan). The ambitious nature of the undertaking proves troublesome for numerous reasons and Wayne's intention of keeping control of his outfit by any means necessary eventually leads the men under him to question his authority; this of course includes Clift, an orphan who had grown up with Wayne as a father figure and thus finds himself torn between loyalty and pragmatism.

Under the guidance of malleable genre filmmaker Hawks, Red River proves a decent example of a Western. It does have its flaws - in many respects it's a little too long and monotonous as it captures the details of the cattle drive in excruciating detail, which can get a little boring at times (especially taking into account how it's shorter than Hawks' later Western Rio Bravo yet somehow feels longer). Wayne gets the chance to play a character with some depth as he is also haunted by the woman he lost to a murderous Native, while Clift gets his own fairly complex journey as he is forced to stand up to the domineering Wayne not just out of necessity but also out of an inner need to prove himself not just to Wayne but to himself. His defiance of Wayne is also complicated by his relationship with Joanne Dru's feisty pioneer woman, who definitely stands out here as she delivers a memorably strong performance. Other recognisable Western players pop up and deliver decent turns; between this and Rio Bravo, Brennan certainly seems to have cornered the market on playing toothless old fusspots who make for great comic relief, while the very distinctive Hank Worden does some good work in a small part. The monochromatic photography works alright, as does the typically Western score.

Red River ends on a note that does feel more than a little schmaltzy even by the standards of classic Hollywood, standing out even amidst the generally idealistic myth-making that characterised Westerns of the era. Even though it's easy to look at such a resolution and roll one's eyes, one can't help but appreciate how it subverts the expected and set-up conclusion in one fell swoop. The film as a whole may be a bit by-the-numbers as far as classic Westerns go, but it's still an enjoyable enough piece of work more often than not. It might stand to be tighter, but there are still some well-handled moments that not only work well at defining the characters but also have greater ramifications for the story at large (the most obvious instance of which being one minor character's habit of casually stealing tiny amounts of sugar ultimately leading to shockingly major consequences). Hawks would arguably refine this capacity for conveying smaller stories within a more basic overarching narrative and depicting character development with later films (especially Rio Bravo), but even for a rough draft Red River proves fairly watchable.

#635 - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
George Lucas, 2002



Two Jedi knights find themselves at the heart of a conflict that involves political assassinations and the threat of all-out war.

I honestly don't think I've seen Attack of the Clones in full since it first hits cinemas back in 2002. I definitely remember seeing The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith more than once, but I honestly could not say the same for this film. Whether that's because of a genuine lack of opportunity or because I might have actually blocked out my memories, that's open to interpretation. Attack of the Clones picks up several years after the events of The Phantom Menace, with Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) still in the process of mentoring his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), who harbours a serious affection for Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman). The political intrigue from The Phantom Menace has only grown stronger; after an assassination attempt is made against Padmé, the Jedi council is brought in to find out who's behind it and it leads to the unexpected discovery of an army of clones among other things.

It seems like I was right to avoid re-watching Attack of the Clones properly for so many years. Being the middle part of an intended trilogy, it's very easy to see it as an unfortunate compromise between the family-friendly adventure of The Phantom Menace and the relative complexity of Revenge of the Sith. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the film is now afforded an excuse to explore the relationship between Anakin and Padmé, which is of course given over to several scenes of frolicking on her home planet of Naboo and also the sub-plot where Anakin returns to his home planet of Tatooine and starts to embrace his inner darkness. Though these are arguably necessary to explore how Anakin makes the transition from bright-eyed boy to one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, they certainly don't feel necessary within the context of this film, and Christensen feels a bit too wooden to be selling such qualms effectively (though that could just be down to Lucas's poorly-handled writing of the pair's scenes together). Even the main plot involving Obi-Wan working to uncover the truth behind an army of clones made from the DNA of an amoral bounty hunter (Temeura Morrison), which also manages to tie in with a Sith conspiracy, feels awfully underweight even when the implications should prove engaging.

Though it's arguably not any worse than the work displayed in The Phantom Menace, the effects shown in Attack of the Clones don't even feel like enough to redeem the film's lesser qualities. While there's definitely some strength to them, any actual action sequences feel awfully free of substance, whether it's Obi-Wan and Anakin chasing an assassin through the crowded metropolis of Coruscant (in a sequence that feels like something out of The Fifth Element) or an instance in which the trilogy's various heroes must fight their way out of a gladiatorial arena filled with vicious monsters. Any actual thrills or excitement over what's going on feel like they're coming from an area of resignation, like I have to force myself to enjoy what's going on because that's what's going on here. As such, I am liable to think of Attack of the Clones as my least favourite of the currently-available Star Wars films. Even with such promising elements as Christopher Lee playing a menacing villain or seeing wrinkled old Jedi master Yoda actually show off his formidable combat abilities, the film feels like an absolute chore to get through. It does little to justify its considerable length and the odds of it being worth an additional watch are pretty damned minimal.

#636 - Pineapple Express
David Gordon Green, 2008



A slacker witnesses a murder and must go on the run with his drug dealer.

Pineapple Express definitely seems like a film that I should like in theory but struggle to appreciate in practice. After a prologue set during the 1950s in a top-secret research facility dedicated to studying marijuana, it cuts to the modern day where a twenty-something process server (Seth Rogen) is about to contact the latest person (Gary Cole) on his list, only to see Cole and a police officer (Rosie Perez) murder an Asian man. He speeds off in horror, but soon realises that he left behind a joint made of a rare type of weed that can easily be traced back to him through his dealer (James Franco), so of course it leads to both Rogen and Franco going on the run and trying to find a solution to their problems. Much like Superbad (which was also written by Rogen and frequent writing collaborator Evan Goldberg), this results in a film that has an admittedly interesting premise but is undone by a variety of factors, especially the individuals involved in the production. I think if I watch a movie and find myself thinking "what if _______ had written/directed/starred in this instead" then that's a pretty significant problem, and Pineapple Express has that in spades.

For starters, it's a bit too long. I've noted that films featuring Judd Apatow's involvement to one extent or another tend to be a little too long for their own good and Pineapple Express is no exception in that regard. It's mainly because there are a few sub-plots that don't go anywhere, the most prominent of which is Rogen's character's tenuous relationship with a high-school student (Amber Heard), which chews up a lot of time and doesn't yield a lot of amusement in the process (except maybe when one of her parents stabs Franco with a fork...don't worry, it makes sense in context). The same extends to the entire first act, which always feels like a chore to get through. Despite the emphasis on stoner comedy and the typical Apatow brand of semi-improvised conversational humour, I honestly think this film's a lot better when it opts to focus on its action-parody comedy. It hits a few of the expected action beats - a fistfight here, a car chase there - and I would genuinely like it a lot more if it cut down on the more extraneous excuses for comedy and focused on that kind of thing. Of course, you still have to sit through a lot of odd-couple comedy as Rogen's relative straight-man must contend with the fact that he's more or less stuck with Franco's overly friendly and incompetent dealer, who Rogen sees less as a friend than as a necessary evil when it comes to acquiring weed. Various other performers, such as Danny McBride as an associate of Franco's or Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson as a pair of relentless hitmen, do what they can with the material but it never quite feels like enough.

Though I've given it more than one chance to truly impress me, Pineapple Express still feels like an aggressively mediocre waste of a truly promising narrative concept. It's still got some laughs, but their distribution across a two-hour film is a bit too haphazard to guarantee that this is a truly worthwhile comedic experience. It's a shame, because there are some inventive twists on existing action-movie clichés (most notably Franco's attempt to kick out a damaged windshield during a car chase). Of course, some of them just keep falling flat (such as McBride's ability to take a seemingly endless amount of fatal-looking punishments across the course of the movie), and that's without mentioning the stuff that doesn't go anywhere (case in point - everything involving Heard's character). The sheer amount of wasted potential on display is just so frustrating that I've managed to watch this movie multiple times and still can't feel like I honestly enjoy it, which is a problem when it's a fairly straightforward comedy. To be fair, it gets enough laughs to stop me from thinking that I can truly hate it, but that's not enough to significantly redeem it.

#637 - Lockout
Stephen St. Leger and James Mather, 2012



A roguish convict is sent to infiltrate a maximum-security prison located in space in order to rescue the President's daughter.

At this point, I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that there isn't going to be another original Escape From... movie. If the past decade or two of his career is any indication, it's obvious that John Carpenter doesn't really give a damn about the idea (especially when Escape From L.A. seems explicitly designed to sabotage the possibility of a third film). Unsurprisingly, other individuals would jump at the possibility to make their own versions that would have the proverbial serial numbers filed off. Despite the opening credits citing that Lockout is "based on an original idea by Luc Besson", there's no fooling me. I wouldn't have bothered with this film if I didn't already think that it would be Escape From New York in space, so the idea that Besson would either use or even require this credit feels especially patronising to an audience. It really is a very similar plot, with a smart-mouthed convict (Guy Pearce) being coerced into infiltrating a space station dedicated to housing the most dangerous criminals in existence (who have naturally broken out of their containment units). His mission is to rescue the President's daughter (Maggie Grace), who is visiting the station as part of a humanitarian mission. As Carpenter's films have shown, that's more than enough of a set-up, and by the signs of this film's incredibly brief length, it's not an overly necessary one.

Unfortunately, the execution results in Lockout becoming a largely forgettable mess. Pearce plays an anti-hero whose capability borders on the divine even as he fights in search of a self-interested goal involving a locked briefcase and wrongful arrest (which does make him somewhat sympathetic but still feels like a fundamentally empty sub-plot), while Grace gets little more to do than play the damsel-in-distress role with the occasional moment of contribution thrown in for good measure. Attempts to stack the cast with recognisable character actors don't pan out too well; Peter Stormare fills the Lee Van Cleef role as Pearce's duplicitous handler while Joe Gilgun fills the Isaac Hayes role as the insanely violent villain who is only kept under control by his more cool-headed but no less dangerous brother (Vincent Regan). The slick space-station visuals are pretty sterile and only serve to make much of the film's action extremely difficult to remember with its generic mix of gun-play, hand-to-hand brutality, and space-faring action. Aside from Pearce getting in a decent amount of scenery-chewing as the sardonic anti-hero, there's virtually nothing to recommend about Lockout. In very much the same way that Besson's Lucy proved an aggressively poor substitute for an official Black Widow movie, Lockout is aggravating for not being able to provide a particularly watchable Escape From New York clone. At this point, I'd welcome a straight remake of Carpenter's film - it could hardly be worse than its imitators.

How much time off do you have?

I don't agree too much with your Pineapple Express review, though I do think that Apatow movies are often too long. That's true.

Amber Heard may not be so important as a character to herself, but it says more about Rogen's character and I think she works fine as this obvious but small plot device that she is, without feeling too much pushed in there. It's obvious this movie is about Rogen and Franco's journey so I'm fine with her not being a majorly developed character or anything.

I don't know why but last time I checked I kind of liked Attack of the Clones and also liked it the most out of all the prequels. I haven't read all of your Episode 1 yet and have still to read Episode II, so I'll check in on those later.

Too much.

#638 - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
George Lucas, 2005



During an interplanetary conflict, a Jedi knight is forced to choose between his rigidly dogmatic order and a seemingly benevolent politician as he works to prevent his tragic visions from coming true.

Die Hard. Casablanca. Midnight Cowboy. 12 Angry Men. Alien. The Incredibles. Planet of the Apes. Ghost in the Shell. If you're wondering what all these films have in common, it's that when I first decided to contribute a Top 100 thread to this website about ten years ago I not only included those films at the bottom of my list but also managed to rank a certain film just above all of them. Take a wild guess what that film was...Aside from taking my relative youth and inexperience into account, it would naturally be easy to overrate Revenge of the Sith after taking into account its two predecessors, the colourfully fluffy The Phantom Menace and the dully inconsistent Attack of the Clones. As if knowing what it's got to compensate for, the film starts by plunging audiences into the midst of a massive space battle, once again following Jedi knights Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) as they launch a rescue mission for the republic's chief executive, Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). After completing the mission, Anakin learns that his true love Padmé (Natalie Portman) is expecting a baby, which leads him to have all sorts of troubling visions that portend a future in which she dies. Willing to do anything to counter the possibility of these visions coming true, he allows himself to fall under the sway of the affable Palpatine, who promises him the ability to avoid such a fate.

The whole plot of Anakin enacting what would turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy initially struck me as compelling tragedy, but looking at it now does make it seem quite simplistic. To the film's credit, it doesn't completely mess things up in this regard, but it's still underwritten enough to make Anakin seem like a gullible dope more so than a desperate man being twisted into another person entirely (though this might have something to do with Christensen's performance as well). The other narratives running throughout the film also feel like they exist to pad out the narrative - Obi-Wan and Yoda's journeys to snuff out pockets of villainous rebels are sporadically entertaining (especially in the former's case), while Palpatine's plots to consolidate his power are thankfully pushed into the background for the most part. At the very least, I'm grateful for it being a little tighter in every regard than Attack of the Clones. Though this is understandably intended to be the darkest of the three prequels, one can't help but marvel at some of the goofier attempts at drama, such as the incredibly serious use of the word "younglings" or the pointed exchanges that take place during the film's fiery climax.

Revenge of the Sith earns the distinction of being the best Star Wars prequel, even if it does so mainly by default. At the very least, its most memorable moments are pretty evenly split between the genuinely entertaining and the unintentionally silly, with the former just edging out the latter. The split between good and bad also exists on a technical level, as this film does feature considerable ambition right out of the gate with its lengthy opening sequence involving a space battle that segues into a virtual tower siege and at least manages to outdo that with the climatic lightsaber duel on a damn lava planet. Those are the moments that define Revenge of the Sith for better or worse. It at least provides a somewhat satisfactory conclusion to a collection of films that were admirably independent misfires at best and mindlessly vapid blockbusters at worst (regardless of their connection to one of the most beloved cinematic franchises in existence). In my review of The Phantom Menace, I pointed out that I couldn't really bring myself to hate that particular movie because of the nostalgia involved, which is a sentiment that applies in greater force to Revenge of the Sith if only because, well, it is a genuinely better movie.