Star Wars Episode 3 Much Better With Some Flaws

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2009)

Star Wars Episode 3 is the best of the prequel trilogy from writer/director George Lucas who has somewhat redeemed himself from the so-so previous films that came before this one. Lucas brings his two trilogies to a sad yet satisfying conclusion that reveals more unanswered questions and the ending helps bridge the events in this film to the ones that will happen in A New Hope. Ewan McGregor is much better this time around as Obi-Wan Kenobi and luckily has more to do. McGregor had an uncanny resemble to the older character played by Alec Guiness which made him that much more believable. Natalie Portman does what she can as Padme Amadala who is trying to keep her marriage to Anakin a secret. Her character also discovers she's pregnant with Anakin's child(ren)(Hint "spolder" Luke and Lea). Portman gets less screen time than she did in the previous and less to do making her character feel like a supporting player who shows up here and there. Portman still does a decent job with her limited screen time. Hayden Christian reprises his part as Anakin Skywalker and he like McGregor seem much more comfortable in their roles this time. He also seemed more of a lead than Portman considering he gets more screen time since the movie does mainly focus on him and McGregor. Christensen's character goes through a major transformation in this one and he is convincing in the role. For those of you who have seen it I don't think I have to tell you who he eventually transforms into but I'll say it anyway. Christensen's Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader and his characters signature costume complete with that strange breathing sound are shown briefly revealing why he has to wear that suit. Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious is an effective villain who gets more to do including two light saber duels one of them is against Master Yoda near the end. Samuel L Jackson is back too as Jedi Knight Mace Windu but unfortunately his character's role is cut rather short. Jackson is good in his small role none the less. The same can go for Christopher Lee who also returns as Count Dooku from Episode 2 but his part like Jackson's is very small and he's written out of the movie quickly. The rest of the supporting cast including Yoda, C3PO, R2-D2, and brief appearance by Chewbacca are adequate in their small parts but don't get much to and none of them really leave an impression. Jar Jar Binks luckily makes a non-speaking brief blink and you missed it appearance before the conclusion. The special effects are amazing and the action/fight sequences are equally impressive. The ones standing out being the space battle that opens the film and the final climactic light saber duel between Ob-Wan and Anakin/Vader a very impressive fight sequence that was a bit long but very well executed none the less. The pacing was slow in between the action again at times and the dialogue wasn't the best occasionally either like the other ones but fortunately the good outweighs the bad. Lucas ends this film in a good way which could've been a little better but it was still a big improvement over the previous ones. Overall this film is much better than some of the other third movies in a trilogy that were disappointments like Spider-man 3, X-Men The Last Stand, and Pirates 3 to name a few. Despite it's few flaws Star Wars Episode 3 is still an entertaining sci-fi adventure with enough intense action, solid performances, and a fitting finale that makes this third film enjoyable to watch.