Not bad, but not great

Rating: 5/10 (23 May 2005)

The latest one ain't so bad. Not on the same level as the originals, but not the complete shyte of Ep I & II. Nothing really jumped out at me as spectacularly wonderful, but nothing particularly jumped out at me as spectacularly crap, either. There were problems with the acting (Christenson & Portman), but the special effects (the opening scene) helped balance it out.
Bad things about this movie- * felt rushed, like they had a list of plot points they needed to complete to connect the prequels with the original trilogy
* bad acting, although Christenson wasn't nearly as bad as he was in EpII, he wasn't as interesting as McGregor's Obi Wan, & I couldn't help but feel that Portman was too young-looking to be the archetypal mother-figure that I felt the role demanded.
* bad writing & editing, with names like "(in)Sidious," "(I made a) Grievious (error)," "Maul(ed by a bear)," & "(look, Mom! I made a) Dooku" I don't why I expected more from this movie. The editing was choppy with throw away lines practically everywhere. "Into exile must I go. Failed, have I" is just one example. It looks like perseverance isn't one of the Jedi virtues.
* bad action scenes, I would've hoped they had learned their lesson from EpII, but I guess not. Especially terrible moment- Anakin & Obi Wan fighting, standing not 2 meters away from each other, swinging their swords at the air, completely missing each other, in a ten-year old's idea of "cool kung-fu moves"
* disappointing bad guy, Grievious failed at everything he attempted in this movie. Hurray for the mildly interesting special effects, though.
* disappointing Jedi, my favorite Jedi in this movie was the kid that saved that good senator, but Obi Wan was a close second.
* too heavy handed with the political commentary, "So this is how democracy ends, with thunderous applause" huh? I don't like Bush, either, but c'mon!
Good things about this movie- * the opening scene, good action, interesting
* it's the only one that had any moments that felt genuinely Star Wars
* interesting blurring of good & evil, especially near the end. Notice how the Sith are concerned about peace & justice, while all the Jedi want to do is blow stuff up.
Overall, not the best movie of the entire series, but not bad either. It feels as if this was one of Lucas' early films & he was still learning. It doesn't feel like the kind of film the guy who basically single handedly created the movie industry should be making. Not bad, but I expected something better.
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Peace out! Don't feed the trolls