Star Wars Ep 3 is a good movie but not nearly good enough

Rating: 6/10 (17 April 2011)

My stance seems to be not reflect the majority, which is divided between two extremes when it comes to rating this movie. I would say that it is an averagely good movie that is disappointing because it could have been a very good movie.
This movie comes down to the crux of the prequel trilogy. It finally relates to us the story of Anakins fall to the dark side and the beginning of the Galactic Empire that the heroes in the original trilogy fight against. In my opinion this was - in the grand scheme of the story- the movie for which the prequel trilogy was made for.
There seems to be a lot of disappointment over the writing of this movie and at first one has to wonder why. Indeed, the original trilogy did not contain Shakespearean writing either. There are a number of corny lines in both. However while the original trilogy was a fairly simple story - basically a classical high-fantasy story lifted to a space opera setting - of good defeating evil and a simple farm-boy becoming the hero, then this is a tragedy and tragedy's are a lot harder to write well. The original trilogy could get away with it. This cannot.
A tragedy shouldn't be about grand battles and action sequences. For me, this tragedy especially, should relate to us the internal conflicts of the fall to the dark side by Anakin. Instead we get a Hollywood blockbuster action movie. The actual events leading to the hero's fall are disappointing and fall short of the depth required. I believe the premise really had potential and I am saddened that it didn't come through. Surely there are competent enough writers in Hollywood too. That being said, there were some bits that worked, such as the execution of order 66 and the slaughter we witness in the Jedi council. It really does get the feeling of shock and horror through to us, as the evil mastermind Palpatine's plans finally come to a successful conclusion. Overall however the writing does not do justice to the story it is trying to tell.
The visuals of course were stunning. The battles lacked intensity because of the lack of good buildup around them story-wise, however. The acting was average. One has to blame the writers for the corny lines, rather than the actors, who tried their best in delivering them.
Why do I give this movie a 6/10 after all this? Because it is just an averagely entertaining science-fiction action movie. It is not nearly as horrible as many make it out to be, it does definitely not deserve the place in "worst movies of all time" lists. In fact it is the best of the prequel trilogy by a long shot. The only qualms I have with it is what it could and should have been instead.