You were the chosen one!

Rating: 3/10 (29 May 2005)

Dear Mr. Lucas,
I now know how Obi-Wan must have felt when he left the limbless Anakin to smolder amidst the flames of that volcanic planet at the end of this final piece to your Star Wars legacy. Obi-Wan certainly felt pity for Anakin much as i now pity you. Anakin destroyed himself and those who loved him and i see you have done the same for yourself. All i got from your trio of prequels was that you care more for your video game special effects than from building a believable story around your greatest creation and the greatest cinematic figure of all time: Vader. I cannot lay blame on the actors, or the electricians, or ILM or your editors. This was yours to lose and you did, in my eyes.
Would it have been too difficult to seek help from your circle of peers like Spielberg or Coppola for a little directing advice? Would it have been so hard to enlist the aid of other experienced screenwriters to inject better dialogue and ways to improve your original ideas? Why is it that every time i see the original films and see Vader i'm only going to see a whiny brat who never got his own way? Do you really feel your audience is so dumb that every 10 second scene has to have your characters spell everything out for us? Why is Padme, former ruler of Naboo and Senator, reduced to a forlorn housewife waiting up for her husband?
I did like two things about your film (other than Yoda squaring off against Palpatine) and that was the idea behind the dream Anakin has about Padme's death. It was probably fitting that he does end up being responsible for her death but your execution of the plot point just seemed all too simplified. I particularly enjoyed the scene with Anakin and Palpatine in the opera box: 1. because it was the longest scene in the film and i thought it your best written scene from all of these prequels and 2. because Ian McDiarmid was finally given chance to show why he's such a gifted actor, but in such a poor film vehicle.
Yet in the end Vader is nothing more than some monster on a slab. Perhaps he should have been named Darth Frankenstein. Please explain the cheesy "Noooo!" and shaking when he learns about Padme. Isn't it probable that he would take a moment to inspect his new outfit even feeling the mask that has now become his identity? And then when learning of Padme wouldn't it be more in the character's nature (at least from the original films) not to voice his reaction but to stare for a moment (leaving us to wonder about the facial reaction beneath the mask) and then turn slowly and leave the room? Vader if anything seemed to internalize every thought and feeling, which is why he's so intriguing because you have no idea what he's thinking. But now we know he likes to throw temper tantrums. The enigma is broken. His choice to turn to the dark side came far too easily but everything up to that point just wasn't blending well anyway.
You left your original formula just to showcase the power of ILM? Why? And now "at the end of all things" (to quote a far superior trilogy) the awe, the mystique, the fascination and devotion i've had since i was six when I saw Star Wars the first time is no more. What more can i say...you lost a fan.