redemption

Rating: 8/10 (23 May 2005)

ROTS was supposed to be a story of betrayal and downfall, but it turned out to be a redemption. Not of the characters in the story (that happened in 1983), but rather of the director. I left the theater in 1999 worried that George Lucas may have killed or irreparably damaged the legacy of his original three films. Episode II did little to change that feeling; in fact, it felt as if Lucas was making a point of wilfully (and pridefully) ignoring much of the well-grounded criticism of Ep I. It was thus with much trepidation that I awaited the release of this third (and final?) chapter of the saga.
My misgivings were unfounded. This final installment of the prequel trilogy is everything the first two could have (and should have) been. Simple themes, handled in an engaging and larger-than-life manner. Fantastic visuals (of course) that actually helped to tell the story rather than to overpower it. The dialogue rarely made me wince (an occurrence so common in the first two movies that I left the movies with a temporary squint). The acting was much improved (particularly Hayden Christensen--I guess it's not fair to judge a young actor when a script like Ep II is all he has to cut his teeth on).
The only negative to all these positives is the question lots of other fans have asked--what might have been, if the first two films had been on a par with this one? Lucas had a chance to create something transcendent with these two trilogies; as it is, there are far too many "yeah buts" left over from the first two films. Still, 4 out of 6 is a pretty good mark.