Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
I finally saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith this morning (Finally? It's still opening weekend, but it sure feels like it's been out a while). I'm gonna try to avoid being spoiler-ific here, and just go with some general impressions.

I think I need to see it once or twice more (and the desire to watch it again is always a good indicator) to really get a solid judgement on it, but at the end of the movie I felt really satisfied. Not only did the latest Star Wars trilogy do a pretty good job of linking the original trilogy with the new prequels, but it also did something which to me really elevates it to something that approaches greatness: It redeems the previous two movies in many ways. The whole of the three movies is greater than the sum of the parts - at least parts one and two. I feel like I could go back and watch The Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace and enjoy them a little bit more now.

Hayden Christianson and Natalie Portman do a MUCH better job this time around when they are on the screen together - it's not perfect, but it's at least LESS wooden, and the dialog comes off a little less like fingernails scratching across a chalkboard. And Chancellor Palpatine - brilliant. He really stars in this movie, and he's brilliant. The action scenes are far-and-away the best of any of the Star Wars movies up until this point, from the opening battle to the final lightsaber duel. And speaking of lightsabers - there seems to be more lightsaber action in this movie than all other Star Wars movies combined.

Anyway, like I said, it may take repeat viewings, but at this point I'd rate this one higher than "Return of the Jedi." It was cool, it was action packed, it was sad. Good show altother.
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 11:36 PM (Permalink)