A different world

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2005)

Facts are facts. The Old Republic was a different place than the era of the Rebel Alliance vs the Empire. The Jedi of this time are far superior to that of the original trilogy. By ROTJ Luke has all of about 4 months of training under his belt. Ben Kenobi trained for nearly 20 years before he was even allowed to face the trials and become a knight. Kenobi is now a Master and Anakin is damn near that rank as well. So of course they are able to defeat Dooku with more ease than the last time they faced him. People were predetermined to be set against this film and I find that rather sad. It's a brilliant film. The love between Padme and Anakin is going to be a different love than we know. It would be like claiming to know what it's like to live the life of a film star when you aren't one. There's no way of knowing that you would feel the same way about everything around. Power changes people and Anakin has that in spades. And we are shown that Anakin's power has grown in that he lost an arm last time and now wins, fairly simple to see I'd say.
As for the love story, it can't be compared to Hand and Leia. Han and Leia were never a forbidden love. The cat and mouse game they play is simply because Leia has reservations. Anakin and Padme put their whole way of living at risk. It's not a coy game for them of playing hard to get. And many have complained about the delivery of their lines. But they forget, it's Lucas' vision, not ours. It's his story to tell, no one owns it but him. If he wants it somewhat toned down then that's his call. They are in the midst of a galactic war but Anakin is a Jedi. They exude calm under pressure. I would be running around screaming like an idiot in the face of the dangers that assault him, but he shrugs it off and deals with it with no fear of death.
And yes, we do have a rather quick decent down the path of the dark side. That is how the dark side works. Luke almost falls completely in a matter of a minute at the end of Jedi. Had he struck down Vader he would have become Palpatine's servant. The lure of the dark side is the promise of quick power. Anakin tries to fight it, he obviously feels immediate regret after defending Palpatine against Windu. "What have I done?" The dark and almost noir feel of this film is perfect for the mood. The idea is to show how closely Anakin and Luke's lives parallel each other. To show how easily they could both fall or be heroes. Kenobi is our only figure who is 100% good throughout. This movie is a wonderful film and I sincerely hope that people will watch it with an open mind-set and not just having jumped on the "bashing lucas" bandwagon that has become so popular.
p.s. Having the high ground is an advantage. The difference was that Maul didn't realize what was happening and therefore hesitated. Kenobi says "Don't try it." so he obviously knows what Anakin will do and is able to react immediately.