George Lucas, Augustinian

“So what did you do on your trip to Canada?” Why, saw Revenge of the Sith of course!

I admit, I liked it. It had more of that old-time Star Wars feeling than either of the other two prequels.

Some reviewers have commented that Anakin’s fear that Padme was going to die in childbirth was an unsatisfying explanation for his “fall.” But I thought it was rather Augustinian. For Augustine, sin is turning away from the infinite Good and toward an inordinate attachment to and disordered love for finite goods.

For Anakin, rather than being content with finite goods like love and marriage as the finite (but real!) goods they are, he sought to extend them toward the infinite. In seeking to extend life unnaturally he demonstrates a disordered love. This leads him to disregard other moral constraints on his actions, creating a downward spiral.

Apart from that, there was plenty of bad acting and cheesy dialogue. And I think Lucas overdoes the CGI backgrounds. (Hoth and Tatooine seemed so much more real than virtually any of the settings in the prequels!) Still, a partial redemption of the series.