Nothing short of great

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2007)

You can't beat the Star Wars saga; it's grossed up to a billion dollars in filming & merchandise, a big director is behind it, and all of the films have been successful, even the painful two prequels to a certain extent.
The final installment is finally being inserted into the saga, filling the gap between Star Wars II and Stars Wars IV, which is a rather large gap. Up to this point, the prequels have torn down the original trilogy, and this film is the make-it or break-it film, which is why it was so hugely anticipated. That is a bing burden to carry. But let me tell you that George Lucas carries that burden effortlessly.
The first ten minutes are phenomenal; the film opens with one of the best Star Wars battles (my favorite was the Battle of Geonosis in #2), and easily the best one in space. Right after we are thrown into a sword fight, something unusual for the Star Wars films (a lightsbaer battle in the first ten minutes). The action continues its thrill ride for fifteen more minutes until the movie finally comes to a slow. The first twenty minutes are thrilling and a great way to set up a movie. Not to mention that the action was actually cool.
The movie shifts gears and returns to the continuing love story of Anakin and Padme. While I felt the love story worked well in the predecessor, the love story is really bad in this film. I don't know why, but the love scenes do not carry much emotion. This is a major problem, considering that is one of the big things that helps determine Anakin's future fate. The film then starts a juxtaposition for about a half hour, the scenes being, between Anakin and Padme or Anakin and the Chancellor. While the Anakin and Padme scenes didn't work for me, the Anakin and Chancellor scenes worked very well. They were very dark and brooding, and each time around more darkness clouds Anakin's mind, destroying him on the inside. By the way, Hayden Christensen does a fine job portraying Anakin this time around.
So the movie has finally slowed down for about half an hour, but the movie slowly begins to pick up speed again as the Chancellor reveals he is the Sith Lord behind the destroy-the-Jedi conspiracy. This movie is so fatal to Anakin's judgment; the Chancellor has taken him in like a father, and he has to choose between this monster father figure, or the Jedi that don't support him.
He makes his choice obvious after Mace Windu goes bad on the Chancellor. The sword fight between them is just so cool; not great, cool. After taking out Mace, Anakin falls into the inevitable fate of becoming Darth Vader. The movie suddenly picks up ferocious speed and a sequence starts, showing Anakin falling into the evil pit of the Dark Side. This sequence is very frightening (not really scary, but very heavy on the heart because of its heartlessness). The sequence is one of the best moments in the entire saga, and Anakin is deep into darkness before the movie slows down for ten minutes.
Anakin finishes his mission on Mustafar, and the transition between the Repulic and Empire takes place in a very dark scene. A great scene nonetheless. The movie then has a cool scene, which leads right into the epic battle we've all been waiting for. It is the best fight in the entire series, and it switches between Anakin and Obi-Wan and the Chancellor and Yoda. This was very carefully written and George Lucas did an excellent job. Bravo! It's only fifteen minutes before the movie ends, and the sword fithe ends on a dramatic and masterpiece-type note. The transition into the Darth Vader suit is amazing (aside from one funny part), and the movie delicately and quietly makes its way to the end.
Each scene in the film got better and better, and the script was well-handled this time around. There were three things though that didn't work for me, one being minor, one being a nuisance, and one being very important.
My first one is the robots voices. Did it have to be that childish and stupid? Annoying but small, nothing that does damage to the film. A nuisance is the Shakespeare-type dialog that never stops coming. Is it possible for these people to ever talk like modern human beings and seem a little more like a person rather than poet. Like I mentioned earlier, the love story is the major problem with the film, but not even that subtracts any magic the film leaves.
You will fall in love with this film as I did; the actors are splendid, the special effects dazzling, the direction is awesome and the script was extremely tight and well-handled. George Lucas should be very proud of himself, and he fulfilled the needs of every Star Wars lover around the world. This movie is nothing short of great. 9.4/10.