The Star Wars franchise has had a lot of high points, but there are also several lows. Fans love to debate creative decisions like the invention of Midi-chlorians, the resurrection of Palpatine, and the introduction of the Ewoks, but three of the very worst sins in the Star Wars franchise happen in one of its most well-regarded films. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith makes a lot of big improvements over the prequels that came before it, and is often held up on a pedestal by fans. However, the film is hampered by a handful of decisions that hurt the overall Star Wars franchise in ways that are still felt after two decades.
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Going into Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas had his work cut out for him. The film needed to show Anakin Skywalker’s fall from grace, and his full transformation into Darth Vader. The movie was also tasked with writing out several characters that had been introduced in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. These requirements led to some pretty big stumbles, as Lucas tried to create a tangible bridge that connected the prequels back to the original trilogy. While Revenge of the Sith has several high points, the lowest ones drag down what would otherwise be one of the best movies in the Star Wars saga.
Youngling Slaughter
The first major sin of Revenge of the Sith is Anakin Skywalker’s murder of the Youngling students at the Jedi Temple. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Darth Vader’s hunting and killing of the Jedi Knights seemed to be an almost mythical event. As viewers, we were led to believe that the hero meant to bring balance to the force had been twisted by Palpatine into a brutal and resourceful killer capable of decimating the Jedi’s talented ranks. The idea of Vader hunting and killing the Jedi Knights was a compelling one. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that.
Instead, what Revenge of the Sith gave us on screen was Anakin slaughtering children far below his skills in the force. Besides the fact that Anakin turning on his lightsaber in front of the Younglings is cringe-inducingly silly, it makes Vader look weaker than he does at any point in the original trilogy. It also hurt future Star Wars media, as fans continue to joke about things like Anakin killing the cast of kid-oriented shows like Young Jedi Adventures.
On top of the fact that Vader’s murder of the Younglings makes the character look weak, it also cheapens Vader’s redemption at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Vader’s small act of sacrifice now seems insignificant compared to the crimes he committed. The original trilogy leads us to believe Anakin was “turned to the dark side,” but it never feels like he’s corrupted or not in charge. Instead, he immediately becomes Palpatine’s lapdog, eagerly committing atrocities worse than anything we actually see from the Emperor himself. Writing out the Younglings was basically a necessity, but implying that the Clone Troopers killed them would have accomplished the exact same thing.
It also would have had a much better impact had Anakin taken out his anger on the strongest of the Jedi Knights. After two prequel films, Anakin’s frustrations with the Jedi and the Senate were somewhat forgivable. The Jedi Knights left Shmi Skywalker to die in slavery on Tatooine, never to see her son again. Instead of giving us the culmination of all that frustration, the audience sees Anakin kill a bunch of innocent kids. It’s a comically baffling decision that drags down the film.
Death by Sadness
Speaking of writing out characters, the second major sin of Revenge of the Sith is the death of Padmé Amidala. Rather than having Padmé die during childbirth, or having Anakin kill her, the character dies after losing the will to live. Having twin children to raise and guide in a galaxy now ruled by their corrupt father and Emperor Palpatine seems like a pretty great motivation to press on. However, Padmé’s canon death is that she just gives in to her broken heart. It’s another bizarre choice, and it completely ignores the confidence and strength Padmé had shown throughout the previous two films. Padmé’s death is such a poorly written choice in the movie that fans have actively tried to provide any kind of explanation other than the one given in the film itself.
Show, Don’t Tell
The third and final major sin of the movie is that it focuses too much on telling, rather than showing. The biggest example of this is that the movie never successfully gives the audience any investment in the relationship between Anakin and Padmé. Several years pass between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which means much of the relationship between the two largely happened off camera. The audience is supposed to believe that Padmé is so distraught over Anakin’s dark side turn that she dies of a broken heart, yet we barely see it play out on screen. It also makes another Anakin moment funny when it shouldn’t be, as the newly reborn Darth Vader lets out a “Nooooo!” after learning Padmé’s fate.
The movie skips over a lot of important plot building, largely relying on shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars to really flesh out this era in the franchise. While the original trilogy also left quite a bit to the audience’s imagination, it never feels as blatant as it does in Revenge of the Sith.
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Fans can often disagree about the worst creative choices made throughout the Star Wars franchise, but it’s hard to dispute just how bad some of these sins are, and the overall negative impact they had on the series. For all of its faults, though, Revenge of the Sith is not a bad Star Wars film. The movie has an epic scale, and Palpatine’s rise to power remains haunting after two decades. George Lucas famously used the movie as a commentary on U.S. politics of the time, and his concerns about the dangers of unchecked power provided at wartime remain profoundly relevant. There’s a lot the movie gets wrong, but the best parts continue to help fans overlook the worst.
The re-release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is now in theaters.
Do you agree with these flaws for Revenge of the Sith? How do you feel about the film overall? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
