Not that Great

Rating: 4/10 (25 March 2006)

OK, let me start by saying, yes, it was a lot better than Episodes 1&2. But I think that is what everyone keeps comparing it to. When this film is stacked up against the original trilogy, there simply is no comparison. The story of the creation of Darth Vader is not only slightly incomplete, but fairly inconsistent with the formation of the character. Neither Natalie Portman nor Hayden Christiansen can act their way out of a paper bag in this film, but that seems to be par for the course for them in these films. Why they even bothered to get Jimmy Smits in this film at all is a mystery to me, he has a grand total of like 5 minutes of screen time. The film is just another vehicle for George Lucas to showcase ILM and show the world exactly how much they can do digitally. But the inconsistencies in Anakin and Padme, the two most pivotal characters in the films, outweigh nearly everything else in this film. I do have to give credit to Ewen McGregor and Ian McDiarmid though, they actually acted in this film, and try as they did, two actors can't hold up an entire film of this scope. Everyone who is a true Star Wars fan should see this film, if only to have the full story, but make sure if you are exposing someone who has never seen these films before to show them this one, and the other two members of the second trilogy, last, as they will not grab the attention and pull in the viewer like the originals.