It is Accomplished!

Rating: 10/10 (28 September 2005)

What a Finish! Talk about 'wrapping it up'! Mr. Lucas (God Bless Him!) gave us a film for the ages with this final installment of the Star Wars Saga. I saw it six times in the movie theater. No where near the dozens of times that I saw the other five films. However, there is good reason. It was emotionally EXHAUSTING to watch! Anakin's final descent to the Dark Side of the Force is almost a Greek Tragedy! When you come to think of it, most of his life is a roller-coaster ride of tragedy. He goes from a young, paternal orphan with few prospects of advancement except continuing to be a slave, to meeting a great mentor/father figure who gives him hope of over-coming his personal circumstances, to losing that father figure to the Dark Sith. Qui-Gon's death in Phantom Menace sets forth the chain of events (obliging the Jedi Council to accept young Anakin as a Jedi Apprentice) that brings Anakin into direct contact with Senator Palpatine (alias Darth Sidius), who then becomes Anakin's father figure, overtly (and most particularly, covertly) nurturing every arrogant and negative urge in Anakin which eventually lead to Anakin's fall from grace.
In Attack of the Clones, Anakin's nightmarish concerns for his mother prove founded when he arrives to save her just in time to lose her to the Sand People (I've wondered if Palpatine had a hand in this too. He seemed to be "stirring so Many Pots!"). This event leads to the obliteration of the band of Sand People by Anakin's own hand, and subsequently, irrational fears on Anakin's part of his bad dreams being prophetic in nature.
Palpatine/Sidius foments Anakin's anxiety about his nightmares and the possibility of losing Padme to a fever pitch, and then tempts Anakin with the unlikely possibility of resurrecting Padme if Anakin agrees to become a Sith.
Despair over a loved one can cause a person to resort to extreme measures, and Anakin is no exception. He decides to fulfill his destiny and bring "balance" to the Force. Just not like the Jedi had anticipated. In the process, he loses his wife, children, friends, integrity and his extremities. How tragic is that?!? Hayden's portrayal of Anakin's descent is frightful in its intensity; Obi-Wan's (heart-breakingly acted by Ewan McGregor) recrimination of Anakin's destiny: "YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!", brings tears to your eyes when you factor that his disillusion is not only with Anakin's failure, but with his own as a Jedi master, which he also realizes has caused the conflict that the Republic is in.
The special effects were everything that I had hoped and expected from Mr. Lucas and ILM.
My only disappointment was Natalie Portman, who, as usual, seemed to be there for the express purpose to look beautiful. Which she did. Unfortunately, it also seems that because she was there to look beautiful, no one asked her to ACT, so she didn't.
Palpatine/Sidius... This character is the embodiment of every person who is a hypocrite, willing to do ANYTHING to achieve his (or her) objectives, regardless of the cost to anyone else. I truly learned to HATE THIS CHARACTER!! (I know, I know! Hate, fear, to the Dark Side, they lead). Well, I'M not a Jedi, much as I would like to be.
This movie went so deep into portraying Anakin's descent, that Mr. Lucas actually had Anakin and Obi-Wan fight the quintessential battle of good and evil on a fire-and-brimstone planet! With Good triumphing over evil (if only for a short while).
As far as I am concerned, Mr. Lucas tied up all the loose ends from the original trilogy beautifully.
I am just very sorry that there won't be any more!