An Excellent Star Wars Movie, but..

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2005)

This is an excellent conclusion to our experience of the Star Wars saga. It excels at everything that is expected of Star Wars, but unfortunately, the weaknesses remain. I'll go through my likes and dislikes The special effects are excellent (need we say), my only criticism is that at times they tend to be static, i.e. the effects are the background, rather than something the characters are a part of. Something that I think is not done enough is thinking how the effects can be made to feel a apart of the action, rather than background. The story itself is excellent, I have never had a problem with the plots, and I think this one really gives us a feeling for what went wrong with AS/DV. The Action is also really exciting, and an improvement on the last 2 where the powers displayed by the jedi left me feeling underwhelmed (that droid army on geonosis should have been turned into scrap metal by such a large collection of jedi in Ep2).
The 2 eternal problems are of course acting/directing and writing. George Lucas could be a director and a writer, but he is a visionary and he paints in broad brush strokes. Acting and writing of 'character' scenes are best done by people with an eye/ear for detail. He should have realised these shortcomings a long time ago, and needn't go to a galaxy far away to find some one take over dialogue writing and direction.
Individual performances are mixed. Christensen is almost good as Anakin, but falters at times. McDiarmid is again excellent as palpatine, and Mcgregor has gotten the role just right. In my opinion, Yoda, as always, is the best!
So as I said, an excellent star wars movie, but less excellent as a movie. The great pity is that what Lucas does best, is done well, and what doesn't, he could easily bring in some one to help him out and the movie would be much better. But when you are in Theater, and 'A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away ..." flashes across the screen one is carried away with the excitement and action, and for sheer enjoyment, this is one of the best.