What a send off into the Dark Side!

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2005)

This is the one I was waiting for. My sister took me to see the original "Star Wars" (before it was "Episode IV") in 1977 when I was 11 and I've been hooked ever since. My wife and I saw "ROTS" at a thunderously loud floor-to-ceiling sound system multiplex in Canada which made this film an experience to say the least. Some may be critical of the acting, but Hayden Christensen does well on his dark slide downward, the luminously beautiful Natalie Portman is excellent as the heartbroken wife watching the man she loves slip away from her, and Ewan McGregor's pain at watching his best friend turn against him is very evident. But the "Best Actor" kudos should go to Ian McDiarmid, hands down. His alternating portrayal as the seemingly-concerned Chancellor Palpatine and the seductively evil Darth Sidious corrupting Anakin into Darth Vader through Anakin's love for his wife is compelling. It is not a children's movie (and I was unsettled to see so many young children there), but it is a fine piece of work.
The metamorphosis of the human, well-intentioned Anakin into the barely-human machine Lord Vader is nicely done.
By the way: one post said "no Jar Jar". There is just a brief shot of Jar Jar at Padme's funeral.