A classic? No, among the better Star Wars Movies? definitely!

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2006)

Why it's bad: 1-Hayden Christensen's obvious intent to act but he comes off as either too stiff or too corny. 2-Some of the dialogue you hear leaves you like "huh!?" lines such as "my powers have doubled since we last met" Puleeese. 3- The climactic duel, as intense as it is, up until the finish, is too tidy and too expertly fought. Nobody gets scraped, get their clothes torn or burnt, nor suffer any injury. Anakin gets beaten with one swing of Obi Wan's light saber!? why not a few injuries that build up to the defeat. 4- Why introduce an interesting Villain like General Grievous just to have him offed so quickly. and if he's so devious, how come they don't show him kill any one. 5- a few plot holes that are just too obvious to ignore. Mind you, these might be due to my overall lack of knowledge of the Star Wars story plotting. If this is the case, please forgive. enlightenment is welcome. A- Why does Count Douku have his own Master kidnapped (Darth Sidious AKA senator Palpatine) It is not explained whether or not Count Douku knows that his master and the senator are one and the same. Even if he doesn't know, wouldn't a powerful sith lord like Douku sense his master's presence even if he is in disguise? B-when Mace Windu arrives with 3 other Jedi to "arrest" Senator Palpatine, why does the senator challenge them right away? I thought he was a smooth talker who seduced Count Douku and Anakin into converting to the Dark side. Why reveal your Sith Lord status all of a sudden after years of careful covert operation. C-Now here is the real kicker and one that just annoyed me. Why are the other 3 Jedi that showed up with Mace windu killed off so ridiculously easy? I mean it was laughable. I thought these were master warriors that trained for light saber combat since they were kids er younglings. We know Darth sidious is going to beat them and wind up dueling just Mace but come on, give them a little more play. Why it's good: 1-some of the slow paced scenes work, such as Yoda and Mace speaking on the presence of the sith. such as Anakin meditating on his eventual turn to the Dark side. (he's sitting by the window and yes, he's not speaking). and also The Senator/Sidious brainwashing Anakin. 2- but I think one of the best parts was when the Jedi were being killed off and you could feel the senseless betrayal, one through Yoda's hurt expressions and two, due to John Williams' melancholy yet poignant score at this time. 3- I wish that the conversion into Darth Vader would have been drawn out more and maybe give Vader some better "first words" than were spoken. but other than that, I was taken; the suit, the mask, the first breath. it gave me pleasant chills. Why a master story teller such as Mr. Lucas did not realize these little tid bits is beyond me. It almost gives me the impression the creators were like, well the plotting isn't perfect but it's got plenty of action and every body has been waiting for this one for a long time. Lets release it. Over all I enjoyed it, I bought the DVD and can't wait to show it to my son when he's about eight.