Plot weak, still lacks the fun of the original

Rating: 6/10 (23 May 2005)

Yes, it's got a spoiler, but there is no way to relate the problems with this movie without disclosing certain parts.
The good part is this is the end of the Lucas star wars movies. I say good because I can now stop hoping that we will ever see another movie with the original spark, fun, chemistry and sheer joy as we did in the originals. In SW and TESB, the action was great and the actors acted like ... well they were being shot at and their lives depended on what they did. The action here is now special effects and the acting is... occasionally great, sometimes flat.
But the biggest problem for me in this movie is the reason Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side. He's going to betray all the Jedi because he has a bad dream and Chancellor Palpatine says the dark side has power over life and death? And then what does he do? He kills (or attempts to kill) the very person he's turned to the dark side to save? It's implausible. Oh yea, and when Chancellor Palpatine is revealed for the evil he is, Skywalker wants to give him a fair trial? (When just a few scenes earlier Skywalker beheads the beaten General Grievous.) And the moment Mace Windu lets down his guard, Palpatine seizes upon the moment to kill him. And Skywalker STILL doesn't see the true evil nature of the dark side of the force or Palpatine? It's just stupid. Oh yea, don't forget, "special order 66." That's real believable. Everyone becomes mindless robots? One minute you are fighting side by side, then you get special order 66, and how you kill the person you were fighting with just moments earlier without any thought at all? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
It think too many people have forgotten what a blast the original movies where. Go and watch them and then go watch this one. Tell me you don't find a huge chunk of fun missing. Where is the chemistry between the actors? Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamilton and Harrison Ford should be given belated Oscars, because it's only through the last 3 movies do we really see just how remarkable of a job they did almost 30 years ago.
There are some great moments in this movie. Some funny stuff with yoda and near the end Natalie Portman really nails the scene. There is also the line about how "liberty dies to thunderous applause." I can't help thinking that is what happening here.