The long wait is finally over, at last you can find out the hows, whys and wherefore art thous of Anakin's fall to the dark side. But will you be happy with the result?

Star Wars: Episode III opens with a rescue mission led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Senator Palpatine been 'kidnapped' by General Grevious, a cyborg with a nasty villain laugh and an even nastier villain cough. Upon his rescue Palpatine continues his Machievellian manipulation of Anakin, who is still prone to those hissy fits he had in Episode II. Meanwhile the Jedi are becoming wary of Palpatine who is holding onto his leadership of the senate a tad longer than he should have. And would you believe Padmé is pregnant.

As would be expected, Episode III is a visual treat; the opening battle in space is quite spectacular, and probably the best action scene in the film. Unfortunately there is not much else to recommend it. George Lucas continues to direct with all the finely tuned skills of a seventy year-old amateur drama enthusiast. This, combined with the hokiest dialogue this side of the Dagobah system, and a painfully dull plot, puts it in the same arena as its predecessors – not as bad as The Phantom Menace and not as good as Attack of the Clones (which is not to say that Attack of the Clones was good).

This was always going to be the hardest film for Lucas, especially when the audience already have a good idea of how things are going to pan out. Basically he has taken his back-story and turned it into a trilogy without warmth, suspense, an engaging story or characters. The best character in Star Wars was Han Solo, and Lucas never developed any character to match him (but of course Harrison Ford is the main reason for this).

All Lucas has managed to do with these prequels is to scupper the superior trilogy he completed with Return of the Jedi. When I saw Star Wars, (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope) long, long ago, it was about a young farm boy who is thrown into a world of adventure, who learns an ancient art of fighting, rescues a princess and fights the ultimate evil in the galaxy. To the new generations who may grow up watching these films chronologically it's now about a young boy who ends up in world of adventure, has a run in with his father, rescues a princess, who also happens to be his sister whom he fancies. Sick or what? By the way did you realise that Sith is an anagram for…

Paul Farren

Rated PG (see IFCO website for details)
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is on general release.
Star Wars - Official website