The ending in the middle

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2005)

This ending in the middle, following the curious episodes order of the Star Wars Saga fits very well in the circle, and this seems to have been the main goal of Director George Lucas. By the end of the film not only we know how Anakin Skywalker turned into Darth Vader, but we also fit many other pieces of the puzzle at the right place. That's good.
On the other hand, this Episode 3 also has many of the flaws to be found in the other installments, especially in the more recent prequel films. The effects are superb, and I can be only sorry because I saw this film on small screen, on DVD, due to being busy or lazy or both. Poor excuse, I know and I am sure I have missed much of the experience only a theater viewing can give. But, and this is the big but, colors are superb, certainly computers graphics are very good, but we have already seen better for example 'Van Helsing' the last one in the LOTR series. Moreover the surprise of seeing a full new world brought on screen from pure imagination that we had in the first 'Star Wars' 28 years ago is not there any longer.
And then it's the acting. Hayden Christensen is simply not at the level required by such a film and I would almost say 'like son, like father' because a similar thing happened to Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker's son in the next series (chronology-wise) filmed 28 years earlier. Natalie Portman is OK, but there is no chemistry between the two and the love story simply does not make it from the screen. Not that dialogs help too much, they are too close to chip science fiction, and the exception, the memorable 'This is how democracy dies - in thundering applause' seems more like targeting contemporary politics.
Satr Wars fans will love the film, as everything coming from the Lucas studios. Good cinema fans will raise some brows. I am a little bit of the two, so I am a soul divided by now.