A Great End

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2005)

Star Wars is one of those things that is larger than life. It goes beyond the movies. It's something that transcends such trivial ideas like entertainment.
The Star Wars Saga has become a thread of our lives, with people all over the planet knowing about the characters and story, with references about it littered all over pop culture and other shows. It's a legend, there is no doubt about that.
Episodes 1 and 2 might not have lived up to overwhelmingly high expectations, but Episode 3 delivers. It's no surprise that the darkest episode of the Saga is also one of the best- The Empire Strikes Back was a foreboding story as well, and it's often rated by fans as being the very best.
Everything about Episode 3 is quite dark and tragic. Even the early interchanges between Anakin and Obi-wan, which are light-hearted and humorous, are tinged with sadness, given what we know will become of Anakin later on. Then there is Dooku's demise at Anakin's hand, at the behest of the Chancellor- the beginning of Anakin's slide to the Dark Side.
The battles are epic in scope though the opening space battle, for it's amazing opening, is a bit of a disappointment. In the first shot we see dozens of ships pelting each other with firepower, only for the focus to then be almost entirely on two fighters- not the sort of battle that I'd hoped for! Still, it's well done, full of intensity and the subsequent crash landing scene is brilliant.
The only other complaint about the film is that Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman still seem a bit wooden at times, though this might be more due to Lucas's dialogue than anything else. The lightsaber duels, the climatic final duel between Anakin and Obi-wan... all of it is brilliant. This completes the saga beautifully.