Episode III Lucas Strikes Back

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2010)

At last the real George Lucas returns to the screen! Neither The Phantom Menace or Attack Of The Clones are the turkeys many people make them out to be, and Revenge Of The Sith is a return to form for the Bearded One. Sure, it has it's flaws, but it also has gravitas and a genuine sense of doom-laden, smoky bravura. To me it felt like the old Star Wars had returned, but a grown-up version.
The story concerns (at last!) the fall of Anakin to the dark side and his conversion to Darth Vader. I still don't think Hayden Christiansen is very good, but at least he's better than the appalling performance he gave in Clones. Ewen Mcgregor got better as the series went on and gives his best Obi-Wan performance. Ian Mcdiamid goes enjoyably over the top as Palpatine/Sidious, and the film is full of light sabre duels. The bad dialogue problem of the Episodes I and II hasn't really been cured, but this time it's less noticeable. As well as the rest of the regular cast we get a nice Chewbacca cameo from Peter Mahew. Personally, I'd have given anything to see a cocky 18 year-old Han Solo meet up with his partner. Oh, well.
Highlights of the movie, for me, include the "Order 66" sequence - a startling piece of cinema, full of powerful emotion, and the birth of Vader contrasted brilliantly with the birth of his twins, Luke and Leia. It's Lucas' finest moment of the 2nd trilogy and boy does he make it count. Less successful for me is Anakin's sudden fall to the Emperor. It just didn't feel all that convincing. But the quiet moment, with Padme and Anakin staring out alone across the skyline of Coruscant, is also highly effective.
Welcome back, George. Pity you had to spoil it again with Indy IV!