Holy Sith!

Just got back from a Revenge of the Sith. It's far better than I expected, although given the quality of the last two offerings, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, that wouldn't have been hard.

It's a bleak story, the story of a fall from grace, with a very tiny upwards lift at the end. It's a love story with appalling wooden dialogue and plot holes (they haven't seen each other for a long time and she's what?!). It's an action story (which it does rather well) and it has some very good special effects.

It is packed with foreshadowings of Episode IV with details like the shape of the fighters, which will clearly become X-Wings and TIE Fighters. Bail Organa's ship with it's boxy, bright corridors is a tremendous link to the opening of A New Hope. The last scene, with Uncle Owen looking at the twin suns of Tatooine links directly to the first time we see Luke.

One thing which I thought looked quite clunky was Vader's armour, but I guess there wasn't really very much Lucas could do to change that. Also, I thought that the sudden change from the clone troopers to grey suited space navy was a bit abrupt.

So, to sum up, I thought it was very good, with some plot holes. Mind you, I thought Attack of the Clones was good too, the first time I saw it. Seeing it again on the small screen made it look awful. Time will only tell with this one.

UPDATE: Yoda is almost right in this movie, but Lucas gives us the hyperactive muppet over an actual jedi master. When Yoda first confronts Sidious, he nonchalantly throws some bodyguards out of the way with the force. This is what you expect of a master. Not bouncing around like a chihuahua with three double espressos inside him.

And Iain MacDiarmaids Fright Mask? So totally over the top. An actor like this doesn't need a stupid latex face and contact lenses. Just give him some coloured lighting and he could scare the crap out of everyone. Some subtle red highlights in his eyes and maybe a slight greenish tinge to his skin and he could carry this off with his voice.

And as for Hayden Christiansen - wow, that man is the worst actor I have ever seen. Daytime Soaps is Phil's take and there's a really strong feeling of that in every scene with Anakin. He reminds me of how Zoidberg's Uncle wants Calculon to emote in That's Lobstertainment (A futurama episode)