Does IMDb *Really* Need Another Review Of This Movie? Well, Here It Is Anyway...

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 2005)

REVENGE OF THE SITH (4 outta 5 stars) Well, the saga is complete! (At least until George Lucas or one of his heirs decides to proceed with another trilogy... oh, you KNOW it is going to happen eventually... make no mistake!) This movie is clearly the most satisfying of the 3 "prequels" to the original Star Wars... because this time out there is a clear storyline... a storyline packed with drama and action and tragedy. Annakin Skywalker's slow Macbeth-like descent into evil makes for a very compelling movie. The accent is less on things blowing up and moving really fast and more on the emotional turmoil that the characters have to go through. There is some pretty dark stuff in here... but what can you expect when the cute little boy from Episode 1 has to evolve into the black-wearing villain from Episode 4? The movie does have its weaknesses... the dialogue is particularly poor and some of the special effects are awful. (How is it that impossibly-complex spaceships can look so realistic yet a human being doing a triple flip during a sword fight can still look so utterly fake? And why can't the director see this and do something about it?) Still, the movie does have some fine moments... particularly a viciously cold-blooded final duel that almost makes up for all the stupid Jar Jar Binks comic relief that they felt compelled to cram into the first two episodes.