In a Star Wars movie, it's pretty clear who is good and who is evil. Overall, Revenge of the Sith is no different. More so than the other films, however, there are instances in which the line between good and evil is somewhat blurred. This is fitting since this is the movie in which the main character, the confused young Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), converts to the Dark Side of the Force. This ambiguity is established within the first paragraph of the opening scroll: "There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere."

The central conflict of the film is between the Jedi and the Sith. It's obvious from watching the movie that the Jedi are good and the Sith are bad. But, as Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) points out in the opera scene, "Good is a point of view, Anakin." Later, this line is echoed by Anakin during his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Obi-Wan says, "Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!" Anakin retorts, "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil." Many things that Palpatine (who's secretly known as the Sith Master Darth Sidious) says during the opera scene are deceitful yet, like all effective lies, have some truth in them.

There are some examples in which the Jedi don't seem to be entirely virtuous. Like Palpatine tells Anakin during the opera, "The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way..." They may not be alike in almost every way as the crafty Palpatine suggests, but there are times when the Jedi do resemble the Sith. Consider the secret assignment that the Jedi Council gives to Anakin of spying on Palpatine. They are justified in their suspicions, but the sneaky way they go about doing it seems a little Sith-like. They are also making Anakin feel guilty and dishonest, since Palpatine is one of his mentors and confidants. Anakin says that what they're doing is treasonous, but Obi-Wan defends it by saying that they are at war.

Palpatine says something else in that scene that has some truth to it: "All who gain power are afraid to lose it, even the Jedi." Considering the power plays that Palpatine and the Jedi Council engage in, his claim isn't too far off. He also says that the Jedi want control of the Republic and will betray him. The scene in the Jedi war room reveals that he is sort of accurate about that too. Ki-Adi-Mundi (Silas Carson) says that Palpatine should be removed from office if he doesn't give up his power after the destruction of General Grievous (voiced by Matthew Wood). Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) adds, "The Jedi Council would have to take the control of the Senate in order to secure a peaceful transition." Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) is wary of all this, saying, "To a dark place this line of thought will carry us. Hmm. Great care we must take." It should also be noted that this scene is darkened.

Some of the Jedi's dialogue is similar to the Sith's as well. Mace Windu and Palpatine have mirrored lines in similar situations. After Anakin regrettably executes the unarmed Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), Palpatine reassures him by saying, "He was too dangerous to be kept alive." Before he tries to execute the apparently defenseless Palpatine, Mace Windu tells Anakin (who is protesting Mace) that "He's too dangerous to be left alive." Is it possible that Anakin made this connection between the two lines, and thought that the Jedi and the Sith were almost exactly the same as Palpatine suggested? An ethical argument could also be made about whether or not Mace should have tried to strike down the unarmed Palpatine. I think that Mace knew that Palpatine was feigning weakness, so I believe he was justified in doing so. But, since we don't know for sure if Mace knew, a good argument could be made that his actions were wrong.

There's also a questionable line of dialogue that is uttered by Obi-Wan before his duel with Anakin. When Anakin says, "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy," Obi-Wan responds with, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." This is hypocritical because that, in itself, is an absolute statement. Obi-Wan's and Yoda's mission to destroy the Sith also seems to be hypocritical to one of Yoda's lines from The Empire Strikes Back: "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack." However, that's exactly what he and Obi-Wan do in this film. Of course, it could be argued that they are only doing this to save the galaxy from the dominion of evil. As the saying goes, sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

CONTINUED IN PART 2...