Film Review : Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith

Like countless millions my age, I grew up with Star Wars. We collected the toys and comics, covered our bedroom walls with the posters, and watched the original trilogy countless times. We loved Star Wars. And we all, to a greater or lesser extent, were disappointed by the prequels. They had some good moments, but didn't have that magic that made their predecessors (successors?) so special. The witty banter of the original trilogy had been replaced by jokes that skewed way too young, and it was hard to warm to the austere Jedi in the same way that we had taken Han, Luke and Leia to our hearts all those years ago.

And so, like many Star Wars junkies, I began to lose faith.

But on Friday night, my faith was emphatically restored.

Revenge of the Sith was almost everything I had hoped it would be.

It wasn't perfect by any means - the dialogue was still clunky and the acting a bit wooden, but not nearly to the same extent as in Episode I or II. I don't think I cringed even once.

The action scenes were in the main excellent, and the FX shots were more natural and less obtrusive than in the previous films.

But most important of all, the film moved me. Although the heartache the characters were going through was of course entirely predictable, tears still welled in my eyes on at least two occasions. The bottom line is that I really cared what was happening to these people and to this galaxy far, far away.

I give it an emphatic 5 stars. Go see it. Now.