FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Here we are. The end of an era. Again. This (probably final) big screen installment in the most popular and profitable series/franchise/empire finds Anakin slipping into the dark side and becoming the infamous Darth Vader. We see Yoda proving he’s the wisest Jedi of them all once again. We see the war raging on. We see Chancellor Palpatine play everyone like a fiddle. We see very very little of Jar Jar Binks. And it is good.

No, seriously. It is good. Not great, but good. I know the first two prequels weren’t exactly fitting additions to the rest of the saga, but this comes close. Before I start my raving, let’s get a few rants out there.

First and foremost, the horrid dialogue and performances act out their revenge on us. Hayden Christensen is surprisingly better and occasionally subtle in his approach and delivery. If it weren’t for George Lucas’ bad writing, I might even like his portrayal of Anakin. But Lucas gives us the most incredibly trite, pared down, simplistic approach to a love story you could possibly imagine. I suppose in a galaxy far, far away, love is conveyed through broken clichés and paraphrased, amateurish generalities.

The first hour dragged. R2D2 was given a big role in the early part of the film and all of a sudden he’s equipped with all these gadgets and special abilities that we’ve never seen him use before and won’t use in the original trilogy (which would be mind boggling if those were made after instead of before). To make things worse, he’s downgraded to this stupid comic relief character, despite the lack of tension that would necessitate it. It’s just as inappropriately funny as Gimli was in the second “Lord of the Rings.”

Sure there was a space battle, but jaded as I am, it’s nothing spectacular. The whole thing moves too frantically and you can’t really follow a bulk of the action with the camera flying around like a ship as well. The camerawork seems to be a pretty steady problem in this episode. Lucas (also the director) apparently can’t afford a stinkin’ tripod to be placed on the studio floor. It’s way too unnecessarily shaky. And sometimes the camera can’t really find and frame the guy talking too well.

The computer graphics look pretty bad, once again. The motion of the camera and the ships and especially the animals looks just as awkward and unnatural as every other CG movie object. That’s not to say the creatures and ships aren’t creative or cool, I just wish they were created using models or through other physically manipulated means. To me, it’s distracting and takes me away from it all.

It’s pretty pathetic considering how amazing Yoda turned out. Everything I hate about computer graphics work disappears with him. Even Gollum didn’t look as realistic or fluid. He suffers from the same problem the rest do in that, the farther away you get, the more fake he looks. Up close Yoda actually makes you forget you’re watching a computer generated character. This is how it should be done. This is what I’ve been wanting.

If it weren’t part of “Star Wars,” the film would actually be a lot worse, because all of these story elements wouldn’t stick with an audience unless they knew the surrounding parts. Part of the appeal (maybe even most of it) is that we get to place those last pieces in that complicated puzzle. And that is very satisfying. I came out of the theater admiring the overall construction of the six-part series. Not only does the film work by entertaining you with some fun fighting scenes (a couple unfortunately seem like cop outs) and filling in those holes, but it also has a broader scope and the construction of the storyline is quite effective. And John Williams’ score once again pumps you up and forces itself down your throat whenever needed, but it avoids being overbearing when possible. So, this is definitely the best of the newer trilogy, but still can’t quite stand up to the mysticism and greatness of the original trilogy. It’s not perfect, but I think even diehards will be pleased with the end result.

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