The best of the recent Star Wars films but.......

Rating: 6/10 (18 October 2005)

Not nearly as good as the first three released films, "Star Wars", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi." Episodes I thru III suffer from terrible dialog and wooden acting. While the older movies aren't exactly top-notch scripting, they are at least exciting and move at a quick pace, unlike the newer films which come to a complete halt whenever most of the characters speak. C3PO and Yoda have the best lines and are the most interesting characters here.
The plot and story are fine. What these films needed was a script rewrite - dialog and character interaction need help - and a better director. Lucas should stick to the ideas and being executive producer while letting someone like Irwin Kirshner direct. As for scripting - with so many GOOD screenwriters out of work did Lucas think he could still do it all himself? He seems to have outgrown his once famed ability to write a good, terse script. He does seem enamored with the idea that bigger is better. Story and character development has become buried in a sea of grandiosity and CGI.
All that said, I still enjoyed this movie. It is the best, by a good sized amount, of the recent releases. And, if one can forgive the wooden acting, at least by the leads, and the mediocre direction, this is a good film. It's far from terrible and it is very entertaining.
My problem with all three films is that they could have been so much better. The older films are a lot better and they set a standard which none of the newer films come close to, although "Sith" comes closest.
And to think that "Star Wars" total production cost was less than the marketing budget for "Sith."