Revenge of the Sith: An Emotion I Didn't Expect to Feel

I stood in line for 2 hours for Star Wars, 4 hours for Empire Strikes Back, and played poker and spades for 6 hours before getting in for Return of the Jedi. Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were out on video by the time I got around to seeing them (marriage, children, and graduate school interfered), and I have rented them numerous times for my children's edification. Yes, I'm a fan.

So, while my wife took the kids to see Madagascar, I took the opportunity to preview Episode III. It's PG-13, and except for extraordinary circumstances, our kids don't see PG-13 movies. Besides, I wanted to spend some quality alone time with the conclusion of my favorite movie series.

The familiar words Star Wars rolled across the screen, with the familiar fanfare, then the synopsis of events slowly scrolling across the starfield in yellow. Then off we go! For a full 10 minutes I was back in my Junior High years at the old Hornbeck in Shawnee Oklahoma....and then things sloooowwweeedddd waaaayyy dooowwwnnn.

I expected alot of emotions from Sith, but boredom was not one of them. I knew I was in trouble when I started looking at my watch as one of the interminable light saber duels began to drag on. Now, don't get me wrong. I LIKE light sabers. My son has one, I had one, and I suspect my grandchild will have one. But after what seemed like 20 minutes of thrust and parry, I found myself desperately wishing for Errol Flynn in his green Robin Hood tights to step in and show them how it's done. And if Padme and Anakin discussed their angst ridden relationship one more time, I swear I was gonna go get my free refill of popcorn!

Okay, the special effects were really (yawn) fantastic. But when you've seen your first ten ships blown up, you've seen 'em all. And, speaking of special effects, I found General Grievous, well, a little, well, grievous in his lack of of believability.

So, I'll dutifully get Episodes I, II and III when they come out on DVD as a set, and will probably take my kids to see the darn thing when it hits the dollar theater here in town. But I'm really disappointed. I expected so much more, and got so much less. It makes me really glad the series has finally come to an end.