Redemption.

Rating: 9/10 (18 March 2007)

Hayden Christensen surpasses my early predictions surrounding the caliber of his expected performance. His performance wasn't the "stuff of legends," but, and face it, folks, that's exactly what it will become; however inferior. He DID; however, deliver JUST ENOUGH to pull this off.
The story was what was expected, but the story telling itself was greatly contrived. I couldn't wholly buy what Luca$ was selling in this work. The reasons behind the transformation did not ring true, nor did it feel right. Skywalker must have been a seriously weak person to have turned to "The Dark Side" that easily. Palpatine's seduction of Skywalker (what with his being a "virgin birth" and all) was just a little too shallow for this Star Wars fan. Ani was Palpatine's puppet rather than the headstrong but capable child he was just a few short years ago. It seemed to me that Skywalker was portrayed as much stronger in his early youth than he was as a Jedi and at the peak of his power.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT!!!
Palpatine's face was disfigured during his battle with Mace Windu in order to make it match the wizened old troll we knew only as "the Emperor" in 4, 5, & 6.
Princess Leia, when remembering her mother in Episode V, speaks of her as being beautiful and very sad. We have always wondered how that was possible, and now we know she was speaking of Bail Organa's wife as her mother.
Anakin Skywalker was a short little thing to properly and believably portray Darth Vader. I mean, let's face it...Vader was 6' 7" tall, while Christensen has only just made it to 6' 1". We now know that he was extensively rebuilt by Emperor Palpatine, including metal extensions for both lower legs. *eye rolls*
We now also understand R2D2's total dedication to Obi Wan and the Rebellion, more clearly.
The Millennium Falcon is visible as Obi Wan and Anakin are just landing outside the Jedi Temple at the beginning of the movie. It can be seen in the lower right of the screen.
The TIE Fighters are introduced here in their first incarnation.
Padmé's body was made to appear still pregnant for her funeral in order to deceive those on the Dark Side into believing the babies had died with her. This action would prevent Vader from seeking out his child/ren.
Obi Wan knew how to project himself to Luke and Yoda from beyond the grave due to Yoda asking Qui-Gon Jinn to return and teach Obi Wan the secret higher Jedi arts.
* But all in all, and I'm not speaking for everyone here, as a Fan, I really hoped for more. I did not EXPECT more, but I dared hope for it.
We got Chewbacca YAY!, but we got him for a second.
We got Wookie soldiers and a Wookie battle, but not the huge effectstravaganza-filled Wookie War we were promised.
We got Yoda in battle, but this time he looked more like a spider monkey on crack than ever before.
We see Anakin changing into Vader, but the reasons were just stupid.
We got Padme in childbirth, but she delivered 3 month old at least babies! Those were SO NOT newborns!
C3P0 is full gold. His silver right front bottom leg piece is gold in this Episode. I'm sure that will be rectified with the DVD release.
Also, no attempt is made to explain Obi Wan's aging 30 years in the 20 years it took Luke to take us to meet back up with him.
Further, it takes no notice that Leia appears 10 years older than Luke in Episodes 4, 5, & 6.
I'll also assume that this work was meant to indicate that Wookies live for an extraordinarily long period of time, as no attempt was made to make Chewbacca appear any younger than he did in Episodes 4, 5, & 6.
The volcano planet where Vader literally becomes Vader and is confronted by Obi Wan was very reminiscent of Mordor. That whole scene bore some interesting parallels: Obi Wan was betrayed by someone he thought would help the Jedi cause, they fight, one is destroyed by fire while reveling in his moment, one way or the other, and both heroes in both situations were accompanied by trusted loved ones who could not help then in their moment of need. One had a magickal ring, the other had a wedding ring.
I was happy, I must say, to see that there were no nipples on Bail Organa's Batman armor and that they chose to show the annihilation of the younglings on camera, rather than off. It made for a much more poignant moment that way.
The crop circles in fire on the planet's surface in the opening scenes and shots were amusing to me in that they were so prominent yet placed in the background so as to attract the subliminal mind to think, "Oh yeah, this is an alien space-scape, alright." And R2D2 has some new tricks! He can jump, shoot laser fire, squirt out an oil slick, and he now has turbo fire rockets on the bottoms of his rolling casters. He can also laugh. (Check out the scene where Bail Organa orders C3P0's mind to be wiped!) For now, Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith rates an 8.6/10.
the Fiend :.