Revenge of the Sith

Oh, this is so hard. Here goes. IreallylikedRevengeoftheSith. There. I said it. No? Alright. Crap. I...really...liked...Revenge...of...the...Sith! There. Happy?

See, I'm an old man. I saw Star Wars in Jr. high school when it first came out. No! I will not call it 'A New Hope' so piss off. It's Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of the Star Wars flicks. Star Wars comes next and now number 3 is Revenge of the Sith. Return of the Jedi used to hold that spot. That it held on to number 3 after Phantom Menace and Send on the Clones came out doesn't so much speak to any greatness on Jedi's part, but rather more to how awful Menace and Clones were. Now Sith is here and it's moved way up the list. It might even, gasp, be in the running to hit number 2. I need to see it again before I decide. This requires seriously deep geek research and thought. It hurts me to think that the original Star Wars could be displaced, but man I really liked Sith.

Now for the truly terrible part.

Revenge of the Sith would not have worked nearly as well or had half the impact if dear old George hadn't put us through the horrors that were Menace and Clones. That tearing sound was my Star Wars fanboy geek membership card being torn up and thrown in my face. But it's true. Without that obnoxious kid in Episode One and that whiney, petulant teenager in Episode Two, Revenge of the Sith just wouldn't have touched (yes I said touched) me that way it did.

If just a few moments had played out differently, the tragedy of Anikin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader needn't have happened. If Obi-Wan hadn't said 'my very young Padiwan' that last time. If Mace Windu weren't such and officious prick. No I mean it. Windu pissed me off too. He was a dick. I would have killed him myself. But I digress. Just so many little things adding up to a tragic end. And behind it all, Palpatine. A little nudge here, a wink there and the Jedi Council were reduced to blind bats. It was a tragedy in the classic sense and that requires some setup.

So I give George his props. I still think Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are lesser movies, but the payoff in Revenge of the Sith makes them bearable. A little more so anyway.