Powerful at times, lacking at others

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2005)

Good news. After two duds, Revenge of the Sith is actually a good movie. In some places, it's really good. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as it could have been. This one had the potential to be up there with Empire Strikes Back.
Here's what I liked...
Like the previous SW movies, this one was action-packed with excellent special effects. Where this movie differed is that it actually had an engaging story to go with it. For the first time in the prequel series, the movie succeeds in connecting with the viewer on an emotional level. The climactic duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader is the most gripping SW scene since Vader and Luke fought in Empire. This was an extremely powerful sequence in which you could really feel Obi-Wan's frustration and anguish at Anakin's fate.
Anakin's fall to the dark side was very well done. There's one scene in particular that I really liked where Skywalker is alone in the Jedi temple and he looks out towards Padme's apartment. He pretty much makes his decision at that point.
The film does a really good job of bridging the gap between the prequel series and the original three movies. The last 5-10 minutes of the film do a good job of bridging the gap. There's a few points that are rushed a bit, such as the whole jedi immortality idea, but you leave with a good sense that A New Hope is set to begin.
Didn't like...
Grievous. Major missed opportunity here. His character wasn't properly fleshed out. You don't learn anything about him. His apparent cyborg nature could have been used to foreshadow the half-man half-machine that Vader would become, but they don't tell you anything about him. Grievous could have been a powerful character, but instead he was more like a CGI prop.
Palpatine's transformation. Well, I suppose Lucas had to deform him somehow, but it was kind of hokey. Ian MacDiarmid was excellent right up to that point. After that scene, the Emperor seemed kind of cartoonish.
Vader's transformation. This is my #1 complaint. It's the most anticipated scene of the prequel series and they rush through it as if it was a nothing scene. They pick Anakin up and shove him in a black suit and that's it. It would be nice to hear a bit about the extent of his injuries and why, exactly, he needs to be put in THAT suit. It wouldn't take much. You could have a doctor saying to the emperor, "He's alive, but his lungs were badly burned and he won't live unless...blah, blah." You get the idea. There should have been SOMETHING.
Don't get me wrong. Revenge of the Sith is good. At times, it was even great, but it could have been outstanding. When I look back on the prequel series, what really strikes me is that they spent two and a half movies doing very little to advance the plot, and then they all of a sudden tried to cram everything into the last 45 minutes. 7/10