Best of the Best

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2005)

At long last, Star Wars fans can cease their salivating and dive into the last movie of the ever expanding saga. Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith opened last Thursday morning at midnight to thousands of coffee overdosed Jedi wanna-bes and fans of all ages. This last feature film by director George Lucas is the one that everyone has been waiting for. Since the story of Anakin Skywalker originally unfolded way back in 1977, fans have been awaiting this "lynch pin" episode that by all expectations would hopefully answer every remaining question. Before another word is added to this review, you should be warned that yes, I was packing "light saber heat" that night in line with thousands of others holding my giant coffee, spouting off random Star Wars trivia to those who would listen. In short, I am a total Geek.
This most recent trilogy has come under a lot of criticism from the fans. The movies are accused of lacking humor, being more centered on special effects and less on plot, the over-kill of computer generated space battles and characters, and just seeming to miss the overall "heart" the older trilogy expressed. These critiques, coupled with the enormous pressure to write a story that is not only entertaining, but bridges the two trilogies together was the daunting task set before Lucas this time around. So the question is; does episode three deliver? Yes.Oh my Gosh yes, the first thirty minutes alone are enough to scream, "Thank you, Mr. Lucas!" Star Wars fans get the movie that they have always wanted, huge epic space battles and more light saber fights to shake a . . . well, light saber at. Did all the questions get answered; did every last puzzle piece fall into place? Well, kinda. I mean, an author shouldn't give away all of his secrets, and I think the things that were left undone were fine.
Visually, the movie was incredible. Episode three crashed through barriers set previously by other blockbuster movies and exploded out onto your senses. True, some computer generated effects were "obvious" as seen in previous Star Wars movies, but for what I was given for my $9.50, I am happily willing to brush that aside.