The last in the prequel trilogy is all tragedy/despair and no adventure, but it's the most powerful of the prequels, and it ties up the trilogy perfectly while tying the knot on the whole saga. I find the non-linear order in which these films were released beautiful, the way time seems to loop in the films and everything works synchronously, or as Lucas put it, "it's like poetry, it rhymes." In Revenge of the Sith all of the events of the first two come to a head, and all is revealed. When it was first released I was very underwhelmed with it. I don't think it had anything to do with the film itself, although I remember I found the heavy tone a little crushing as opposed to the previous films which had Jar Jar and podracing and all that. Really Star Wars had lost a lot of appeal, and despite the success of Revenge of the Sith I don't think people were particularly excited for it any more. A lot of people felt disappointed with The Phantom Menace because it was different, although it was new Star Wars and that was enough to keep people hyped for Episode II to see how it would unfold. I think there was further disappointment with Episode II, and by the time Episode III came out, I was a teenager and so were my friends, and as excited as I was for it I didn't feel it in anyone else, even in the cinema, and this might have lessened the experience for me, although I did enjoy the hell out of the film. It is certainly the most powerful of the prequels, possibly of the whole saga. Having rewatched it today, I can say it's a great film.
I like the opening crawl of this one, and the lines "There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere." I'll go into detail as to why it's a great film about the nature of good and evil. It begins with Obi-Wan and Anakin fighting through a Separatist fleet to a rescue Chancellor Palpatine, who is being held by General Grievous aboard his ship. Obi-Wan almost immediately has his ship covered in "buzz droids" loses R4, to which his response is a mere "oh dear," despite having had the droid for three years (I don't think Obi-Wan has much regard for droids), and has to be saved by Anakin. Then they crash land in the hangar of the ship and destroy the disposable balsa wood battle droids the trade federation is still using for some reason, despite the upgraded super battle droids. I think Lucas made those droids particularly useless as a sort of throwback to the stormtroopers who couldn't hit anything. They find the Chancellor tied to a chair, his hands clamped in place and yet his sinister authority still evident, and are cornered by Count Dooku. Earlier Obi-Wan says he senses a trap, and says that the next move is to "spring the trap," and Count Dooku in thinking he has trapped the two jedi finds himself in a trap, while the instigator sits helpless as it unfolds awaiting his opportunity. His illusion of power lies in his belief that he is the manipulator, and even that schemer is eventually trapped. After Obi-Wan is incapacitated (again) Anakin and Dooku face off, until Dooku loses his lightsaber and is left helpless. Anakin is faced with a decision, and crosses the red and blue lightsabers over Dooku's throat, ready to take him prisoner. Anakin, probably feeling some contempt for Dooku for all the death and destruction of the war, is ordered to kill him by Palpatine, who clearly realises the anger he feels for Dooku. Anakin, highly suggestible when faced with this decision does as Palpatine demands and beheads Dooku, before lamenting that he shouldn't have done it and that it's not the Jedi way. This is the trick, Anakin's biggest trap, in which the forces of the light side lead him to the dark side as much as the lure and temptation of the dark side. The conditioning of the Jedi Order makes him second-guess this action and feel shame for it, throwing him into confusion and hesitation, into the black and white prison of self-loathing. Palpatine knows this self defeating uncertainty very well, and it is what makes Anakin so easily manipulated. The Jedi too have been led by the dark side in this way, imprisoned by indecision and attachment to the preservation of order and security. As Yoda says, the first key to the dark side is fear, and the Jedi are filled with it.
The dark side is not separate from the light side by any means, they both work synchronously, and I think there's only really a grey. The dark side represents the deluded doubt, fear, confusion and frustration that exists as fallout to the clarity and peace of the light side, and yet in believing the two sides are separate, the Jedi, who attach themselves to good, noble values, fall, through the fear of loss Yoda warns Anakin of later in the film. This is why I like the line in the opening crawl "There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere." At one point Yoda speculates that the prophecy of the one will who will bring balance to the force (Anakin) could have been misread, and in a way it was, because in the end Anakin does bring balance. The light and dark side are married through his eventual sacrifice to save his son Luke, and it all adds up. Everyone is tricked by this dichotomy.
Anakin, Obi-Wan and Palpatine are trapped by General Grievous, a sort of prototype cyborg war lord with a bad back and lung problems. Why this would be designed into a cyborg I don't know, but I guess it can be put down to the same shoddy workmanship the Trade Federation put into the pathetic battle droids. They escape with ease and then crash land the ship on Coruscant. Obi-Wan, finally admitting that he didn't really do anything to help and that Anakin out-Jedied him in every way, takes a step back and gives Anakin his due credit. Anakin, having fought for years in the clone wars, is finally more lax and easygoing. He finds out that Padme is pregnant and that night has a nightmare that she dies in childbirth, trapped once again by a premonition like the one he had about his mother. Afraid that this one will come true as well, his mind is plagued and he begins to seek out ways to avoid it, going to Yoda for advice. Yoda warns him that he has to be careful when considering the future, and to forget about everything he fears to lose, and that loss is a necessary part of life, effectively telling him that there is nothing he can do about what will come to pass and that the only logical thing to do is to let it all go and meet it as it comes. By trying to avoid this future catastrophe he causes it, sealing it in fate. Everything that is done to avoid the coming oppression ends up creating it. There is no conflict in the force, only the force, which is what the Jedi order fails to take into account, although so does Palpatine. Palpatine could easily be considered a hero for his contributions to the fulfilment of the prophecy. There is no doubt or fear in the prophecy because by its very definition prophecy cannot be wrong, even if it turns out differently than expected.
Sensing the doubt and fear in Anakin, Palpatine feeds it and gives it confidence. He knows Anakin fears the future, and knows the instability and disturbance that comes with that, so he gives him the belief that he has power over it, and uses this to his advantage. He feels the suspicion closing in on him and needs a new apprentice and something to bargain. So in a pivotal scene Anakin is finds himself having to decide between letting Palpatine die at the hands of Mace Windu and the shaky possibility that Palpatine can help him. Here we see the order and rationality of the Jedi clash with the passion and reckless gambling of the Sith, and Anakin caught in the middle of it. In a moment of weakness and desperation he cuts off Mace Windu's hand and Palpatine kills him, and in that instant he is no longer able to turn away from his shame and guilt and it imprisons him completely, and Palpatine makes him a slave to his own self loathing, reinforced by the rigid Jedi code he's been indoctrinated with. He is already imprisoned in that black coat of armour and it cannot come off now, he must carry it for the rest of his life, it is his life support. He becomes a slave to his own egoic desire for control and it only controls him.
The Jedi, who never considered the blind compliance of the clones a threat, are massacred one by one, Palpatine having given them a special order that only he knew about. They think they are leading these troops against the forces of evil and yet they are betrayed shot in the back by their automation. Suddenly everyone is powerless. Anakin, having destroyed everything he thought he stood for, becomes an automaton of all of his conditioning, and the Jedi's chosen one massacres them at the Jedi temple. Obi-Wan and Yoda return to dismantle the Jedi signal to stop any stray Jedi from running into the trap, and they learn of Anakin's demise. Obi-Wan's distress is soon focused by Yoda's cold disregard for that can't be changed, as Yoda tells him there is no hope for Anakin and that he must confront him. So Obi-Wan follows Padme to the volcanic planet of Mutafar where Anakin is hiding and Yoda goes to confront Palpatine in the senate. I can see now why Yoda is such a wise and great Jedi. It is his lack of attachment and non-belief in having power over the force. He accepts everything, and knows that nothing is certain in his mind.
On Mustafar Anakin chokes Padme who sees the change in him. In anger over losing everything and the one he loves he kills her because he can now only destroy himself. Obi-Wan confronts him and scoffs at his notion of being all powerful. He is the last light of Anakin's life, his mentor, everything he knows was given to him by Obi-Wan, so in his last act of self-immolation he fights Obi-Wan, effectively believing he can defeat he who taught him, cut off the hand that has fed him. The battle is intense and they clash in the same moves, and it seems like it cannot be won. Meanwhile Yoda is defeated by Palpatine and goes into hiding, knowing the fight cannot be won. At last Obi-Wan stands above Anakin, taking the high ground, telling Anakin that it's over. In one last desperate act he lunges for Obi-Wan, who cuts him to pieces, destroying that which he helped to make. Ewan MacGregor is really great here, and you get a sense of the pain and failure Obi-Wan feels. The force seems to exist by hierarchy in a way and the Jedi conforms to this. Anakin can't defeat his master, or have power over the force, which can only flow through.
In the end it all ties into the original Star Wars, as Padme gives birth to Luke and Leia and dies doing so while Anakin is lost completely and becomes the machine man. And so the cycle continues through the original trilogy until the prophecy is fulfilled and Vader defeats Palpatine the false authority of the galaxy and balance is restored once again.
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