Outstanding!

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2005)

I just saw the movie last night and I still have goosebumps from it! While nothing can compare to the wit and charisma of Episodes 4-6, Episode 3 certainly reclaims the character development and energy that the first two episodes lacked.
There are some spoilers ahead, so if you don't want to know details, don't read!
The first half hour or so of the movie is just like the first two. The action scenes are great, but the acting is stiff and the dialogue is forced. Its still better than the first two, but nothing like what is to come later in the movie. In the first half hour the scenes are too short and choppy...Lucas jumps from scene to scene not leaving you wanting more, but not giving you enough in the first place. The scenes are interesting and important, just too choppy.
Then there's the scene with Chancellor Palpatine and Anakin in that opera theater/entertainment setting. They have a very honest talk about what the Jedi are up to concerning their lack of trust towards Palpatine (and Anakin), and this is where the movie starts picking up speed. Anakin starts showing care and emotion, and I think Hayden Christensen did an outstanding job in the rest of the film. When he confronts Palpatine when he realizes he's the Sith Lord, ah! I couldn't get enough!!! Then when after Anakin kills Master Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and is horrified by what he just did, he is amazing! I wish he had a few more moments to contemplate his turn to the dark side, but it was still a bone chilling scene. And when Palpatine says those words we star wars fans have been dying to hear ("From now on, you will be known as Darth Vader"), oh it was fantastic how Palpatine drew out those last words. And Anakin reaction to it is just fabulous. From then on, Christensen shows us the acting power he truly has (if anyone wants to see him give an amazing performance, watch "Life as a House"). After that there is a gorgeous scene where Palpatine gives the order to execute all the Jedi, and on each different planet where the Jedi are fighting, the storm troopers turn on the Jedi and kill them. It is a beautifully done stretch of scenes. Obi Wan really picks his acting up a few notches as well. I always thought Ewan McGregor did a great job in these films, but this one he really shows how torn Kenobi is between his friendship with Anakin and the realization that he must fight him as Darth Vader. When Obi Wan goes to talk to Yoda and realizes that Anakin has been turned, he is absolutely outstanding. His conversations with Padme also give you goosebumps, because this is where he realizes Padme's pregnant by Anakin. Again, I wish they gave us a little more on that scene, but eh, you can only ask for so much. Then the final action scene is the real cincher. I had my hand over my mouth in wonder the entire time. Padme tries to get Anakin to come back with her, to leave his newly chosen path and run away with her. It just like watching Titanic...you don't want the ship to sink, but you just know it will. You are begging Anakin to just put his light saber down and go with Padme, but of course you know he can't. Then there is a wonderful stretch of dialogue between Obi Wan and Anakin, where the love between these two men is really apparent, and its that kind of chemistry between characters that has been missing in the first two. I'm so glad Lucas reclaimed it this time. And then the amazing fight scene between Anakin and Obi Wan is both heart wrenching and rewarding...its the one we have been waiting to see.
What I've realized over Episode I-III is that Star Wars is ultimately a story about Anakin. It starts with him, it ends with him. And the thing that is fueling everything Anakin (and also Darth Vader) does is love. He loved Padme from the start and that's why he turned, because Palpatine promised him he could save Padme. And that's why he can be turned at the end of the movie, but Darth Vader finally realizes in Episoder 6 that all the Emperor has done throughout Anakin's life is use him for his own good. That's why he saves Luke.
This movie was absolutely outstanding and I can't wait to see it again.