Solid conclusion that hurtles towards the beginning.

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2005)

After the disappointments of the first two prequels , at last there is a conclusion to the saga that Star Wars fans can be proud of. Cynics should make no mistake, a finer installment of Star Wars there hasn't been since The Empire Strikes Back. It would appear that George Lucas has paid heed to the criticisms leveled at his earlier installments and for the most part, corrected his errors. The irritating and Disneyesque characters such as Jar Jar Binks are relegated to virtual anonymity, overly complicated tales of political intrigue are done away with entirely. What we are ultimately left with is the greatest tragedy in the Star Wars franchise, driven by spectacular, if sometimes superfluous action and a well executed narrative that given the circumstances could have gone so wrong.
By far the best part of the film was the lead-up to Anakin's pledge to the dark side of the force. Critics of Anakin's (Hayden Christenson) occasionally hollow characterisation in Clones will appreciate the amount of attention given to the ambivalence that rules his soul as his passionate nature, encouraged by the nefarious slowly but surely turns him to the tutelage of Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid). The journey to inevitable outcome of his struggle is tragic, and the hindsight that the audience is benefited with makes each step that much more painful.
I've raved on in this review thus far, and you must be wondering why I've only given it an 8. The principal blame for this I fear, must go to the makeup artist of Darth Sidious. In a scene of crucial importance- THE scene where Anakin turns to the dark side, there are a number of things that one might expect. For instance, the built up dread and pity for the lost Skywalker could crescendo as his soul is forever lost. One might imagine frustration on the face of Christenson, or a sickening smile of satisfaction on the face of McDiarmid. Lucas opted for the second option, which would have worked well had he not been so eager to tie up one end of the franchise to the other. The brutally scarred face of the Chancellor Palpatine does not so much resemble one of a man who had just been been in a fight with a Jedi, but instead looks like Freddy from Friday the 13th went into a time-warp to a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away.. and became the Sith lord Darth Sidious.
The laughter that rang out in the cinema killed the tension, and badly hurt a movie that would might have otherwise challenged to be the best film of the franchise.
I mentioned that on George Lucas listened to the criticisms he received for the first two movies in the trilogy, and this is so. However, it appears that even the best of his efforts could not change his penchant for writing the most hopelessly cheesy of dialogs. I guess some things just never change, even in a galaxy far far away.