Hayden Christensen Gets His Revenge
Hayden Christensen Gets His Revenge
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Lucasfilm and Disney have re-released Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in theaters for a limited time. The film, which upon its original release, wrapped up the prequel series, giving us a completed Skywalker saga, the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. Of course we now have the sequel trilogy adding the legacy of Anakin Skywalker to the saga. At the time the prequel trilogy was in general not as enthusiastically received as anticipated and for a small but vocal cadre of fans, it was much loathed. The complaints about the sequel trilogy, stilted, wooden acting, unnecessary complication of the Force via the introduction of midichlorians, an unbelievable love story, had some validity sure, but some of which existed in spades in the Holy Trilogy, but were accepted in those. Personally, I love ALL Star Wars in varying degrees. I appreciate the continuing stories being told in this universe and have never much joined the fire and pitchfork crew of online haters. And I loved the prequels, particularly Revenge of the Sith. In fact, after seeing it again on the big screen it might be, dare I say, my favorite.
Revenge of the Sith is BIG. Lucas had to wrap up a lot of storylines and deliver Darth Vader to us in some shape. The Phantom Menace (spoilers ahead) of Episode 1, Naboo’s former senator,now Chancellor Palpatine, has been exposed and he’s seeking well, revenge. Revenge has a particular importance in Lucasfilm lore, having been part of the original title of Episode 6. Once it was determined that Jedi don’t seek vengeance, revenge became return and would resolve decades later as a funny joke in Clerks 2. Of course it was resolved here giving Lucas his revenge and giving a nice echo to Return of the Jedi.
Revenge of the Sith follows Palpatine’s ultimate power grab which involves incredibly ambitious plans from taking on a new apprentice, destroying the Jedi, and, you know, assuming control of the entire GALAXY. Which of course he does. Anakin goes from almost a Jedi Master to a Sith apprentice in short order culminating with a lightsaber duel for the ages on the volcanic planet of Mustafar. It’s a big adventure that shows us the tail end of the clone wars, the final execution of Palaptine’s plans and the true dual nature of the Force.
I’ve seen this movie dozens of times. It was my son’s first Star War in a movie theater. The world of Star Wars means a lot to me but this movie has a special place in my heart. Watching on the big screen, focused on the adventure, not distracted by my phone or work, I LOVED it so much. We’re dropped into the action with Anakin and Obi Wan on a rescue mission. We get a HUGE battle and a fun rescue to kick things off. Between battle scenes were given nuggets of drama. Padme’s pregnancy. Palapatine’s growing power grab. We get the Tragedy of Darth Plageius the Wise in that crazy opera house scene. We get Order 66 and sadly, the Jedi purge. This all builds up to Anakin’s turn, which comes at the climax of a battle between Darth Sidious and Mace Windu. Once Anakin turns we know what’s up. Darth Vader v. Obi Wan Kenobi Round 1.
These scene, despite its bombastic ridiculousness transforms me into a babbling fan boy every. Single. God damn. Time. It’s epic. It’s dark. It’s fun. It’s mirrored to an equally epic fight between Yoda and Palapatine. The lightsabers are buzzing and clashing and it’s full on Star Wars glory.
We get a lot of nods to the Holy Trilogy has things wind down. This is no happy ending. This is the bummer of Empire times 1000. And it’s so good.
I’m not going to quibble over Hayden’s acting or the hollowness of Anakin and Padme’s love story. I don’t want to fight over beeping droids or the overuse of CGI. I just want the adventure to wash over me and the lightsabers to buzz in my mind long after the credits roll and that’s exactly what happened.
Speaking of Hayden Christensen, he took a lot of flack back in the day, but history, no doubt buoyed by the good feelings around Anakin’s character from the Clone Wars series, has reconsidered this and there’s a resurgence or emergence depending on your point of view of love for the prequels and for Hayden. It’s well deserved. Seeing him intro the movie and reclaim his legacy made me a little misty eyed.