End of an Era

So, Revenge of the Sith.

My prediction about Palpatine being a clone of Darth Sidious was wrong, but we knew that going in. Still, as good as the movie was (and it was good, but it would have taken a director of Ed Woodian proportions to fuck this one up), I can't help feeling it would have been just that little bit better if he had been a clone. Instead, we were treated to poor Ian McDiarmid with a big ol' prosthetic forehead, looking like William Hurt at the end of Altered States, or some dude out of a They Might Be Giants song.

The nature of the movie left little room for surprises, so it was all pretty much in the telling, and it wasn't as bad as we might have feared. Of course when you get Tom Stoppard to brush up your dialogue for you, you're not going far wrong. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was that Nikki liked the movie! As she's not a Star Wars fan, this was quite a shock to me. But she felt that the movie worked as a stand-alone story, without having to rely on the other movies before or after it. It told a story about a guy, his jealousy and paranoia, and the repurcussions of those feelings. So points to Lucas for converting her.

But if someone can please explain to me where Natalie Portman was carrying these twins, I'd be very appreciative. She looked like she was about five months pregnant through the whole movie -- and then to give birth to twins of normal size...

Well, I don't want to dwell on the movies flaws, because there really were so few. It was good to see Chewie and Darth Vader. Captain Antilles even made an appearance toward the end, as did a good mock-up of Grand Moff Tarkin. I'll just say that it was the best of the three recent entries, and it actually gives the best of the original trilogy (Empire, incase you're wondering) a run for its money.

So it's over now. We can get on with our lives. But my inner six-year-old can't help but feel a little sad...