For what are the Sith getting REVENGE?

That was the first thought I had as the scroll started on my third viewing. Who gives a frak about trade federations when we're dying to know whether Palpetine was the apprentice of Darth Plagueis. Lucas teases us with that story. Imagine the sweeping story of power and greed, of the rise and fall of the Sith followed by Vader's ascension. Episode II cooked because it focused directly on that story. Ever since "Phantom" came out we all walked out of the movie scratching our heads wondering where Lucas was going will all that boring crap. Apparently, the answer was "NOWEHRE"!

Another tease from Lucas was the mention of Qui Gon. I am going to be royally pissed off if that's going to be one of his "Special Edition" added scenes for the future DVD release. Damn it, George we don't go to your movies to wait for extra releases we go to see the dang thing as a whole in the theater.

A major missed opportunity, which could have been handled with one or two simple lines of dialogue, was Anakin's lightsaber. In "A New Hope" Ben gives the weapon to Luke saying, "You father wanted you to have this when you were old enough..." Imagine the emotional impact of Anakin referencing that same line when he learns he's to be a father.

The defeat of Anakin (Sorry, I can't bring myself to calling him Vader until he's in the suit) was an emotional dud. We have been waiting 26 years for this moment. Ben is supposed to kick his ass and knock him into the lava not tease him with "I've got the high ground" and then slice off his legs. Since when were Vader's legs prosthetics anyway? Then he burns up simply be accident after the fight is over and Ben just skulks away? Wimp out. This is supposed to be Judas kissing Christ in the garden.....this is supposed to be a ropadope...instead we get "Hey, look, your shoe's untied"!!! Perfect set up and punch line would be (that missed opportunity again) Qui Gon coming to Ben and telling him what he must do to Anakin and then Ben throwing him to his fate.

"Wipe the protocol driod's memory".....LAME!

How many women out there would want an audience when they were giving birth like Padme had?

Where did Ben keep getting all those robes he kept taking off every time he had a fight and never retreived?

The job to have in thois galaxy is the owner of "Prosthetics R US".

One more Jedi dangles precariously from a ledge and I'll scream!

The Wookiees should have been subtiteled. althoug, that was a nice "Apocalypse Now" homage in the fly-over of the Wookee beach.

I wanted to see Anakin slay the younglings in a similar fashion to what he did to the Sand People in "Clones". Apparently, it is in the novelization it just would have made his turn to the Dark Side even more horrific and tie it in with the previous chapter showing that this turn had actually been happening for quite some time.

Just how long does it take women from Naboo to carry a child to term? I was confused by the scene after Ben leaves to chase Grevious. There was another one of Anakin's nightmares and then Anakin talks with Padme about having found a way to save her from his nightmares. She walks out looking like she's 5 months pregnant. Anakin talks with her about Ben having been there just that morning. The apparent pregnant stomach implies months had gone by. Stop shaking your head at me; other people said the same thing. One little line referencing how long until they're born would have saved that. Looking at one of the early scripts which made it online shows a scene with that visit from Ben. Look forward to seeing that on the DVD release, I'm sure.

What about the memories Leia had about her mother? "She always seemed so sad." I know it was dramatically correct for Padme to die but didn't Organa's wife look happy at the end of the movie finally getting to adopt a baby girl. Why did she have to make her sad?

I will say that Anakin's slide into the dark side worked better for me this time around. The seduction by Palpetine is fantastic. All the way through you can still see his inner turmoil which continues through to the end of his life in "Jedi".

The CGI work is a mixed bag. While Lucas still didn't seem to want to fill every square inch of the screen with it like he did in "Clones" he still seems hesitant to have his actors on the screen without something happening in the background. The animated Dooku and newborn babies were distracting. If anyone does the first fully CGI cast movie; I'd put my money on Lucasfilm.

The music was phenomenal; another Oscar for Williams. From the first notes of the film, when you see the Separatists ships looming over Couriscant and the timpany are pounding away you know it's going to be a dark film. Then as Anakin and Ben fly in you hear "Luke's theme". That got my adrenalin going.

It was nice to see humor return. You definitely got a feel for the interplay between Anakin and Ben which echoed back to their saber fight in "A New Hope". We finally get to see Anakin as "the best fighter pilot in the galaxy".

I do really like this movie; don't get me wrong. It is a flawed masterpiece. You might also say, "Who the hell are you to second guess the director". I've been addicted to this series since 1977; I'm a little emotionally invested in it. These pre-quels have never gotten anywhere near the originals until this one and it still missed the mark, if only by a fraction. There is a definite charm that has been lost since "Jedi". It's nice that Lucas has all these CGI wonders he can work with but to quote one of his own characters, "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..." While he's got the vision the way he wants it he's still missing something about the heart of the story. While the coolest moment of the movie was Yoda knocking over those two guards with the flick of a wrist that still can't beat the simple performance of Frank Oz and a couple of pounds of latex. There was a sense of "being home" when we saw the interior of Organa's blockade runner for the first time on 26 years. You could tell it wasn't a CGI interior and it felt like a Star Wars movie again.

Definitely the best of these three. Where it ranks with the other might have to wait until I can watch them in storytelling order. I'll get back to you after Christmas.