All is now explained!

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2005)

This is a roller-coaster, a tour de force of a film, with bags of action sequences and special effects throughout. Inevitably, as the third film in the sequence (but the sixth to be filmed and released), the theme is somewhat dark, covering as it must the climax of the downward spiral of the democratic Galactic Republic into the dictatorship of the Galactic Empire. Both the pace and the darkness are unremitting, and there is much less humour than in the other films, especially episodes 4 to 6, which often used the two droids as comic relief at times of high tension, and were thus able to boast a U certificate. This is still a family film, but with a 12A certificate in the UK (PG-13 in the US), is not really suitable for younger children, or for children on their own. There are lots of action sequences, but the plot has an inevitable emphasis on politics and power-broking, and the dialogue mostly concerns itself with Anakin Skywalker's internal conflict and eventual acceptance of the Dark Side of the Force. The casting of the two main roles (Skywalker and Kenobi), which didn't seem to gel totally in the previous film, comes into its own here: Christensen somehow captures the exact look of his screen son, Mark Hamill, from over 25 years before, while if George Lucas had popped back in a time machine and borrowed the young Alec Guinness for the role, he could hardly have been more convincing as the youthful and vigorous Kenobi we see here. The special effects really are just that: special, and even if some anorak spends ages with the DVD on slo-mo locating defects in the early space-battle sequences, this should not detract from the film for the ordinary viewer. All the creatures and droids are lifelike and believable, and I was able to keep immersed in the director's creation throughout. Of course, we are dealing with a prequel here, and practically everyone who sees this film will have seen the Original Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope) before this. The film is therefore a bit like watching a massive Rubik's Cube solving itself. At first, we are just caught up in the whirl of colour and action, not seeing where the pattern is taking us, but as we move to the climax, each piece slots into place like a jigsaw, until finally we see the entire form, complete and ready to plunge us into the adventures of the Rebel Alliance's battle with the Emperor's Death Star.