Masterful

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2005)

Many others will write more in depth, so here are just some personal observations ...
It has its flaws ... the dialogue, as usual, is basic and stilted - but it's like that in every Star Wars movie. A couple of the motivations rang a little bit false ... mainly because too much was skipped, or not enough was shown that really made you feel as though the motivations were deep and true. I'm speaking directly about Anakin's anger over not being named a Jedi Master -- and his conversion to the "dark side" motivated about a fear of the death of his wife. I thought those things needed to be fleshed out more. The idea is there, I just felt like it needed to be better depicted to make it more believable emotionally.
However ... in all, I thought it was brilliant - and the best of the prequels by far (and I didn't mind the other two at all) ... and right up there with the best of them all. Despite the flaws I mentioned, it really did have a lot of moments of true emotional weight. And I thought most of the scenes -- even the total action ones (I'm not normally a big pure action movie fan) -- had great impact because of the weight they carried, and in knowing what the stakes were - especially in light of the upcoming years as represented in the original trilogy that we already know about. It was like watching the transformation of the Germans into the Third Reich, and knowing what happens after that, and how tragic it all was. ... In fact, they inserted a lot of political undertones -- little jabs at Bush, even -- into the dialogue. That was a nice touch.
And it had some funny and cool moments without being too hokey or cheesy, as some of them have been in the past.
Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor do the best job with the acting. Samuel L. Jackson certainly got the "cool" death he wished for when he signed on for the trilogy.