Revenge of the Sith gets kudos

The release of the final installment of the Star Wars saga, the making of which has stretched out over three long decades, is now less than a week away. And according to reviews (already being posted on the Internet by a few lucky fans fortunate enough to get an early glimpse at the film), George Lucas has finally outdone himself with this one. Perhaps Redemption of the Lucas is a more fitting title than Revenge of the Sith.

James Berardinelli gives the movie a 3 1/2 out of 4 stars, citing a noted improvement in dialogue, character interaction, and overall "edge-of-your-seat-blazing-lightsabers-action."

When it comes to technical wizardry, no one - not Peter Jackson, James Cameron, or Steven Spielberg - can top Lucas, who has been on the special effects cutting edge since he pioneered various techniques in Star Wars. From a purely visual standpoint, no movie to-date can equal Revenge of the Sith. Even the inconsequential background shots are eye-poppingly spectacular. As for the space battles… "incredible" doesn't begin to do them justice. They astound with their vividness and complexity.

Just as I had hoped.

Joshua Tyler of cinemablend.com also praises the movie for standing out among its more sub-par prequel companions.

Revenge of the Sith isn’t just a great Star Wars movie, it’s a flat out great film. Yes it’s technically proficient and yes it’s visually beautiful. Those things are a given. What hasn’t been is how solidly the film is constructed. Revenge of the Sith is a powerful, big budget experience. Yet it is the way that it fits so wonderfully into the existing Star Wars mythos that best sells it, the way it nestles so nicely into 1977’s Episode IV: A New Hope that makes it special. The real beauty is that you could easily toss out the previous two awkward attempts, watch only this in sequence with the original films, and come out completely satisfied. Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace are best forgotten. Lucas’s real miscalculation was in not making this movie right from the start. He tried to stretch the story when all we needed was Vader’s rise in its purest form. Star Wars fans have finally been rewarded for their patience. George has made another masterpiece.

All too true. Ever since the ROTS project was announced, I had feared that it would only serve to disappoint us for the same reasons as Episodes I and II. These reviews seem to put most of the fears to rest, as they insist that the "wooden acting" we had witnessed before is a lot less prevalent in this movie and that the actors have "grown into their roles."

Heck, it seems even the Brits liked it:

The relentless tedium of The Phantom Menace and appalling acting of Attack Of The Clones can be forgotten. Revenge Of The Sith strings a complex plot onto a framework of practically non-stop action. The first 20 minutes - a breathtaking rollercoaster of space battles, lightsaber duels, explosions and acrobatics - rivals anything we've seen in the series. There's an impressive new villain, the Dickensian cyborg General Grievous, a galactic holiday brochure of new locations and, as Anakin succumbs to the dark side, a bleak, bloody atmosphere that's shocking and occasionally even moving.

"WHAT WE WANTED ALL ALONG"

Even those perennial failures of the series, dialogue and performances, have improved. Christensen, who pouted through Clones as Kevin the Teenage Sith Lord, has matured into a convincing lead, and Ewan McGregor as Anakin's mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi finally seems to be enjoying himself. The script has its share of moronic howlers, and the gloss of CGI in every shot becomes wearying after a while. But, lapses aside, Revenge Of The Sith is what we wanted all along: a chunky, funky space opera spectacular.

Bloody good, chaps. And now for the kicker... the official website has published the "crawl."

Episode III

REVENGE OF THE SITH

War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.

As the Seperatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged captial with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor...

Oh snap! Sure gets me pumped, except for the part in the first paragraph that says "there are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere." Kinda cheesy, but I'll let this one slide. After all, this is the rise of Nazi-helmet-totin' Darth Vader we're talking about...