SPOILER!!! SPOILER!!! SPOILER!!!
SPOILER WARNING BIGTIME!!! Read no further if thou hast not seen the film.
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This is thy final warning. Turn thou back if thou hast not seen the film, and wisheth no spoiling!
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Very well....thou hast been warned. On with the show.
What worked for me?
The opening moments of Star Wars Episode III felt like a buddy film to me, in the vein of Lethal Weapon. Obi-Wan, who is the conservative and more cautious warrior, much like Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh, and Anakin, the quick on the draw, always on the move warrior, akin to Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs. Their banter was hilarious. Anakin always taking risks that make Obi-Wan want to break out a defibrillator. Obi-Wan always doing things that makes Anakin want to say: "That's no fun."
Anakin's seeming turn of wisdom, when he, Obi-Wan, and Chancellor Palpatine are caught in the ray shield, and Anakin simply says "I recommend patience." Obi-Wan is completely taken aback by this new thinking on the part of his former Padawan. Then here comes Artoo barelling out of a hatch, like a chicken with its head cut off.
Anakin's constant conflict, and torment. He always wanted to do the right thing, regardless of the circumstances. He wanted to adhere to the ways of the Jedi, and it was Palpatine that continually gave him that extra push over the edge to take the steps toward the dark side. When Anakin pulls his lightsaber on Palpatine, at the discovery that Palpatine is Darth Sidious, I nearly jumped out of my seat, even still knowing that Anakin soon allies himself with the Dark Lord.
The Clone Troopers. So noble, yet so laid back that I had to remind myself in this movie that these were the guys who would eventually become Imperial Stormtroopers. So, when Commander Cody makes his "sudden but inevitable betrayal" to Obi-Wan at the orders of Palpatine (yes, that is a nod to Tribe 13s very hilarious signature at Cylon.org), I was blown away, because I had forgotten. The CT's were very effectively handled in the last two movies.
Executive Order 66. Wow! Now that just had ominous undertones! In fact, it was just one six away from sending an uncontrollable chill up my spine.
I think that Anakin's and Padme's touchy feely scenes worked better in this movie than they did in AOTC.
The acting was tons better in this movie. Especially scenes between Obi-Wan and Anakin.
I liked the break from convention that this movie made. The dream sequences reminded me ever so slightly of David Lynch's or even John Harrison's movie versions of DUNE. I liked this a lot.
The lightsaber battles! Par Excellence!!! And I have to say that the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin was THE BEST lightsaber duel ever, IMHO. Anakin's initial anger when he sees Obi-Wan at the top of Padme's boarding ramp was spine tingling, considering that he had assumed that Padme had also betrayed him (from his point of view).
Anakin's ultimate turn to the Dark Side. I will grant that when Anakin ultimately swears his alleiance to Darth Sidious, the pacing felt a little awkward. But, his assistance in killing Mace Windu, and his grief afterwards added to the moment. "What have I done?!!"
When the armored Darth Vader finally steps from the Frankenstein table, that was sheer genius. Getting to see what it is Vader sees through his electronic eyes, and then, Vader taking his first awkward steps in his new armor.
Yoda, casually Force-tossing Darth Sidious' bodyguards aside as they draw their weapons on him. That got the biggest laugh from the crowd, as Yoda merely made a wave of his hand and threw Palpy's guards to the wall without so much as flinching.
Hearing "Duel of the Fates" as Yoda and Sidious, and Obi Wan and Anakin duel with their lightsabers! Well done, John Williams!
That George Lucas didn't entirely cave in to the majority of fans and kill off Jar Jar Binks. Hat's off to you, George!
Anakin catching fire from the intense heat of the lava vein that he lay so helplessly near, as opposed to Anakin just falling right into it. Much more logical for me. If Ani would've been dropped right into the lava flow, he would've been vaporized.
Seeing predecessors of the TIE Fighter, Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle, and the Star Destroyer (I am assuming that the Destroyers we saw in ROTS are Victory Class. --see "What defied my preconceptions" for elaboration about the Victory Class Star Destroyer)
Emperor Palpatine expressing relief that Vader was still alive after his duel with Obi Wan, and how he seemed to dote over Vader like a dark father for a brief couple of seconds at Mustafar.
The armored Lord Vader, showing the last remnants of his humanity as he asks about the one thing he had left to hold on to: Padme. That sealed the tragedy of his turn to the Dark Side for me. (However, see "What didn't work for me" to see the flip side of this.)
A classic moment, IMHO: Obi Wan using a blaster to finish off the cartoonish General Grievous. Classic for me, simply because a Jedi would probably NEVER use a blaster...except of course that Obi-Wan's (nor any of Grievous' collected) lightsaber(s) were in reach (even by Force pull). Obi Wan shows his disdain of the blaster, and tosses it aside after use.
What didn't work so well for me:
General Grievous. Now here was a character that was all too well suited for the Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon. I just didn't really care for him in the movie, and was pretty glad of the way Obi Wan finished him off.
Count Dooku. Although the lightsaber battle between him and Obi Wan and Anakin was pretty cool, I felt that his presence in Episode III was more of a footnote than representing an actual menace. A waste of Christopher Lee's talents, much like the afterthoughtish appearance of Terrance Stamp as Chancellor Valorum in The Phantom Menace.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Darth Vader's cry of tragic denial at the end of ROTS could've sounded a bit more intense. Still, one cannot deny that it was good hearing James Earl Jones' voice reprising Vader one more time.
What defied my preconceptions?
Kashyyk: The Wookiee planet. Well, all accounts that I'd read about Kashyyk stated that the Wookiees lived in the trees, and that below, on the surface of the planet were creatures that made Wookiees tremble with fear. (A reason why Wookiees never left their tree environments on Kashyyk.)
Victory Class Star Destroyers. I am assuming that the Star Destroyers we saw in ROTS were Victory Class, predecessors to the ominous Imperial Class Star Destroyers that became the workhorses of the Empire in Eps IV through VI. Remembering what the original design of the VSD was in the Star Wars sourcebooks (RPG materials which were based off of authorized materials in the Lucasfilm Archives), and their appearances in the X Wing series of PC games, seeing them looking so different in ROTS kinda shatterred my anticipation of seeing VSD's on screen in canon. Well, at least one thing that stayed slightly true to the techs/specs of the Victory class: They apparently can land. Everything I'd read about Victory's stated that they could fly in the upper atmosphere of a planet....but their landing abilities did not kill the experience for me.
Well...that's about all I can think of.
Bottom line: This is truly my favorite Star Wars movie, only barely edging out Empire Strikes Back. Well done, George.
May the Force Be With You All.
Respectfully,
Martok2112
