Last night, Marcia, myself, David, Catherine, Andy, and Yvonne went out to see the latest and last installment of the “Star Wars” saga. Andy bought the tickets three days in advance, and we got to the theater about 2 and a half hours before the show began. We figured it would be packed and the lines long.
We decided to go eat at a pizza place for dinner (after all, it is Friday) that was within walking distance from the theater, even though it was only in the mid 50’s (isn’t it late May?). The pizza was New York style, and very good. After that we went next door to Cold Stone Creamery, an ice cream shop. Talk about good! It made for a great way to spend the time before getting in line for the show.
OK, so now for the movie. For those that don’t know what is going on, this is the movie of events that happens about 18 to 19 years before the events of the first “Star Wars” movie to be released. (I am not going to worry about spoilers, because most of it us SW geeks knew about before hand.)
The movie keys on Anakin and his march to the dark side of the Force. He becomes entangled between his friendship with Chancellor Palpatine and his Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi. Along with that, his wife Padame tells him she is pregnant.
Eventually the politics of what is happening leads Palpatine to announce to Anakin that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious that the Jedi have been seeking. Anakin turns him into the Jedi Council, but then is torn because of his desire to protect Padame, which Palpatine has played upon. Mace Windu and three other Jedi show up to take Palpatine into custody, then Anakin shows up after the Chancellor has disposed of three of them. Windu has Palpatine cornered and ready to kill him, and that’s when Anakin steps in.
Palpatine is disfigured (like we see him in the first three SW movies), and Anakin pledges his allegiance to becoming a Sith Lord. Palpatine names him Darth Vadar, and sends him out to kill the Jedi and members of the Trade Federation (the Separatists that were working with Palpatine).
While on a volcanic moon (I guess, it sure wasn’t a planet), Anakin …… err, Darth Vadar kills the members of the Trade Federation, then Padame shows up with stowaway Obi Wan. Vadar (still not in the famous costume by the way) chokes Padame and thinks he has killed her. Then he fights Obi Wan. At the end of the fight, Vadar makes a fancy move that backfires on him, and ends up having his non-mechanical arm cut off, and both his legs. Before Obi Wan leaves, he picks up Vadar’s lightsaber (to be given to Luke in the episode IV) and then watches while Anakin is burned by the lava.
Obi Wan takes Padame (who is still alive) back …… somewhere, and she has the babies (carrying twins of course) and then dies. The babies are named Luke and Leia before her death. The babies are split up, and Yoda and Obi Wan appearing to be the only Jedi left go into hiding.
Meanwhile, Palpatine rescues the badly burnt Vadar, takes him back to Corusant, and has him fitted with a mechanical arm and two mechanical legs. He is then put into a life support suit (the famous black costume). There is a brief pause, and then the famous breathing begins. The gurney is turned up for him to stand, and Palpantine asks Vadar if he can hear him.
( ::: cue James Earl Jones’ voice ::: )
“Yes, my master.”
; )
Now that I got all that out, what did I think of it? “Star Wars” movies can have some cheesiness to them, and this had that as well. The scenes with Padame were tough to take. Especially at the end with her getting upset at what he was becoming. Disappointing for Natalie Portman who is a good actress. On the other hand, when Hayden Christensen (Anakin/Vadar) needed to be better, he was. Not great, but better.
One problem with his move to the dark side, it was quick. We all said that we expected to see more struggle. More agony. After all, Luke struggled with the dark side for a movie and a half. Vadar’s move took all of maybe 20 minutes.
I thought it was good to see Mace Windu get more strict, or should I say “bad ass” since Samuel L. Jackson played him. It worked well with the book “Shatterpoint” which takes place during the Clone Wars, between episodes II and III. And Ewan MacGregor as Obi Wan Kenobi was excellent.
Overall I thought the movie was good. I really enjoyed it. It was what I had hoped for, figuring that it would have cheesy parts, or other issues. It was better then the last two, but then again we are dealing with a movie that has much less drama then it should. Meaning, we know the outcome of these events. Just haven’t seen them acted out. But even with that, the last half of the movie, as you watch the events unfold, it was pretty damn cool. Especially watching Anakin really become Vadar. Watching him throw the Force when he is told that Padame is dead. That is where his power and strength is born.
The comic relief was a bit light. Well, it was a dark movie. But it was mostly provided by R2-D2, and not Jar Jar Binks (thank God!!). But also near the end when Yoda goes to fight Palpatine, Yoda walks in where two guards are posted at the door. They start to go after Yoda and all he does is wave his hand, which throws them against the wall and then to the floor. Yoda face, as usual, expressionless.
Now I just hope we don’t have to wait another five years before these three get released on DVD together. : )
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