expiration date 

so, ari and i watched it today. Revenge of the Sith. we didn’t get the ticket for the premier (which was yesterday), but today was great… we watched the 4 o’clock movie, so there is practically no one was in the theater. half of the theater was empty! the theater was so empty that the AC was extra chilly. my thin sweater can’t repel the cold. weird… there was a moment when we thought, hey, maybe people in Singapore don’t like Star Wars… but i guess it wasn’t the case. after we got out of the theater, which was around seven, there was a looooong line in front of the ticket line. i guess some people do work…

now into the good stuff (might contain SPOILER!! you’ve been warned!):

in my opinion, Episode III is the best out of the prequel series. excellent story. it explains a lot of plot holes that has been in questions, such as:

• why does C3PO and R2D2 doesn’t remember Kenobi?
• how Luke and Leia separates.
• why does Yoda live in a muggy remote planet?
• why is it that some Jedi dies, some are simply vanished — like Yoda and Obi-Wan on the original series?

and the best of all is that it’s ties into the original series well. while the first two episodes was so disconnected from the original series, the third episode makes a very good and believable transition. you can see the early version of Tie Fighter, X-Wings and even the Imperial Star Destroyer. the story leads on nicely to the next installment, although most of them are not surprising, since we already know most of the stuff that happens.

i love General Grieves’ design. what a cool mecha! and the face!! …actually, it reminds me to Bleach’s hollows… hehehe.

now my biggest gripes: Hayden Christiansen is a horrible, HORRIBLE actor. arrrgh! he ruins the movie!! concept-wise, Episode III has a potential to be an excellent movie, however, there are a few bad dialogs and weird timing that makes the plot goes awkward… as far as i remember, it’s all attributed to Anakin’s scenes. to make it worse, the prequel was supposed to be all about Anakin. everyone (or at least i and a few friends of mine) is curious on how a cute boy could turn into a vicious black-masked evil. that’s one of the most crucial point of the prequel series ( other than the shift from Republic to Empire, or the birth of Luke and Leia, or… well, i guess there is many, hehe).

no, i’m not talking about the bad storyline. sadly, everything to support the transformation was provided. the story was very coherent… but Anakin’s character development was awful. i don’t think he makes the Anakin-to-Vader transformation believable. the motif wasn’t clear and it sways… i do it all for Padme! but, no… i also want to rule the universe! no, actually, i do it all for Padme!. WTF?

three areas that tick me off:

1. where Anakin was initiated to be Darth Vader. i think it was too fast, and there is not enough push from Sidius.
2. when Anakin confessed to Padme about his new identity. he wasn’t convincing… what is his actual motif to become a Sith!?
3. when Vader woke up from his operation… that NOOOOOOO! thing… can’t get any more cliche than that.

anyways, i don’t know whether it’s all Christiansen’s fault, or maybe the script for him just suck ass (good lord, those cheesy lovey dovey lines still as bad as Episode II), or it was just bad editing job, or the director couldn’t direct Christiansen, or maybe just the combination of all… i don’t know.

but… surprisingly, Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine was superb. he was cool, he was a good politician, his words were powerful, he was a believable devil. it has a charisma close to Al Pacino on Devil’s Advocate. he was excellent!

Ewan McGregor was a wonderful Kenobi, too. there are a few scenes that i thought he looks sooooo much like the Alec Guiness’ Kenobi. great transition to the original series!

Natalie Portman was so-so. she was never act well from the start of the prequel anyway. so it was expected.

the movie was great. it serves well as the end of the trilogy. however, it still fails to do the bang like the original series.

now, i want to watch the New Hope again. really want to.