Good movie, plagued by some of the problems of the prequels

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2005)

By now I'm sure everyone's had their say on the overall merits of the movie, so I'll be brief.
Overall, I did enjoy ROTS. The effects and lightsaber battles are amazing, above the other two prequels, in large part because the effects are not as glossy (and thus more believable) in my opinion. The lightsaber battles are very well choreographed; it's what you wish lightsaber battles would look like in the original trilogy. The action is certainly solid, and the story itself is as well.
The failings of the film, however, are similar to the failings of the earlier two prequels were: a lack of urgency in some key situations, and the writing/acting.
By lack of urgency, I refer to a few of the battles in ROTS; particularly, at least in my mind, the opening battle. In the dialog, neither Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) or Hayden Christensen (Anaking Skywalker) sound at all concerned, either about the battle, or about Obi-Wans impending demise while his ship is being dismantled mid-flight by droids. Having heard that the movie began at a run, I went into the theater expecting the opening battle to be thrilling... I was disappointed. However, this is rectified by the later battles in the movie, which have the sense of urgency and suspense (even if you know the outcome) lacking from the opening scene.
The other flaw that anyone would recognize is the wooden dialog; I blame the writers. The acting, particularly on the part of Christensen and Portman (especially Christensen), far exceeds the acting in the other two prequels... but they can only do so much with dialog like Padme's line: "Hold me, hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo," (I know that isn't the exact line, but it's close enough) possibly one of the worst lines I've heard in a movie, ever. First of all, it makes no sense from the perspective of the characters: they've been together, though in secret, for years by now... is it possible Anakin wouldn't know precisely what Padme wanted if she just said "hold me," (not to mention this simple line is just better). Second, it's irrelevant from the viewpoint of the audience: if you haven't seen the other two prequels, you'll be confused by Anakin and Padme's relationship far moreso than you will be by what she means if she said "hold me." A lot of the writing is simply bad (though the majority of it is between Anakin and Padme, as usual), though in ROTS, the actors do their best to bring it alive. It's not an unforgivable fault, but that's largely because this is an action-based movie.
Now for something I went into the theater with a pessimistic view of, but which I was actually pleasantly surprised by: Anakin's turn to the dark side. A few of the reviews I read before seeing the movie claimed that the reasons for Anakin's turn weren't satisfactory... I thought that Anakin's turn was not only reasonable, but believable. In part, what makes it is that Anakin is clearly overconfident in his abilities - perhaps, I found myself thinking, he believed he could control the dark side just enough to save Padme. The only problem I had with this critical area of the film is the suddenness with which Anakin truly turns; though obviously he's never been the most idealistic Jedi, is arrogant and headstrong, he was still a Jedi. However, in ROTS, he goes from doing the right thing - turning Palpatine over to the Jedi - to swearing fealty to Palpatine in mere minutes (both in the film and as a viewer). Although it's clear that Anakin has always been somewhat corrupted and corruptible, I found it difficult to stomach that he would throw away his (somewhat shaky) principles in an instant and immediately swear fealty to a Sith lord. I guess I thought the turn would take a bit longer, that's all. I realize I ended this paragraph on a pessimistic note, so I'll try to leave it positive: though it is a bit quicker than one might anticipate, Anakin's turn to the darkside is believable in his rationalization of it.
The action in this movie is very solid, minus the opening scene. The lightsaber battles are gracefully choreographed and thrilling. The plot (though already known) is solid. The dialog falls short, unsurprisingly, but this time it's more due to bad writing than bad acting.
I was never a huge fan of the original trilogy, possibly because I didn't see them until long enough after their release that the amazing special effects (for their time) and the overall concept weren't as impressive. Because of this, I'm not going to try to place ROTS in relation to the other movies of the original trilogy one-by-one. I do think, though, that ROTS comes close to, if not matches, the level of the original trilogy.