Really for the fans

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2005)

This last instalment of the Star Wars saga does have a strong storyline... for a Star Wars movie. The story fills in the key gaps that any intelligent person would be wondering about: How the young Jedi Anakin Skywalker devoted to selfless service evolved completely into the self-centred and evil Darth Vader; the genesis of Luke and Leia Skywalker; the origin of Darth Vader's evil Master. Not that much in the way of surprise, almost no suspense and relatively weak drama meant that coming into the last third of the movie I was clockwatching.
CGI and special effects get top marks for creativity, imagination and detail - if you ever want to see a first-rate futuristic space battle depiction, replete with spacecraft, worlds and cities, look no further - but were overpowering to the point that they detracted from the story (this is something coming from a hard-core sci-fi fan).
Ewan Macgregor's cheerful Obi-Wan Kenobi provided some welcome relief in what was basically a dark tragedy - the triumph of the evil Sith lords and near destruction of the beneficent Jedi. In the session I attended I heard only one laugh - where Yoda bursts in on Chancellor Palpatine, flattening the two guards (much larger than he) at the door in doing so. A little judiciously placed humour might have helped relieve the unrelenting tension and pace.
Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker behaves more like a spoiled schoolboy rather than a budding psychopathic darklord. Perhaps if he were given a good spanking...? His sudden defeat and near destruction at Kenobi's hands was rather a surprise. Portman's Padme has never seemed very convincing - the part where she suddenly broke into tears seemed without provocation or real feeling. Maybe this is the problem with the latest SW trilogy - technology (and George's pocketbook) has advanced to the stage where stunning visuals are possible. These are great, if only they were matched by depth in the characters, making us care for them as was more the case in the first trilogy.
Still, the SW sextet of films (the biggest movie money spinner - merchandise considered - to date) will no doubt go down in cinematic history as a unique technical achievement with a reasonable story.
5/10