great CGI action but tired dialog and bad Christensen acting

Rating: 4/10 (25 December 2015)

After three years of the Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine is kidnapped by the besieging droid army led by from General Grievous. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) kill Count Dooku to rescue Palpatine. Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) reveals her pregnancy. Anakin falls under the spell of Palpatine who suggests a way to surpass death with the Dark Side as the Jedi Order starts to suspect an insidious plan.
The CGI space battle opening is amazing. The special effects remain the biggest positive from the prequels. The dialogue continues to be stiff. Anakin is annoying not because of the dark side. The romance is horribly clunky. The dialog between them is insanely awkward. When the movie isn't a CGI fight or battle, it grinds down to a halt with stuffy dialog being read in lackluster situations. There is too much sitting and talking. There is almost no humor to speak of. Then there is Anakin's whiplash turn. Christensen's wooden acting and limited range makes it impossible for him to deliver the difficult complex transformation. I chuckled in the theater when he goes over to the dark side. It destroys everything that comes after that. It's a sad close to a failed prequel.