Decent Finale for the Greatest Space Saga of All Time!

Rating: 8/10 (5 June 2005)

Having seen the movie twice and having waited for the dust to settle, I can now make my comments on REVENGE OF THE SITH. The 3rd part of this "prequel" trilogy is definitely the best, not because it's darker or more violent, but because the story is plain and simple, superior to its predecessors. Having said this, I must also confess that (as some hardcore fans would come to expect)"REVENGE" is flawed and the way it resolves some of the plot holes shown in "MENACE" and "CLONES" is very lame. It's as if George Lucas said, "Gee, I have to explain this and that, and I don't know how" and he just dribbled something out on paper and that was it. He resolves some plot inconsistencies with grandeur: How the emperor becomes THE emperor, why Anakin falls to the dark side, why the benevolent Republic becomes the evil Empire. But some of other plot inconsistencies, don't resolve in a satisfactory way. My major complaint for the whole "prequel" trilogy was the age casting: I think all the actors were FAR too young. In the case of Anakin and Padme, their ages are somewhat fine (It's a bit perverse that she falls for a boy who is, apparently, 8 years her junior!). Aunt Beru and Uncle Owens look like poster boys in this trilogy and age dramatically by the time we see them again in "A NEW HOPE" (Beru looks like she could be Luke's granny!). Obi-Wan also ages severely: Let's assume he was 35 at the time of "Revenge"; he should be 55 at the time of "A NEW HOPE", but looks like this overtly tired and old man that's close to 70 years old!!! This minor details have infuriated many a STAR WARS fan because it shows that LUCAS wasn't paying enough attention. in "REVENGE" we never find out WHY Vader wears that "special" outfit, why he breathes and talks the way he does. We are left to assume this things as given. We also never find out why Padme names her children Luke and Leia...was it a "spur of the moment" thing??? It would have been cool to have Governor Tarkin in some dialog scene, or maybe a young Han Solo. There are so many things left in the air that you don't leave the theater fully satisfied. True, this is the culmination of the greatest space opera EVER and a decent culmination it was: Love, Romance, Action, Violence, Betrayal, Deceit, etc. But it is the way George Lucas rendered his final act that left me wishing for more.