disappointing...

Rating: 4/10 (5 June 2005)

The expectations being so high, it is only too normal to be disappointed watching Episode III and yet, I am convinced this movie could have turned out much better with only a little more effort put into the dialogs and the characters. Ewan McGregor proves far less irritating and dull than in the two previous episodes, but he just fails to deliver emotional content, as is the case with much of the dramatic material. With a plot revolving around treason, identity, guilt, scheming, an almost Shakespearian plot, there was more than enough to write something riveting, but - and here are maybe the limits of such a film - the director has visibly so much designed his film to suit an all-age, international audience, that the result only brushes the many issues, each time avoiding to delve into any of them, and so remaining superficial at best. The scene when Anakin surrenders to the dark side, a supposed climactic scene, is surprisingly devoid of any depth and pathos, as is Vador's confrontation with his master. Similarly, the attack of the Jedi temple by Anakin could have been a heart-tearing sequence, especially since we know Anakin will have to slay innocent and pure kids that simply trust and revere him, but no, the scene is left for the audience to imagine. What about the love story? Can't it be something else than this pre-teen infatuation, especially since it is one of the defining element in the course of the action? One of the things that have certainly appealed to early fans and enthusiasts is the bestiary and the variety of planets and stars where the action is set, but here again, most of of them are reduced to a simple glimpse. OK, Lucas is no Shakespeare and no Herbert (whose "Dune" has suffered from its successive on screen adaptations accordingly), but a deeper look into the material would have brought the film the credibility it definitely lacks. I believe the success of a tale depends on the person who tells it, not on the raw material. That is why I found this flick hardly satisfying as a space-opera (not enough of the "opera" thing), and as the self-proclaimed "darker" episode of the series, which is just in my opinion light gray at best.