Episode III: aftershocks

I saw Revenge of the Sith last night with a jolly crew of 5. (Anne-Marie was in town from Quebec, which explains why I had already drunk a pint and a half of Stella before the show. Nevertheless the judgments I am about to pass are quite sober.)

There's nothing quite like a new Star Wars film to simultaneously excite and disappoint . The unanimous verdict on the film was "[gnash teeth, wring hands, suppress reservations] Good!"

I give Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen a lot of credit for wringing as much character as possible from their idiotic dialogue. But in the end, Anakin is still a dumb-ass -- an impatient ambitious macho youth too immature to not be impetuous. His turn to the dark side was the dumbest setup ever and rather disappointing given how much of the saga has hinged on it.

Ian McDiarmid (as Palpatine) was great! yoda was a delight. wookiees rock. the fight scenes were too long and distracting. (Why are all blockbusters just trailers for their video games?) I hope on the dvd you can turn the lightsabres off, because you couldn't see what Anakin and Obi-Wan were doing, and that would a shame and a waste since they were so hot when practice duelling in their street clothes.

However, none of my friends actually threw up from their motion-sickness, and no animals were harmed (since it was shot entirely on blue screen), so the venture must be considered a success.
Sigh. If only George Lucas didn't hate actors so much.

My conclusion is that Luke Skywalker is just an emasculated version of his father, in that he's just as dumb but less angry. He also had it considerably easier. If you watch Return of the Jedi again, you will see how the Emperor gives himself away at every turn. (Luke is about to finish off pops when the emperor cackles "That's it... now join me!". Only then does Luke hesitate and go "oh wait, no. No, i won't.")

The only difference is that at the critical moment (of going over to the dark side) Luke had all the cue cards handed to him, and Anakin was too dumb to muzzle his testosterone and use his brain. Luke is very much the eunuch where Anakin is the raging young bull.