Dougal Campbell's geek ramblings

Big family day yesterday. Susan, I, our two kids, Susan’s parents, our friend Kenn and two of his daughters, all went to see Revenge of the Sith (Kenn’s wife, Amanda, and their youngest daughter visited relatives). Due to the size of our group, and the size of the rest of the audience, we wound up sitting about three or four rows from the front of the theater. Not the optimal viewing position, but it worked well enough. It’s pretty easy to get immersed in the film when your entire range of vision is consumed by it.

Verdict? It was great.

Some of the acting could have been better (in particular, except for Mace Windu’s big fight scene, I felt like Samuel L. Jackson was phoning in his performance), but the overall story was what I was hoping for. Without giving out any spoilers, there was lots of action, just enough politics, a tiny bit of romance, several incidents of dismemberment, and plenty of fear, anger, death, betrayal, and angst. Did I mention dismemberment? And a bit of painful disfigurement. That’s why this one is PG-13, you see.

Darth Sidious is sufficiently manipulative and evil. Yoda kicks a suitable amount of butt. Anakin is torn between loyalties to the Jedi, the Republic, and Padme. Obi-Wan is noble. The wookies are big and furry. The lava planet is hot (but at least it’s a dry heat). And we finally get to hear James Earl Jones again.

If you are a Star Wars fan and you don’t like this movie, you’re being too picky, and you need to relax. Have a beer. Or two.