As Master Yoda would say: The one we've been waiting for, this is.

Rating: 10/10 (22 May 2005)

Just as Anakin Skywalker is ultimately redeemed at the end of Return of the Jedi, so too has George Lucas been redeemed at the end of his prequel trilogy. Following two much-hyped installments that turned out to be (to put it mildly) less than satisfying, fans finally get what they'd been craving -- a true space opera. The audiences that fell in love with Star Wars as children, went to see the first two prequels as adults, and found a movie aimed squarely at... children. This one -- FINALLY -- is for the big kids.
The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were both filled with action, but everyone just seemed to be going through the motions. Nobody seemed to be having any FUN. The opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith, however, is as enjoyable a 20 minutes as you'll see in any Star Wars movie. And everybody seems to be having a blast.
Moreover, what makes Revenge of the Sith a success is that, unlike the two previous installments, it has heart. This time, there is real emotion and drama. No amount of explosions and special effects can make a movie great if you don't care about what's happening to the people on screen.
It helps that this movie has a much better plot. The original trilogy had story lines that could be boiled down to very basic concepts: rescuing a princess, escaping from a fortress, training to be a knight, etc. Whereas Epsiodes I & II were about... taxation, and trade disputes, and political maneuvering. Not exactly exciting stuff. In this chapter we have a hero torn between good and evil who faces as powerful a dilemma as any man could face. Now, that's a story you can get into!
Everything about this movie worked for me. The big dramatic scenes are pulled off convincingly. Anakin's move to the dark side is believable, and his eventual transformation into the black-helmeted villain we know as Darth Vader is handled perfectly.
All good action movies also have a good bad guy. Ian McDiarmid, who plays the evil Palpatine, gets move screen time than ever before, and he makes the most of it. His sinister performance is a big reason why the movie succeeds.
It's all tied-up nicely with a denouement that leads perfectly into Episode IV (the last shot is especially beautiful). At the moment the closing credits roll, the saga has come full circle, and audiences will leave pleased that they have seen the first really good Star Wars movie in 25 years.