A good piece of heroic s-f

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2002)

I find the movie very good. Actually, out of episodes I, IV, V and VI, I find it the best one - it has everything the previous episodes had, but more focus on character development than on action.
Everything about special effects and battles have already been said, so I'll focus on characters and their personalities. The most controversive point is Anakin+Padme romance. People yell that it is too much focused on, getting too much on-screen time. Indeed, some parts were too heavy with Anakin's speeches, but it was probably because their relationship got TOO LITTLE time and it had to be rushed to make it tragic enough (and they had to insert certain amount of words into limited amount of time, so it turned out to be a bit too much of "Gone with the Wind" or "Titanic" style). So, if you're looking for Leia+Solo styled, crazy Jones-like or Bond-like romance, you probably won't enjoy this movie (or this part of it) - as the love story follows the "doomed lovers" style, not an cute little adventure love story.
I liked also the way Obi-Wan Kenobi was portrayed. I won't go into details as not to spoil the plot, but we have portrayed both - the generation-conflict and Anakin's feelings to him in a father-to-son-like manner. Still, I think Ewan McGregor had some problems with playing serious parts of the movie. He's good when he fights, he's good when he's mean, but when he's just to be serious and adult, he seems somehow stiff.
And, of course, Yoda is wonderful! He makes the Yoda from Original Trilogy look pale and outdated. He gets a lot of onscreen time.
Generally, I'm looking forward to seeing Ep.3 - I hope they'll manage to make an ending fulfilling the expectations created by this movie.