Easily The Best of the Newer Three

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Well Anakin finally becomes Darth Vader and Hayden Christensen actually CAN act. Though some of his deliveries feel flat and the romantic dialog is still iffy, star wars movies still doesn't stop this from ranking high (but not topping) the original three. The first hour is setup for the final act but what a setup! The Battle of Coruscant is one of the best space fights since the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, even the most avid movie goer able to tell what's real and what's computer would probably have a hard time distinguishing, even when you know its computer generated. The fight with Count Dooku is well choreographed and Christensen unfortunately kills Christopher Lee (should've killed him in the last movie, he had the upper hand). Then for about thirty minutes, it feels like the previous installments. Though I don't think Lucas should've cut out ALL of the scenes featuring the birth of the Rebel Alliance, as that would've been an interesting sub-plot and he would've given Natalie Portman more to do than just cry and pine after Christensen. But after that there's; the Battle of Kashyyyk (with a cameo by Chewbacca), Mace Windu fighting the Emperor (and the death of my favorite Jedi, Kit Fisto) and then its Anakin going to the dark side. Out of the six, this is the darkest and, like Empire, the most story driven. Ian McDiarmid is perfect as the Emperor, who clearly is one of, if not the, greastest cinema villain ever. And why is that? He masterminds an entire war and then reforms the current government into the Empire (why does that sound presently familiar? A man who's great at giving speeches, sweeps the Senate into an uproar of promised change and peace and turns it into a dictatorship? Eh, must be my imaginatation. Yeah. Right). Anyway, Ewan McGregor gives an admirable performance, clearly devastated at the thought of Anakin going to the dark side and then having to face him. Of course, the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan and the fight between Palpatine and Yoda is the best lightsaber sequence out of the six. And of course, the birth of Darth Vader also gives birth to Luke and Leia. And John Williams delivers his best score for the saga, the music that backdrops Anakin and Obi-Wan/Palpatine and Yoda's lightsaber duels.