Nice puzzle with stunning special effects

Rating: 8/10 (25 May 2005)

** HERE BE SPOILERS **
Recap: Basically a puzzle to patch up SW II with SW IV, if you're familiar with those plots, you shouldn't have any problem to figure out the main plot in this one. Anyway, Anakin is still in training by Obi-Wan Kenobi, but his powers have grown. War is upon the republic, and the Jedis is dispersed to fight the separatists. Obi-Wan and Anakin rescues the chancellor Palpatine who is kidnapped by the robotic separatists and Anakin gain the trust of Palpatine, and becomes under his influence. The Jedi council soon become weary that something is not right in the Republic...
Comment: On the surface it is a very good puzzle that connects both to SW II and SW IV. However, if the surface is scratched, some inconsistencies arise (for example, Vader is given a more elevated position in this move than what he seems to have in SW IV), and there are some unnecessary "cheap" references to the other movies. Still, the movie works very well within itself. The special effects are stunning, I especially liked the initial battle scene (except that the ship cannon seem to use shells, aren't they energy weapons?). Very beautiful, and a lot of other scenes are grand and masterfully done. Good cast, with extra credit to Samuel L Jackson as Mace Windu, and Christiansen seems to have grown into the part as Anakin and delivers a much better performance than in the previous movie. The story is much darker, and some few scenes might even be unpleasant for younger viewers, however, for other audiences the movie is better because of it... In conclusion, a worthy end (?) to the Star Wars movies...
8/10