There needed to be balance...

Rating: 2/10 (20 February 2007)

"It was you who would bring balance to The Force, not leave it in Darkness!" -- That line is what I would love to say to George Lucas. There is no balance in this big budget phenomenon and we are left in darkness. Lucas drops the scale and does what he feels like. There is no balance to this installment; so don't seek it. Writing and acting were a few ideas that must have crossed the director's mind at some point, but never quite entered his brain or even the screen for that matter.
The most anticipated movie of the summer, the year maybe, arrived and received incredible praise. The root of all this praise from critics and audiences must be from the disappointment of the two prior movies in this prequel franchise because in many ways, it is better than them. This installment, from a view, can be difficult to assess, but I assure you it doesn't have to be more complicated than it is. Reason being, everybody is aware of what will occur in the climax, and everyone is also aware of how Lucas prefers CGI and the more there is, the better. That is not true, don't make me repeat this. Okay, I'll say it again... The more there is, the better it will be... IS NOT TRUE. Get that through your head Hollywood; If you include cool sequences of excitement they better be followed up by amazing performances, excellent writing, and good direction.
The flimsy Revenge of the Sith focused on the Jedi council and its destruction, Anakin Skywalker's transformation, and then focused on some more CGI. Revenge of the Sith does NOT focus on writing, acting, or originality. If you don't seek those 3 things, there is a chance you will be satisfied with what is given.
Samuel L. Jackson is one of the highlights of this generation, he gives excellent performances. In this case he delivers, but for a very, very short time. After he departs from the story you know things aren't looking good...
Writing is very important to me. I can overlook poor acting in most cases, but some can't (if so, stay the hell away from RotS) *The script must have been written by somebody who was more interested in what sort of creature Obi-Wan will be riding, would rather create a cool looking army on a computer to blast apart a bunch of bad guys, than to focus on the art of story telling which would have served this Episode a great deal...
hold the phone - - Writing credits of "Revenge of the Sith" George Lucas (written by) so, it WAS written by a guy who would prefer etc... see the * above On a lighter bucket of tears, the anticipated battle between mentor and apprentice. That finale/climax was poorly constructed with nothing but CGI and dull choreography to map it. There was little excitement in each segment due to them all immediately ending in the middle as if the computers had shut down. Many movies do this technique, but the battle is usually finished at a certain point. So often was momentum and excitement abruptly halted to cut to dialog and acting which do not even exceed the skills of a soap opera star. That isn't an exaggeration. I have seen more interesting writing in silent movies, and 80 some years later you would expect quality to eventually become more important and carry more meaning.
If you are looking for closure of some kind you may or may not find it. Don't expect too much or read too many reviews. I have many friends who enjoyed this installment and they have their reasons; I don't argue because it is clear to see the appeal of the franchise. In many cases, prestige and gloss is often chosen over substance. In this case, they are chosen, but aren't displayed to the standards of modern cinema. 2.5/10