My ROTS review (SPOILERS)

SPOILERS

Well, I've just come back from seeing Revenge of the Sith, and my initial reaction is WOW!

The opening shot is simply stunning. The camera pans down from the starfield into an amazing solar flare as we are treated to an immensely long shot of the space battle above Coruscant. Anakin and Obi-Wan fly their starfighters, and the banter between them is superb. Right from the off, this IS a Star Wars movie.

Then we have the duel (or should that be triul?) between Anakin, Obi-Wan and Dooku. Dooku is just as powerful, but Anakin's desire for revenge sees him win through and Palpatine urging Anakin to kill an unarmed enemy is very well executed (pun intended!). The escape from the ship, and the crash landing are very intense.

Then it's back to Coruscant where we get the first Anakin/Padmé scene. Unfortunately these scenes are quite dull, and the dialogue between the two of them has not improved since AOTC. This period of the film is quite ploddy. We see both Palpatine and the Council getting Anakin to spy on each other which divides his loyalties effectively. But ultimately Palpatine plays on his fear of losing Padmé and wins through.

Then the film rockets forward. Fights galore, and Anakin's descent into darkness are brilliant. The final duels are astonishing, and I defy any true Star Wars fan to keep a dry face during the film's closing 10 minutes.

Lucas was right. This IS the darkest film (by far), and it gives a whole new perspective to the original trilogy.

One of the best SW films there is!

 

How did the mighty Droid General work, was he effective?

 

Not really. Couldn't quite see the point of him.

He has a very annoying habit of coughing.

But he's deadly with 4 sabers!!!!!! Think "Maximillian" from The Black Hole

 

Coughing?
But he's 95% robot, how the heck does he cough?

 

His lungs are still organic, and Mace crushed his chest in Clone Wars.

 

I'm glad you asked!

We all received a press pack with loads of details and interviews about the film.

I quote "It's an early version of the technology used to save Vader, but in Grievous' case, the technology is not quite working, so as formidable as he is, he's also a bit sickly. He's a skulking, miserable villain with a hacking cough". That was from Rob Coleman

 

Moriarty from AICN described him as a (not an exact quote) coward who will fight if cornered but would rather run. Is this about right?

 

Yup.

In the first encounter, he smashes a window so he gets blown out into space, and then gets back in through an escape hatch (although if his lungs are organic, I don't see how he can breathe!)

In the second, he tries to get the other droids to kill Obi-Wan but eventually takes him on. He runs away again after he is disarmed

 

Considering he's bigger, stronger and has more arms then Obi Wan, he seems rather weak

 

Attitude is everything.

 

I had a feeling that Grevious was going to be a bit redundant. The one feeling that I have had about the prequels so far is that they are filled with superflous characters. From what I understand, ROTS was supposed to cut down on the amount of characters that were needed.

While I'm sure that I will love Grevious, I always knew that in the back of my mind, he was going to play another villian that is hardly seen or heard, and cannot identify with.

I felt that way about Dooku, and while I'm glad he's coming back for Episode III, I knew that his time will be short. But, I bet he serves purpose, right?

 

the novel helps fill in a few gaps. If you're not avoiding spoilers, I would read it before you see the movie - it puts it all in context

 

I thought Dooku was handled very well in the film