I arrived at the AMC Franklin Mills at around 6:30 in the evening. There were but a few fans already there before me; but they were in the line for theaters 6 and 7, while I had a ticket for theater 8. So it turned out that I was first in line for ROTS. I dined on subway while sitting on my jacket on the floor, and re-read some of Labyrinth of Evil as the line slowly began to grow.

Eventually, the place was a mob scene; the line stretched endlessly behind me, while I, nose in book, hardly took notice. There were many Jedi, many FX sabers, one Darth Vader, a stormtrooper or two, but no high-grade costumes. Sometime after 10:30 my brother arrived, so I was finally able to go to the restroom.

Then at 11:20, they extended their velvet ropey thingies up to the doors, and let us in. I briskly walked ahead of the line, leading a pack of hundreds to theater 8; fortunately one of the larger screens. I strode into the theater, climbed the stairs and we captured seats dead center of the screen. Perfect!

Finally, here we all were. The anxiety building, the shock of finally being here.. People were already cheering; people were humming the theme music. An electricity resonated in the air like the hum of a lightsaber.

At 12:03ish ( a little late, people!!! ) it started--well, the previews did. BUT, soon after, the tell-tale fanfare and the Lucas Film logo, and then...It began. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

My first impressions of the movie were that it felt rushed; not that the pacing was bad, since it was never slow at all, but that the story at times felt pushed along. Matters seemed to resolve themselves rather quickly in order to move on to the next part of the story or next subject that needed to be addressed. All in all, I loved this movie, but did have some issues with it. There were some disappointments.

As with Spiderman 2, the hype and expectations heavily preceded this movie. Things I was looking for either weren't there or didn't live up to what I expected, and I think that hurt the experience for me. While I loved the story, loved the scenes with Palpatine and Anakin, and liked the scenes with Anakin and Padme, and while the action was great and the last portion of the movie was excellent, there were still some things...missing.

Many of my issues had to do not with ROTS itself, but with its place in the saga. For example, given the story, it's hard to reconcile Leia's having any memory whatsoever of her mother. Also, they cut out any role Qui Gon had in this film; for 6 years we've been asking why he didn't disappear when he died, and how this whole 'becoming one with the Force' thing works and fits in, and the answer has been "wait for episode III." But I don't feel satisfied at all with the way it was touched on briefly, in a way that seemed more suited to just "cover all the bases" than actually address it. Additionally, I was waiting for this movie to somehow explain Hayden's placement in ROTJ on the DVD, but it failed to do so, so I still don't like the change. I think Mon Mothma's role could have been kept. I feel like I absolutely have to read the book to get the full effect, which, since I was going to read it anyway is fine, but that the movie was somehow lacking and given that it's a film first, I shouldn't have to read the book to truly know the story.

Other issues had to do with the hype and high expectations; Mace's death, for example, was good, but I expected more of the duel. Same goes for Grievous and Dooku for that matter. However, Vader vs. Obi Wan and Yoda vs. Sidious were completely and totally fulfilling.

But I suspect that my issues with the others fits in with the notion of the film feeling rushed. ROTS had a lot of ground to cover, and my concern all along has been "is this one movie going to be enough to do it?" In answer to that I'd say it covered most if not all of the bases, but not as well as it could have. Dooku was dispatched rather quickly; Anakin's decision to kill him made seemingly too easily to match his regret. Palpatine's manipulations were OUTSTANDING, but I didn't fully buy Anakin's fall and decision--it almost seemed too easy, and I didn't feel as much of a struggle as I would have expected. I don't buy his truly believing that the Jedi were evil, just believing everything Palpatine said. The Padme angle was far more effective. And the clones--even taking into account the element of surprise, made short work of Jedi Masters.

Other issue were minor; I didn't particularly like the level of personality suddenly displayed in battle droids in the beginning. I prefer the earlier, monotone sort of voice work. Vader's Frankenstein-like break from the med-table ended up being comical; most in the theater laughed and that took away from the moment. But there were no other major issues.

All in all, the acting was better in this film; Hayden did a much better job than in AOTC, and Ewan and Ian were great. Portman was heartbreaking and I felt so bad for Padme. In the end, I enjoyed it very much, and thought it was very good.

That said, the movie was not awesome for me. Until I saw it a second time today. Again, as with Spiderman 2, I enjoyed it much more the second time around, after all the hype, after the expectations previously held are no longer getting in the way, and when those minor annoyances aren't as annoying because you've already adjusted to them. While I still have many of the same issues, they weren't as distracting, and I watched the movie based on its own merits and less in the context of "this is finally it; ROTS, the last and saga completing film." Today, this movie is AWESOME! Padme and Obi Wan's arrival on Mustafar, and the following scenes and dialogue are outstanding. Yoda was phenominal (Tell you what you can do with your order 66, I will...). McDiarmid's performance was great, and the chill and vibes felt when we first heard Vader's breathing were worth waiting for. Plus, I finally know once and for all which twin is older.

So I like it a lot better than I did after one viewing. I would have liked to see more from Mace, as I still don't feel I've actually seen him up to the level of his hype and talents (though he was very good), but I do like that he actually was powerful enough to handle Palpatine pretty well, and didn't go out like a chump (can't say the same for certain other Jedi, but we won't go there). While I'm still not totally sold on Anakin's turn, overall I thought it was done pretty well, and the dialogue on those scenes with Palpatine was very good. In the end, I highly approve of ROTS, and look forward to seeing the longer digital version which might answer some of my concerns and issues.