I finally got around to seeing Star Wars Episode III yesterday, and…
I liked it. Seriously. It was a good, solid ending to the first trilogy, especially since the first two were less than… aw heck, they blew. One reason Ep3 was better, my wife and I agreed, is that it’s not encumbered by dialog. Normally, I’d say that would be bad, but George Lucas can really no longer write dialog. Especially between men and women. So if you can cringe your way through Padme and Anakin expressing their love like six-year-olds, the rest of the movie is pretty good.
Not great. Don’t get me wrong. It still has problems. Some of the effects are obviously computer-generated, and although the action sequences are full of action, the cuts are often so quick that you can’t tell what’s going on – especially in the lightsaber duels, because the sabers are flashing in closeup.
Perhaps its biggest failing, which has been true of all three recent movies, is that there’s no wit, no humor. We liked Han Solo because he was a romantic rogue, but there’s none of that in this movie. It’s all very earnest and serious. I know the toward-the-Dark-Side storyline demands it, but a little levity would have been welcome (and I don’t mean goofy Gungan levity either).
But it was a fine two and a half hours spent, even if not much of the movie sticks with me today. I want to see it again in digital projection (the only theater doing this in the Seattle area is in Monroe), just to get a comparison of the technology. And to see the beautiful design and visuals.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 