The Prequel's Revenge

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2006)

I'm sorry, but the above poster who detests this film is either confused or stupid. This was the BEST of the prequels, and proves that no longer can an average shmoe off the street rant: "The prequels suck, the old ones were classics." No. No. No. ROTS BLOWS "Return of the Jedi" out of the water. I'm sorry, but THAT film was a disgrace, in my opinion more so than "The Phantom Menace." Weak acting? Please. I'll admit that Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman wouldn't have been my first choice to play Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala respectively, but you can tell that these two young, INEXPERIENCED actors stepped it up a notch from the previous film. Just look at the scene where Padme confesses her pregnancy to Anakin. That's probably the strongest acting between the two of them. Aside from that, Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and ESPECIALLY Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) are both superb in this film.
The premise is not "stupid." It's very interesting and enthralling. Finally we get a prequel that, on a personal level, succeeds in developing its central characters. While I wish Padme's "birth of the Rebellion" scenes hadn't been cut, I can see where Lucas was going with the whole "it's Anakin's story" bit.
The music was fantastic. Tracks that stick out include "Anakin's Betrayal," "Padme's Destiny/Birth of the Twins," & "Padme's Visit," just to name a few.
As you can see, the special effects weren't the only saving grace of the film. Embittered individuals going into this film during "that time of the month" will probably leave the theater the way they entered it. Sure, I'm confident that none of the three prequels will reach the "classic" status that the originals have attained, but had they been released in a different age & time, they undoubtedly would.