An unsatisfying conclusion

Rating: 5/10 (23 June 2005)

I saw Episode 3 last night and must say I was disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high, based on generally favorable reviews and the comments of those who had already seen the movie.
At this stage of my life I care more for movies about people than those which are about effects, and this is where the film really let me down. I just didn't care much for any of the characters, and they didn't seem to care much for each other. The lack of on-screen chemistry between the young leads didn't help. And Mr. Lucas certainly had it right in his AFI tribute when he said (and I appreciate his humor) he is the king of wooden dialog.
The movie suffered from two other problems to my mind. First, Lucas was never able to overcome, in a dramatic sense, our foreknowledge of what was to come. Somehow, this let the air out of the tires, so the movie never really got rolling. (In contrast, Peter Jackson kept the LOTR movies interesting despite that fact that the story is well known. In large part, this may be because I cared about the characters, thanks to generally excellent performances.)
Second, the first trilogy really was about something--the young man's quest, the search for self, whatever--all that Joseph Campbell stuff. This movie, the entire second trilogy in fact, seemed to lack this connection to anything of depth.
Beyond those major concerns, I found the first part of the movie dull and slow, and in fact found my attention wandering. Certainly things picked up once Palpatine's plot kicked into gear, but the story just never engaged me. I also felt that Skywalker's conversion to Vader came about much too quickly. (Yes, I know, it was building from the death of his mother. Still, on screen, it happened too quickly.)
The effects were very well done, but I found them a bit over done. My eye had a hard time finding a place to focus. The original movies had a certain (budget driven) visual simplicity which may have helped this movie. Again, good effects do not equal a good movie. There must be something more, someone or something to care about, and that's the big failure here.
Sorry Star Wars fans, only 5 out of 10.