Forget the Hype.....

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2005)

I just got out of the first midnight showing of Star Wars Episode 3, second ticket sold at the theater, and I would like to leave you with some thoughts. I will try to remain spoiler free, if i must, i will mark a spoiler.
The Good: This film really comes together with the original movies. The story is good, and has a lot of the missing link information between the original and new movies. For the most part the acting was on key and to tone of the film. Sound/score was amazing... really inventive use of drums in the opening scene.
The film maintained a steady pace, with only a few draggers. The action never layed down for long, with massive lightsaber battles. (But the lightsaber battles had issues.) The Bad: Everything has problems... and this film is no difference. But most of the problems stems from plot hole issues, or lack of information. (Semi-Spoiler: The long contested Leia remembering her mother, and resulting scenes). Also some cheesy romance is a problem, but does add a little tougne-in-cheek value to the film. The film will some times move along at too fast a pace to catch key bits of info. (At least for the non-Star Wars fanatics).
Also some of the lightsaber battles went way to fast to really catch all the little details... but luckily most of the details are not plot important, but eye candy.
My Personal Problems: One of my biggest gripes (besides the Leia plot hole, but thats a topic of debate) is the color design of the film. Being a novice graphic artist, its important to have a color set and a limit. But this does not mean, use only one color. Its the problem with the lightsaber battles... most of the time, both actors in the fight will have the same color lightsaber. Which can add confusion to a battle. Not to mention that it's usually the set background is of a very small color set. So a lot of things end up the same color.
My Personal Rant: This is a good film and really ties the whole backstory into the original movies we all know. The film also lives up to its PG-13 rating. I do admit that younger children could have problems with some of the scenes. But I'm glad that Lucas did not shy away from these scenes to get a PG or G. The more violent scenes are key to Anakins turn to the dark side.
End: I highly recommend this film. Lucas really nailed the feel in this one. It really feels like a Star Wars... But I also stand by the fact that parents of very young children should be aware of some of the more violent scenes in the film. So what you waiting for... get out and watch it... go...now...