Decent wrap up to the saga

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2005)

Caught up with SITH at the famous Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (where the fans SHOULD have been lining up instead of the Chinese where it ISN'T playing!). Can't say I can add much to what has been said already. Basically, I would agree that it's a generally satisfying conclusion to the trilogy and a marked step up from the previous two turgid entries. The final reel or so really takes flight and wraps things up nicely.
The action and effects are the highlights, but Ewan McGregor and, particularly, Ian McDiarmid (who gives as good a performance as any actor in any STAR WARS film; which makes it doubly disappointing that he is buried under a silly Halloween mask for the last third of the film diluting his powerful portrayal) hold their own amongst the digital jungle. And, I'd agree that the dialogue is fairly rote and uninspiring - far too on the nose and explaining things and events that we either see for ourselves (character motivations and actions) or care little about (the tiresome political machinations). Natalie Portman, Hayden Christiansen and, of course, Samuel L. Jackson, have all shown talent in OTHER films, but again just seem stiff and lost under Lucas' direction (and dialogue). I can't pinpoint exactly WHAT is the problem, but all three seem utterly flummoxed as to how to breathe life into their parts.
As these films are about larger than life actions and events, the failings of the screenplay and much of the acting are overcome overall, but there's a critical element lost in the tragedy of Annakin's turning to the dark side - we don't FEEL it. We KNOW it's a sad thing in our heads, but don't have a palpable sense of loss. Did anybody have an equal emotional tie to Annakin's downfall as they did to say... Luke finding out Darth was his father? That Leia and Luke were twins? That Obi Wan was now just part of the Force? That Jar-Jar was going to have increasingly smaller roles in each succeeding film? Grin (heck, I didn't even see him in SITH, though I heard he's in there somewhere!)
On a technical note, I know that Lucas uses the finest Digital equipment in the world (as does the Cinerama on the projection end), but I still can't warm up to the way it looks. For SFX, Landscapes and brightly lit scenes, it can look fine. But, Digital still can't show BLACK. Real dark deep rich BLACK! It's just this sort of murky grey. I'd hate to imagine a Film Noir done in digital! And Digital still seems to have a dickens of a time trying to compensate when a room is naturally lit and there are exterior windows shining bright light in.
Trivia: Nice to see one last Christopher Lee-Peter Cushing pairing if only as a prosthetic Cushing. Lee in both the STAR WARS and LOTR trilogies really acquitted himself marvelously methinks.
Can anybody explain to me where R2D2's mobility went in the Episodes IV thru VI ?
Same goes with Yoda! I mean it's only about 20 years between SITH and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (a pittance to a 900 year old being!), yet YODA somehow can't leap and fly about like Bruce Lee anymore, nor exert a fraction of the Force's powers! I guess this is just an area where Lucas figures nobody is going to really call him on it, because the more mobile Yoda and R2 "just look really cool when they zip around!!"