Spoiler-free Review

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I thoroughly enjoyed Revenge of the Sith. I was very impressed with it, and I think it is a major step ahead of the first two prequels. I had many gripes with The Phantom Menace, and I thought Attack of the Clones had many of the same flaws but was a great step in the right direction. Revenge of the Sith trumps them both, by far. Herein lies my spoiler-free review.

There is a definite upgrade as far as special-effect quality. The computer animation is top notch, and the interaction with real and cg is almost flawless. Yet, flaws there are. For example, the Clone Commander is a computer generated trooper, yet his head is real footage of Temeura Morrison, the actor who portrayed him. His head seems to float above the computer generated body, and it looks terrible if you watch it closely. On the other hand, Count Dooku's lightsaber fights looked seamless. In Attack of the Clones, his head seemed to glow pale, and the head clearly didn't fit the body moving below it. And cuts from the stunt double to Christopher Lee were badly done. The effect was not a success. Here, in Revenge of the Sith, it is completely seamless. It is utterly believeable that Christopher Lee is doing his own saber fighting, even though he is not. It looked so incredible! Also, another character used a stunt double to do his fighting, and it looked almost as good. As expected, all the effects are taken to the highest levels. There are new cg characters that really look great. Here's a little appetizer: a new character uses multiple lightsabers in a way that has not been done before. You'll go gaga!

This time around, I rolled my eyes scant few times. I don't remember cringing to bad dialog and/or delivery even once. Granted, there are still some goofy lines, and some dull interpretations, but it has been cut down significantly. The love scenes between Anakin and Padme are much more believeable here. More is at stake, and the actors have more reason to be more dramatic. All around the actors have finally embraced their characters and have made them believeable. I was happy that Mace Windu was better this time. The real stand-outs are Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. If ever you doubted McGregor's work as Obi Wan Kenobi, you'll cast those doubts into oblivion by the end. He is perfect. He IS Obi Wan. Contrary to some critics' description of Hayden Christensen as merely a scowl, he pours himself into the role and shines bright. It is wonderful to see him truly become a seasoned Jedi, not just a young boy. And finally, we come to the one behind all this war: Emperor Palpatine. Mr. Ian McDairmid is too perfect this time. Remembering back to his wickedly excellent portrayal of the Emperor back in Return of the Jedi, we are reminded who we are dealing with. Palpatine reeks of malevolence, and he loves every minute of it. His evil cackle is the best in the business. His performance will bring chills to your spine!

I recommend that you read the novelization after you see the movie, then see it again. It will help you understand the finer points of the story and will make the movie better the second time around.

There are scenes that allow for the complete transition to the original trilogy that will bring a nostalgic tear to your eye. Very nicely done, and they will urge you to pop in your Star Wars DVD and watch the films that began this magical journey in a galaxy far, far away....