Revenge of the Sith is a surprise of a movie

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2005)

After a good thirty years, and two prequels later. George Lucas is bringing the final piece of the Star Wars saga to the fans. And after two opulent misfires, he has a lot to live up to.
So is Episode 3 the messiah of a film that people have been waiting for all this time? Yes, and no. Yes, it's a much better film than both previous episodes. No, it still could have been even better with some changes. Many things that didn't work in the previous episodes are still there, and they still don't work. Anakin and Padme have no chemistry between each other, and most of their horrendous dialogues seems forced. And while the film is the least dialogue heavy of the three prequals, it still suffers from some terribly wooden phrases that the characters are forced to say with a straight face.
Effects wise, the movie is top class once again. While the only grumble is the character of General Grievious, most of the effects are simply stunning and the opening space battle will blow people away.
But therein lies the problem, like in the previous films, Lucas feels at times lost in the splendor of his own visual creations that he loses sight of the big picture, and the movie begins to lose it's momentum. Such instanses are fewer than in the previous episodes, but still noticeable. Mainly the final 45 or so minutes could have used some better editing in parts.
Acting, in terms of Star Wars acting, is good. McGregor has over time grown into the young shadow of Alec Guiness and works his charm very well into some bland scenes and manages to bring some genuine motion to what could have been yawn inducing at worst. Lucas still has to work on his characters and dialogue, even if the effects are the main focus at times.
In the end, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, is a surprisingly good finish to the saga, and hopefully the last part in it. It's at times incredibly thrilling and truly emotional, and at times very cringe worthy. But by the time the credits roll, the good had outweighed the bad, at least on my part.