Saving the best for last.

Rating: 10/10 (16 November 2005)

I was one of many disappointed with the prequels, to a degree. The Phantom Menace left all of us with a sour taste in our mouths. Attack of the Clones, although aesthetically captivating and immensely entertaining, was brainless and had some sketchy dialogue sequences. Needless to say, despite all the hype, I wasn't expecting much more from Revenge of the Sith than I was from Attack of the Clones.
So there I sat in the theatre at midnight on May 19th, anxious, worried, biting my nails in anticipation, quite possibly for the last time in my life, as there will never be another film of this magnitude again. Things started out grim. The first 30 minutes of the film are nigh intolerable, between shameless droid antics and the disappointing and sudden departure of Count Dooku. But this is all a brilliant rogue set up by Lucas to give you one last sense of "prequelness" before he thrusts you into a world of darkness and emotion beyond anything the Star Wars saga has ever seen.
Suddenly, the dialogue hits all the beats. The acting raises to a calibré unseen in the franchise. The overblown special effects and sketchy animation, though still present, take a back seat to the tale. And this is just the beginning. Halfway through the movie, upon the execution of Order 66, this movie becomes a Star Wars fan's absolute fantasy. Everything you've thought of since you were a child has come to fruition in a way that will leave you absolutely shell-shocked. The last hour or so of the film is about as close to perfect as you'll ever get in terms of the action/fantasy/sci-fi genre.
Not only is it a return to greatness for Lucas, but John Williams as well, who's been producing lackluster scores since Jurassic Park. The Revenge soundtrack is easily his magnum opus. The music in this movie will send chills up your spine from the raw emotion of it. If the last scene doesn't leave a tear in your eye, you're not a Star Wars fan. This movie is pure magic, and I would recommend it to anyone with the capacity to understand it. The Empire Strikes Back has finally been dethroned. Lucas has given the neighsayers the slip. Pure genius. Some of the best cinema ever.