20 years ago, George Lucas’s prequel trilogy of his beloved “Star Wars” franchise came to a close with “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”. While the prequel trilogy has always been divisive in its quality, the third instalment has largely been reclaimed by the younger Millennial and Gen Z audiences who grew up with the film. It is their Star Wars film, and it is shown in the recent box office reports for the film’s 20th anniversary run, making over $30 million at the domestic box office.
Love for the film is at an all-time high, but how does it hold up two decades later? At this point, “Star Wars” is a franchise that has been twisted and turned into a shell of what it once was. This is what makes “Revenge of the Sith” and the prequel trilogy as a whole a more appealing watch than any of the sequels or Disney+ content. Lucas’s vision and ideas are allowed to thrive the way he wants them to. For fans, this could be refreshing, as the later sequel trilogy feels watched over by executive producers giving studio notes. Lucas’s unhinged ideas for his prequel trilogy might be silly, but at least they feel like the vision of one singular person and not a corporation.
“Revenge of the Sith” is a pretty outrageous film at points. Lucas’s overreliance on CGI over practical effects truly comes to the fore in this third installment. A feeling of uncanny valley plagues the film through and through. It can be forgiven because this came out in the mid-2000s, and the technology was not there yet, but there is an argument to be made that this would have aged better with more practical sets and props.
“Revenge of the Sith” has a lot to do in its almost two-and-a-half-hour runtime. This final film in the prequel trilogy needs to wrap up Anakin’s arc as he transforms into Darth Vader, answer what exactly happened to all the Jedi, and show the fall of the Republic. Lucas has strong political themes of corruption and paranoia within a government system. It is these political ideas that have aged the most interestingly of anything else in this film. The politics in this silly Star Wars film, where a small green alien battles an evil cloaked wizard who shoots lightning from his hands for the fate of the universe, feel very similar to the current political landscape in the United States. Who would have known that George Lucas was so ahead of his time with his grandiose thematic ideas?
One of the defining differences between “Revenge of the Sith” and the prequel trilogy, when compared to the original films, is just how much it has to say. “Star Wars: A New Hope” is a fun time. It’s a groundbreaking film that follows the “Hero’s Journey” to a T, but it is not the most thoughtful film when thinking about larger world implications. It was the perfect film to come out in the late 70s, a great counterargument to the hopeless and bleak films coming out of that era. “Revenge of the Sith” feels different; it takes major risks with its ending and approach to showing Anakin’s downfall.
“Revenge of the Sith” is far from a perfect film, often featuring performances that are either too stiff or too eccentric. That being said, it is a film that does more than it needs to with ideas and themes. It feels different than the blockbuster IP films that come out today, it has the feeling of one person’s singular vision. It is a storytelling mode that studios would benefit from and would draw audiences back to theaters. In many ways, “Revenge of the Sith” feels like the last of its time.