It was worth the wait!

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2005)

I waited for this movie for 3 years and decided to see it on the opening day- something I have never done for any movie. It was spectacular in its special effects and battle scenes, and fast and effective in its story telling. It makes quite an emotional impact toward the end when Anakin finally falls in the river of lava and has to be rebuilt into the masked Darth Vader. The acting was excellent. Hayden Christensen shows the conflicting emotions very effectively. Ewan McGregor made me cry at the end, and so did Natalie Portman. Ian McDiarmid is back as 'the emperor' and the dark Sith Lord Darth Sidious. He is scary and disgusting at the same time. It is easy to see that Anakin accepts him as his master and does not question him out of fear. Anakin/Darth Vader spirals into the dark lord very quickly by killing the innocents. We keep wishing that he would return to Obi-Wan and the Jedi but we already know what happened in the original trilogy.
The story blends very well with the original trilogy. The music is dark throughout, as is the mood. Occasionally there are lighter moments because of Artoo and Yoda, but basically it is an emotional movie that makes a big impact. Even with the violence, it does not go totally out of control, and I will have no problem taking children to this movie. Lucas deserves a lot of credit for the whole series and a lifetime achievement award for changing the face of cinema.
I highly recommend it.