Star Wars Gets Darker... Finally

George Lucas predicts that Episode III will may be the first Star Wars feature to be rated PG-13, which is a good sign. One can't really expect the birth of Darth Vader to be an entirely saccharine affair. Fans have known for over twenty years that Obi Wan's battle with Anakin among the lava pits was the reason why Darth Vader had to be "more machine than man." It was spelled out in the first Star Wars Encyclopedia, as was the tidbit that Uncle Owen is the brother of Ben Kenobi. These are not state secrets by any means, at least for fans who have had a more than casual interest in the saga.

The first two episodes were technically splendid, but they suffered from a lack of real character development or any chemistry between the main characters. Much ink has already been spilled over the wooden romance between Anakin and Amidala -- and the blame rests with Lucas, both as scriptwriter and as a director. It seems that he's forgotten that a motion picture is more than a showcase of special effects, which have become rather ho-hum in this age of CGI (i.e. detailed motion matte paintings). Even Lucas admits the problem of pushing the action envelope when films like the Matrix trilogy are out there.

Episode II could have been a fantastic film with a tighter narrative and gushy romantic dialog that hearkened back to the romance films of the 40's and 50's; the end result was a drama that made the most banal WB teen drama seem masterful.

Hope does spring eternal, though. Perhaps Lucas will rediscover his talent as a storyteller... and then get onto Indiana Jones IV before Harrison Ford's 70th birthday.