Film Review - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

We all know the story behind Revenge of the Sith: Anakin becomes Darth Vader. That’s what it all boils down to. Of course there are causes. Underlying reasons for Anakin’s switching of allegiance, but if we’re honest, the whole film is about Anakin becoming Darth Vader. We know how it starts and we know how it ends. So what does this film offer?

The first attribute that this film has over its predecessors is its daring use of stop-frame animation. This technique is well known from the award-winning Wallace and Gromit films and older children’s television such as the Magic Roundabout. What’s so arresting about its use here is the fact that all the other Star Wars films are filmed conventionally, so this is a radical departure. George Lucas knew that as long as he retained his formula, the end product would be devoured by ravenous Star Wars fans and yet he has the courage to take this massive gamble. Not only that – he revolutionises the technique by utilising live actors.

The filming must have been arduous for all the actors concerned. In stop-frame animation, a picture is taken and only the tiniest movement is made before the next picture. With dozens of frames a second, a five minute scene could take weeks to film. In one scene Ewan McGregor, playing Obi Wan Kenobi makes a short speech to Anakin - only thirty seconds long - but over the course of which, his beard visibly lengthens. Whoever was responsible for continuity can be forgiven as the entire motion picture must have been a logistical nightmare for them.

There are two benefits to the use of stop-motion animation that must have swayed Lucas. Firstly, you can easily make objects appear on screen as if from nowhere. Simply take one shot without said object and the next with it. When you run the frames consecutively, the object appears to have materialized. This camera trickery explains the Jedi and Sith light sabres, which look far better than the artificial beams of light used in other Star Wars films. In this episode, when a character switches on a light sabre it is a solid plastic tube illuminated from within, like the real ones that you can buy in Woolworth’s or wherever. There are also a number of scenes where Yoda demonstrates the power of the force by plucking coins from behind his ears and rabbits from hats.

The second stop-motion benefit is quite obviously the opportunity to use professional cricketers to voice all of the characters. This also lightens the load on the physical actors on screen. So Anakin is voiced by England academy alumnus and recent senior team member Ian Bell. And in a masterstroke, Lucas casts Graham Thorpe as Obi Wan Kenobi. There is already a master-pupil dynamic between these two players, with Thorpe, the most senior of England’s middle-order batsmen and Bell the most recent arrival. This translates well to their roles in the film.

It’s hard to quibble with any of the film’s flaws, as most arise from innovation and that is to be applauded. If there is one avoidable feature that does detract, though, it is Durham paceman Liam Plunkett’s use of falsetto in voicing Amidala. An unnecessary indulgence in an otherwise majestic finale.