Mediocre compared to the originals

Rating: 4/10 (19 May 2005)

My overall view of this film is that George was milking this for all it's worth.
The bad: He did his norm and tried to go way over the top with exaggerated scenes of explosions and background fighting that had no point. Yes, we know that computers can make some great CG, but you don't need to throw every special effect just because. This movie was long and drawn out, no where near the original 3 in story lines, character development or entertainment. And the acting wasn't the greatest either. Either Natalie Portman's lines sucked so much that she couldn't act or she was just horrible. Throughout this whole movie, I found myself just waiting through hours of meaningless and poorly written dialog to see the next light saber battle. When is Yoda going to stop with the cheesy lines? But the CG was incredible, the best I've seen from any star wars movie, except for a couple of noticeably bad parts. Yoda is all CG, I don't know why. I liked the puppet more then the computerized version, it just looked better in my opinion. But that's just personal preference so I won't put this movie down for that. But to actually CG in a baby at the end, come on Lucas... Watch Luke at the end, and you'll see a very bad CG baby =P And what's with the Darth Cidious and coughing? And I'm not sure if that's his name, he's the robot sith in this movie but he wasn't around long enough for me to care to get his name. Does he also have lungs in that suit or did someone program him with a bad cough? I had heard so much about this guy, about how much he was going to waste the jedi and all that, but he dies without killing a single person (lol, I make that sound like it's a bad thing but in a movie about the death of the jedi, it's expected). They created this awesome character and had him do nothing but run and die. Very weak.
The Good: Again, the CG in the fights were breath-taking. Yoda wastes, Vader wastes, and I hate to say it but Obi-wan does too. This was a great movie to see in the theaters, just because George would immerse you into these far off worlds that just captured your imagination. The lava planet was very well done (other then the robots that for some reason collected lava). I have to admit that Lucas does give you what you want in Vader. Throughout it all, you can see the beginnings of the old Vader we all know and love.
I wish I could put more compelling reasons to watch this movie but I can't make things up... It is worth seeing, especially in the theaters, but I can't watch movies just for the fight scenes. And if you make fun of a movie more then gasping at its greatness, then I'd consider it a dismal failure. George Lucas needs to get someone around him to slap him when he makes these kind of stupid mistakes. Do not have the droids say anything (their talking in this movie was even worse then the first 2), don't just through something in there because it sounds/looks good, and no more sentimental scenes that cut between Padmé and Anakin more then 10 times... This is a renter, not a buyer for those of you that won't see it in the theater.