May Contain Spoilers and Peanuts
Okay. Chances are, you've been reading the reviews flitting about JU on Revenge of the Sith. You've heard some good things, and some bad things. Well, I forgot every single last one of those articles, and then went to see the movie. So, here is what I thought of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Now, the opening sequence was amazing. I think just about everyone, like the movie or not, can agree on that. I was a bit partial towards the General Grievous character; he was just cool. Wish he was in more of the movies. Now, I haven't seen the Clone War series, but I have heard about them and know what I need to know to understand some stuff (for example, what's going on at the beginning, why Grievous is coughing, etc.). And that bit with R2-D2 wasn't bad either.
Of course, then we have the beginning of Palpatine's manipulation, when he tells Anakin to kill Dooku. I thought that was well done, how he has clear conflict about the situation, and the fear in Dooku's eyes. I'll be the first to admit (well, not admit so much as rant about it whenever I full-fledge review the movie) that Anakin was not played well at all. But he did an adequate job throughout the movie, and the Dooku scenes was a rare moment of good acting. Padme, however, was barely played adequately, if at all. The "thunderous applause" line could have been said with so much more feeling.
Then, of course, we have how Palpatine slowly manipulates Anakin. Some here say that it was stupid and quick, but I disagree. You have to keep in mind that Palpatine knows the consequence of just about every action; he knew that the Jedi would not make him a master, and he knew that would upset Anakin. He's able to play on Anakin's fears and emotions until he really, truly thinks the Jedi are evil.
I just have to go off on a sidenote here about the way Palpatine looked. I mean, I'm glad they explained why he's so deformed in Episodes V and VI (he isn't in IV; go watch it if you don't believe me), and he looked cool in those. But here, they made his face look like a frog! How did they manage to make Palpatine's cool face look so bad? My friend and I ruined that scene for whoever was behind us, because we kept making fun of how terrible he looked.
The battles are great in the movie. My two personal favorites: Yoda vs. Palpatine and Obi-Wan vs. Grievous (Anakin vs. Obi-Wan was good and all, but these two were just better). Anyway, I'm kind of rambling, so synopsis: great fights, special effects awesome, acting iffy for two, storyline good. Now I just need to know why Yoda is on Dagobah... 