Prequel Mania!

Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Wow, what a title. Try saying that five times fast. The full theatrical trailer debuted during an episode of the O.C. Blecch! Not even the chance to see the final Star Wars trailer would get me to watch the O.C.! Anyway, I am reminded of the first prequel's trailer. Even the second one. They were both very well done, and got your anticipation motor running. If only the movies had fully delivered. Though, Revenge of the Sith has so much potential. Anakin looks so perfect in this film. His eyes and grimace foreshadow his dark emotions and horrible destructive potential in spades. Darth Sidious lives up to his name too, oozing pure evil and malevolence. What the makers of this film need to realize is that Vader was the most feared of all the Empire's agents. Although Emperor Palpatine had all the ruling power, everyone feared Vader, especially his own collegues, because they knew what he was capable of and that he could get away with whatever he wanted. It takes a lot to get to that position, and this final Star Wars prequel is the last chance to get us to that point. Emperor Palpatine must also get the attention he needs to establish his feared position. This movie needs to be intense and dramatic, and the performances of the actors must be spot-on and passionate. Especially Portman. She is a good actress, and her character is so important to anchor the emotions of the Star Wars story. Face it, she is the mother of Luke and Leia, the wife of Anakin Skywalker, and one of the reasons the Dark Side was faced with so much resistence. Portman's portrayal as Padme in the first prequel was as dry as a bone and as wooden and dull as a log rotting in the grass. Slightly better in the second, but not good enough. Just try to listen to her as she speaks her lines in The Phantom Menace without gritting your teeth and heaving a huge annoyed sigh. She even admitted that she had not seen the original trilogy. While that can be a good thing, she just didn't pour her heart into the role, like the original actors did. But I digress. Anytime I think of the originals as a comparison to the prequels, I always come up very disappointed. It's like comparing the novel Sphere by Michael Crichton to the movie Sphere. If you've read it, and have also seen the movie, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about, and wouldn't think me a weirdo.