sith it?

Rating: 10/10 (2 November 2005)

this film has some wonderful aspects. 1) the technicians involved in the movie, all of them did a great job. the sound, sound editing, score, cinematography, fx, film editing, et al. if there were no dialogue, just watching this film is a great experience. 2) the art direction was spectacular. the worlds they created, make-up and sets, costuming and design, creatures they designed, were truly great. and the choreography of the fights were exceptional. i loved watching Yoda decapitate those guards before they knew what hit them, and the individual battles between Anakin and Obi-won, Yoda and Palpatine, Windu and Palpatine, were athletic and convincing. and general Grievous, an android with a respiratory condition, intriguing! 3)Ian Mcdiarmid did a great job as the evil emperor. although i suspected he was the villain when he first appeared in the earlier films, his performance was great to watch. 4)character and emotion was prime here. jealousy, greed, love, remorse, sacrifice, betrayal, ruthlessness, loyalty, deception, hope, courage, despair and grief, emotions and their nature were easy to relate to.
my heart isn't in to criticizing this film. all i'll say is that Natalie Portman, clearly a great actor in films such as Cold Mountain (she surprised me. i thought she was better than granny clampett and ms ice cold), Closer, Garden State, and Hayden Christensen, were more convincing as lovers when they were in scenes apart. i didn't feel any true chemistry between them when they were on the screen together. but George had both of them ask about the other when they regained their consciousness, and i found that very moving. it's something watching the powerful influence of love help turn Anakin into a monster,his motivation being to save his beloved Padme, a compelling reason, and in the end knowing that love brought him back. his fall from grace was total and complete. i'll also admit that when i first watched this when it was released, i cried. and i cried again when i re-watched it on DVD, although it wasn't because of the acting or the screenplay.( we all knew padme was doomed. oddly enough, it also made me laugh out loud) but i think this was in large part because i have watched all the movies in this franchise. in the end it is a classic story of good against evil, and love between a man and a woman, and a story about an exceptional family. Revenge of the Sith helped make the first Star Wars seem even better, because we know more (and because the first one was a better movie, but i digress...) wasn't this the true lure of the last film in this series? to find out what the deal was with Darth Vader? i suspected as much when i watched his transformation, but it didn't disappoint me. this wasn't a perfect film(uh, have you considered letting someone else write the screenplay, George?) but it was in it's way truly remarkable. and the moving score helped bandage the film together. i'm happy to have seen it more than once and will definitely watch it again. actually i believe it helped make all the films in this series seem better,(not an easy thing when you're talking about "clones" and "phantom") and Anakin's redemption in "return" all the more touching. yes indeed, there is such a thing as redemption, and this film reminded me to think twice before judging the character of a man. which reminds me..thank you Mr Lucas, for your visionary Star Wars. Is it really over? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!