The force will be with you always, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
Time to execute Order 66. Happy 20th anniversary to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Is that a reason to celebrate? Apparently. It was released on May 19, 2005. However, the film is being re-released in theaters this week to mark the occasion. Regardless of how you feel about Revenge of the Sith, the conclusion of the prequel trilogy left an impact that still resonates today. The financially successful reboot of the Star Wars franchise proved that we have an insatiable appetite for these stories.
Without this box-office clout, you might not have the assembly line approach to the Star Wars universe. Andor, Season 2 debuted this week, and several more projects are on the horizon, including The Mandalorian & Grogu (2026) and Star Wars: Starfighter (2027). Credit/blame Revenge of the Sith.
It feels a little unfair to criticize Revenge of the Sith. After all, it delivered on its promise to show us how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. It’s easily the best of the George Lucas-written and directed prequels, but that’s not saying much. Stories about trade disputes and government meetings, plus questionable characters, bad acting, and poor writing plagued The Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones.
Revenge of the Sith had similar problems but amped up the action and toned down the boring stuff. The opening is one of the best for any Star Wars movie. The audience is pulled into the middle of a space battle that, even by today’s standards, looks glorious. Who cares if the dialogue is as robotic as a rusty droid? So much fun. If only the rest of the film were like The Battle of Coruscant.
Instead, Revenge of the Sith gave us a lukewarm tale of how Skywalker turned to the dark side because he was passed over for a promotion and had nightmares about his pregnant wife. It’s a clunky setup with Skywalker going from a noble Jedi into a child-murdering Sith in less time than it takes to microwave a burrito, the most obvious villain reveal of all time (Palpatine is Darth Sidious? No way.), a laugh-out-loud lightsaber battle between Palpatine and CGI Yoda, and the even funnier first appearance of Darth Vader.
Let’s talk about that.
Darth Vader is on the Mount Rushmore of movie villains. He is the avatar of evil until he gets his redemption arc in Return of the Jedi. For such a sinister character, you would expect a punctuation of horror when his transformation is complete. Instead, all we remember is Darth Vader comically yelling “Noooo!” once he is told of Padme’s death.
That awkward scream represented an all-time low for the franchise. It was off-brand for everything we knew about Darth Vader and lacked tone because nobody sounds that ridiculous when grieving. What was supposed to be an emotional scene became memorable for the wrong reasons. It became a meme, a punchline that stripped Lord Vader of his badassery. We never looked at him quite the same.
Revenge of the Sith was a mediocre execution of a great idea. It never reached the critical acceptance of the original trilogy, but that hardly mattered. An ode to fan service accomplished what it set out to do: make tons of money, and it showed the viability of more Star Wars content. Although a new movie from the franchise would not happen until 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we all knew new content was inevitable.
Given the perspective of time, it’s important to note that some key actors went on to great careers. Natalie Portman (Padme) won an Oscar for Black Swan (2010). Ewan McGregor won an Emmy for Halston (2021). Even Hayden Christensen, a four-time Razzie nominee, returned to his famous role recently, appearing as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka.
As for the man most directly responsible for the good and bad of Star Wars, Lucas never again directed another movie. Don’t weep for him, though. In 2012, Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney for $4 billion. He deserved credit for building a pop culture behemoth that will outlive us all. Revenge of the Sith, warts and all, helped give us the Star Wars universe that still thrives today.
