This might seem like a surprising statement to see on a Catholic blog, but I’m glad “Revenge of the Sith” will be rated PG-13. Just because a movie is inapproprate for 12-year-olds doesn’t make it morally objectionable, and frankly, I think the “Star Wars” series needs to get a little more edgy.
“Sith” has to show the transformation of Anakin Skywalker from whiny, pouting brat to a dark menace with James Earl Jones’ voice. I have very low expectations here. George Lucas lost interest in human beings a long time ago, and in all likelihood, the movie will be a pile of poop.
I’ll still see it, though.
Postscript: My older son, Charlie, has wanted to name our new baby Luke, after Luke Skywalker, if it’s a boy. Now he wants to name him Michael, after Michael the Archangel — but he wants his full name to be Michael Skywalker Johnson.
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Michael Luke Johnson has a nice ring to it – and it’s a nice compromise.
After all, “Luke” is a good Christian name as well as being a Star Wars character.
How about naming him after the angelic warrior and the great Old Testament hunter? Michael Nimrod Johnson.
“Nimrod”???
Well, at least he’d learn to fight real good.
The best part about naming a kid Luke is that whenever he asks you why he needs to listen to you, you can lower your voice down as far as it can go, and say “Luke, I am your father.”
I actually think the movie has potential to say some important things about the nature of evil and our response to it. Really, isn’t the whole point of the series about Anakin/Darth’s descent into evil and Luke’s willingness to risk his life to save him? It’s a story of loss and redemption and that seems pretty Christian to me. That’s not to say I don’t have reservations about it but still there are some definite strong Christian themes present too.
For my money, the Star Wars story went down the crapper when the d*mned Ewoks showed up. And while I’m at it, the original series is the only real Star Trek. I watched the very first episode of Next Generation and conceived a visceral disgust of that little punk hanging out on the bridge of the Enterprise. Never watched another since.
Hmm. Maybe supper will calm me down :-)
Long-time reader, first-time poster …
I broke down in weakness last week, and bought and read the Dark Horse comics adaptation of “Revenge of the Sith.” Admittedly, this provides a limited basis for predicting the quality of the movie. If Lucas’s strength is plot and story, his weakness is making human actors seem, well, human. And this almost killed Attack of the Clones.
But without giving away any spoilers, here are what I might identify as causes for optimism:
(1) There is much more action, involving a much smaller proportion of unfamiliar characters.
(2) Lucas deals with major plot points more economically than before, more often through indirection. This lends mystery and power to the story, while at the same time leaving you with no doubt as to what happened.
(3) There are no glaring discontinuities or loose ends with the three original movies … at least that I’ve been able to spot so far.
(4) The plot flows logically and is character-driven, unlike Phantom Menace and Clones, where almost everything came off like a huge deus ex machina.
(5) There are lots of rhymes and symmetries between many of the scenes in ROTS and those in the other five movies, which will be easily recognizable and yet which will not seem contrived.
As Eric knows, I am an inveterate Star Wars optimist, so take this with a huge, honking grain of salt. Last bit of advice: see it on digital projection, and not in a conventional theatre. The difference will be significant.
=B.
I’m sure the scene of a burning Anakin writhing around in searing agony as a paraplegic after Obi-Wan hacks off his legs and arm is enough to warrant a PG-13 rating. The rating will be purely for the violence, not for any “mature themes.”