Maybe the best Star Wars of them all!!!

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2005)

WARNING!! SPOILERS!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! Anakin's slide to the dark side is actually extremely well handled and is very interesting. In a way, there are several parties responsible for what happens. Anakin, of course, is to blame because he makes poor choices (choosing fears over losing his wife vs. the good of the republic and the jedi, his lust for power, his ambition and jealously).
But at the same time, a lot of the reasons behind Anakin's fall is the fact that he is being manipulated big time by almost everyone around him. Palpatine is screwing with his head, making Anakin think that Padme will die in childbirth if Anakin doesn't explore the dark side to find the power to prevent it. The scene with Palpatine telling Anakin about how a sith lord once learned how to prevent death was chilling. "Can I learn this power?" asks Anakin. "Not from a Jedi," says Palpatine. Ian McDiarmind's performance as Palpatine was superb on many levels, but in this scene he comes across as some kind of father telling his son a bed time story, but in a very twisted and manipulative way. Palpatine is both a seducer and a repulsive, evil force. Absolutely brilliant! Yet Palpatine isn't the only one manipulating Anakin. The Jedi Council is doing the same thing, using his relationship with Palpatine to spy on the Chancellor because the council doesn't trust him. Of course, the Jedi are well motivated in their actions, but Anakin is right--it is very un-Jedi like to use Anakin they way they are.
The result--as Anakin says to Padme in one scene, "I feel lost." And it is very understandable why he would feel that way. Even his own Master, Obi-Wan, is in league with the Council's decision, albeit reluctantly. He doesn't know where to turn, and once Palpatine's seduction is complete, for the first time, Anakin feels there is order in his life. He becomes a blind follower of Palpatine.
I really love the way that Anakin's vision of good and evil becomes so logically twisted. In a way, the nature of good and evil are at the center of the story. Sometimes, it is very hard to recognize, and evil is sometimes so seductive that it turns even the best of people to its side.
Plus, I think of all the Star Wars movies, this one had the most emotion in it, which is quite an irony because so many critics have said that the new Star Wars trilogy lacks the emotion and characterization of the original films. But in this film, I think the emotional content is there in a big way. Love, hate, fear, sadness, helplessness, are all felt by the characters, and well expressed in the performances.
I think something that helped the acting in this film is that all of the actors are a little older and more experienced now. Natalie Portman has matured into a very good actress, and Ewan McGregor shines in this movie with his multi-faceted performance. Hayden Christensen also does well in going from the confused young man Anakin was to the self-assured, hateful Darth Vader that he ends up becoming. There is one scene in particular that Hayden did well with. After he has slaughtered the Jedi in the temple and the Separatists leaders on Mustafar, he stands on a balcony. On his face is a look of hateful satisfaction, but tears are flowing from his eyes. He is both pleased and sad with himself, and with that one look, Hayden's performance tells the whole story of what Anakin has become. Then, after he thinks Padme has betrayed him and Obi-Wan maims him, Anakin loses that little bit of humanity left in him, and becomes the machine-like, evil that is later hidden behind the dark mask.
Plus, the action in this film is awesome. There were more lightsaber fights in this film than in any of them, and the one between Anakin and Obi-Wan was INCREDIBLE! I have never seen such a fast-moving, almost operatic fighting sequence. Those sabers were moving so FAST, and there was a great deal of emotion in the fight backing up the swordplay.
Star Was 3 was an absolutely brilliant film that has the scope of a massive galactic war on multiple planets, but at the same time has a very human and emotional story at its heart. I recommend that everyone see the film. You will not be disappointed.
Captain Hornblower