I've been a fan of Star Wars since I was very small. It's one of the first movies I actually remember seeing. My parents and uncle James and aunt Cynthia went to see Return of the Jedi in theaters and if their memories serve them appropriately, I was there also. I'm sure this is not what I remember, though. One of my earliest memories is of the one-eyed snakelike creature visited by Luke and company in the trash compactor in A New Hope. Coincidentally, this was first viewed at James' house. Anyway, I like Star Wars. I rented the movies from JB Video when I was little; bought the figures when they were released in 1995; I saw the special editions in theaters in 1997; and sorted mixed emotions after seeing The Phantom Menace in 1999.
I enjoyed Attack of the Clones more than 'Phantom Menace', but I still rolled my eyes more than I wanted (mainly at C3PO's mishaps). Neither seem to have the feel or appeal of the originial trilogy to me. This is easily interpreted: I grew up with Han and Chewie. If six years ago I was expecting a new movie to have the same impact upon me as those which intertwined through all my growths, then I hoped too much. I did. When Jason and I went to see The Phantom Menace, I wanted Hoth battles and Vader versus Luke—emotional, explosive ladders I climbed at times throughout my early youth. I hear Star Wars fans who knew the original trilogy before Episode I speak with hateful voices of how George Lucas thwarted their return to boyhood with horrible writing, directing, casting, and so on. I sort of felt this way in 1999, but now I realize why we don't feel the same about the first three Episodes. If Episodes VII, VIII, and IX are made (with the original actors, dear Lord, please allow) a few years from now, the children of today who are growing up with Episodes I, II, and III may look with the same feelings upon those. Even if they were to be superior in plot and character, they would not be as magical to those in favor of the original trilogy. Revenge of the Sith was pretty good (7/10), but even if it had been better than Episodes IV, V, and VI combined, it would still mean less to me, or "us."
Introspections aside, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is pleasing in that it ties together the remaining five. I disallowed myself from knowing very much about this new movie; I had only seen the first trailer and one picture on the Internet. Justin spoiled Darth Maul's death in Episode I, and I wanted nothing like that to occur for this final film, which is likely the last. Still, I had a pretty good idea of what might happen and I was right with a lot of my guesses.
The dialogue was cruddy in many spots and certain actors were subpar. Chewbacca's appearance was questionable and perhaps unnecessary. Boba Fett was absent. The Jedi's apparent selective "force consciousness" (id est, their ability to feel a person's sadness when they're 1,500,000 miles away but not sensing a mammoth conspiracy) was disappointing. Palpatine's makeup and 'No's should've been redone. The plot was twisted around all over the place in such a way that it was unbelievable; there was no way the actors in this movie could hold it together, either. I'm mad at Hayden Christensen because of his horrible acting. I'm mad at George Lucas for writing such a weak script. This movie thrived on character development at its core, yet the characters were horribly portrayed. Believe it or not, I tried to be lenient and forgiving while watching. It's difficult because Star Wars was part of my childhood. I just tried to remember the things above and enjoy the movie. I know I've been harsh, but I did enjoy it. Overall though, regardless of what I said in the preceding paragraphs, I'm disappoited with the newest movies. The excitement and anticipation I had six or seven years ago was not fulfilled.
For me the best scene in the movie was near the beginning, when Anakin fought Dooku. I liked this part the most because it reminded me of when Luke fought Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi (the music that plays during that scene is great). It gave me a feeling similar to what the old movies produce. I'm sure the similarities were intentional: Palpatine sitting in a large chair in the same manner with Anakin in all black, looking a lot like Luke, and through large windows we see in the distance ships battling. Well, I let it work for me.
If only I could've seen A New Hope when it was released in 1977. I can't imagine how that must've been. I was able to see the original movies in their reformulated Special Edition forms in theaters in 1997, but I know it's not the same. Still, it was pretty exciting. Before Revenge of the Sith began I had an incredible feeling much like that. It was a combination of simply seeing a Star Wars movie and knowing that millions of others, old and young alike, were having the same experience. It's only a movie, I told myself, as if that would work. Lindsey and I were first in line. People were trying to cut in front of us, but when it was apparent that tickets were about to be torn I made sure no one pushed ahead of us. We took our seats quickly as people flooded in. The room was electric for twenty minutes in darkness with two lone lightsabers waving in the front. I felt like a kid and I couldn't be still. It was a new Star Wars, perhaps the last, and I was about to see it. It felt like Christmas Eve and Halloween rolled into one. It was a great feeling.
After the movie I found myself sad. It's over (probably) and it didn't get the ending it needed. That's it. But, I think the real reason I'm sad is that I'm no longer a child. Yeah, that old, universal problem. These are children's movies, and I'm not a child. Perhaps the newest movies aren't as bad as I think; if I were thirteen again I might like them as much as I liked the old ones. Anyway, it's not 1995 and I'm not thirteen. Age isn't actually the problem. I'm twenty-three now, but physically and otherwise I feel young, say around fifteen. The trouble is that circumstances have changed. When I was younger, so was everyone else. I still had four grandparents. I still had few responsibilities that held any real significance for myself or others. I still had many friends, and we still did things. Now, I've been out of high school for almost exactly five years. Everyone is gone except a few. The children of my youth are getting married. I have one grandparent and my parents are older. My brother is no longer five-years-old. He no longer watches and mimics what I do; I'm lucky if he cares. In short, obviously, I miss the past. I haven't changed all that much, but my environment has. I miss family cookouts from the late 1980s. I miss my friends. I miss talking about Star Wars and X-men with KoRn-shirt-wearing Taylor and a chubby, shy Justin. I miss Andrew and the crazy mental connection we had for such a long time, and all the silly jokes and insights we held. I miss Keri nearly more than any of them for some reason. I've known my cousins and Taylor for my whole life, literally, but I've only known Keri for about nine or ten years. She's a very special person to me. I hope things are all right in her life.
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