Still nowhere near as good as the originals

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2007)

I'm one of the original fans of this movie series. I went to Star Wars with my mother as a kid, and adored the first three with a passion that was exceeded by nothing else at the time. But then Lucas decided to make these prequels.
Should I feel ashamed to say I'm glad that it's over? Okay, so it wasn't as bad as the others. But it was in no way as good as Empire.
The opening scenes on the ship were good until Duku appeared. I really expected more from that sequence. It was just so flat. I did like the end of the fight, with Palpatine egging Ani to kill Duku, and Duku's shocked look. You could almost see him saying "but master..."
The Padme/Ani stuff didn't bug me as much this time round. Still wasn't great, though this time she bugged me more than he did. Like the second she was in love, she suddenly had no other life beyond him. Oh, and she was just not big enough to be pregnant with full-term twins (and both of those babies were definitely full-term). They should have been tiny.
I did think that Ani's journey was a lot less whiny this time round. He actually seemed confused, and I felt like he was trying to work it out... The scene with him thanking Ben before he left to get rid of Grievous was excellent, particularly since the next time they saw each other, they were on opposite sides. And his turning was near-perfect.
I could see Ani struggling with the ideas he'd been fed from both sides, and trying to figure out which was right. Still a bit wooden, but better than his scenes in Clones. You can almost see that if they'd just trusted Ani a bit more, things might have gone the other direction. There was real horror in his face when he realized Palpatine was Sideous. He would have helped them if they had arrested the man. But Windu and the rest of the council are so blinded by what "must be done" that they just don't get it.
The scenes in the temple were the only bit of plot that got me close to crying in this film. I cried at the end, but that was because it was over, and I was feeling emotional from realizing the future Luke and Leia had to look forward to. Ani activating his lightsaber when the kid turns to him for guidance... So dark. And the confrontation between Ani, Amidala and Ben was perfect. Shows the true problem with "just doing it for the knowledge." You might be, but knowledge changes you. As does killing. It becomes a habit, and you forget your true intentions. I liked him choking the life out of Padme, very fitting. And the scenes between he and Ben were perfect. They played off each other well.
The big fight left a bit to be desired, but the finale was perfect. No, "Oops, I left my padawan in a lake of boiling lava...oh, well..." His warning to Ani not to do it, and that flash of lightsaber when Ani jumped were perfect. Gruesome, but perfect. And the best touch? Ben taking Ani's lightsaber as he left.
The rescue and resurrection of Ani was great. And Palpatine telling him he'd killed Padme, too. I liked that he couldn't even recall what he'd done. His fit about it and seeing him pull free of the restraints was good, though it was hard to get much emotion from that suit. Though that's only to be expected.
I hated the scenes where Padme died. She should have been in a coma for the entire thing, and hence unable to name the children. She was certainly far too coherent at the end there when she did... I wanted more from her side of the story, and felt ripped-off. I wanted to see her interacting with Bail, and a lot more interaction with Ben. Emotional connections. Plans. Something.
Yoda really kicked ass this time. He was perfect. And Order 66? Eerily perfect. Though I did get a bit sick of Yoda's reactions each and every time...
The dialogue is the worst bit, though. Who did he hire to write this? A six-year-old? Just made me want to tear my hair out. Not like he couldn't have afforded a good writer by now. However, I was pleased that Jar Jar had no lines.
As I said earlier, the point where I got all emotional was the moment they showed Alderaan. I've been waiting to see it for thirty years. And it was beautiful. I really would have preferred a very different story here, since in the Jedi novelization, it says that Leia knew her mother, and I would have liked to see Bail/Padme, even one-sided. I think she was a strong enough character before she married. And it wouldn't have been that difficult to save her, but let Ani think she was dead.
Watching Leia and Luke with their respective adopted parents just made me bawl. By the last shot, I had tears streaming down my face, knowing the future they had waiting for them.
Oh, the "training" Yoda sets for Ben? Felt far too contrived. I mean, I get that he was trying to connect that to the "Jedi ghost" thing in the original three, but come on...
Ultimate feeling on this? I only went once to the theatre, but I needed to see it there. Just once. And I have yet to get the DVD. Maybe we'll get lucky, and it'll age well. But it's not likely.