Almost Good!

Rating: 7/10 (23 May 2005)

Well, George Lucas has certainly gone a long ways to undo some of the damage he's done to his rep (and his own movies) with Ep 3. It's not a great film by any means--still present are the long stretches of painful dialogue, reams of paper-thin characters and uneven pacing. But without a doubt, the first 20 minutes and last 30 minutes are the best Star Wars work Lucas has ever done period, better than Empire. The last few scenes in particular are just flat-out amazing. Terrific action, emotionally engaging...everything the last two SHOULD have been. Overall, I would rank it above the last three, but below Empire and the original. It's not the masterpiece many are claiming it is, but it's certainly an entertaining, thoroughly watchable summer popcorn flick.