Not everything I hoped for, but a decent conclusion of the prequel trilogy nonetheless

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2005)

After almost thirty years, George Lucas has finally finished (at least, for now), the Star Wars saga. And while the first trilogy will likely go down in history like a timeless classic, the second trilogy, concluded by "Revenge of the Sith" quite probably won't. The good news, however, is that it does at least end in a fairly worthwhile way.
"Revenge of the Sith" picks up as the Clone Wars are nearing their conclusion. Obi-Wan an Anakin are lauded heroes of the republic, but Anakin is still frustrated because he isn't given everything he thinks he is due. Senator Palpatine uses this frustration and Anakin's fear of losing his beloved Padme to turn him to the dark side, and finally overthrow the republic and destroy the Jedi.
Of course, the story of Episode III was pretty much known before the movie was even made. Surprisingly, it does include a couple of surprises, and as a whole the story is certainly serviceable, as long as you don't think too deeply about it. At the very least, it did manage to make Anakin's fall to the dark side plausible. Also, this movie actually manages to evoke some emotion, something the very flat episodes I and II never did. This is perhaps the darkest part of all Star Wars movies yet, and that goes a long way towards making it a lot more interesting.
The one aspect where "Revenge" really shines is in the action sequences, though. Although they're clearly very much dominated by CGI, the effects look a lot less fake than those in "Attack of the Clones", and are usually quite believable. There are some really spectacular lightsaber battles in the movie, with the final fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin really standing out. It's a shame that relatively little is done with the big spaceship battle in the beginning and the invasion of Kashyyk though. It's also a shame that when the Clone Troopers turn on the Jedi, practically all the Jedi are eliminated almost in the blink of an eye. Isn't a jedi supposed to be able to single-handedly take out a small army? Also, it's a bit of a shame that George Lucas didn't hire somebody else to direct this movie or write the dialogs. Lucas is a fine action director and has a lot of imagination, but he really doesn't know how to write an interesting conversation. For the most part, the acting in "Revenge" is as wooden as ever, and the dialogs are still quite jarring at times. The romance between Padme and Anakin will probably go down in history as one as the most unconvincing in movie history. Also, most of the attempts at humor really don't work this time around.
That being said, I still enjoyed this movie. While it's not everything I hoped for, it does provide lots of excellent action sequences and a tragic storyline that makes for far more interesting material than the childishness of Episode I or the somewhat hollow Episode II. It's a shame though that the wooden acting and the sometimes atrocious dialog somewhat bring down what would have otherwise been a really great movie.
***1/2 out of *****