Warning: this review is Chock FULL of SPOLIERS!!! Do not read unless you want the entire movie ruined!! You have been warned!!

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I thought George Lucas was crazy.

I really did. After seeing the changes to the Special Edition, the lack of apparent direction of the actors in Episodes I and II, and the sometimes-painful dialogue exchanged by some of the participants, it almost seemed like Lucas was trying to remove the luster on my jewel that is Star Wars.

I was wrong. He polished the Star Wars saga into a richer, more powerful story than I ever could have dreamed.

I'll tell you something else too...

I will never look at Darth Vader the same way again.

We arrived at the theater an hour before the film was scheduled to start. I thought, "No problem; I've already got the tickets. We'll be one of the first." Not exactly.

The line for our theater was around the entire building! It was almost like I was back at Celebration III again (the Star Wars Fan Convention held in Indianapolis, In). People were excited, tired (this was the midnight show, after all), and anxious; I was a bit nervous. Was this line ever going to move? Was I going to miss the start of the film (I should have realized that there would be 74 trailers before )? Luckily, it was showing on 4 screens, so my party was inside in plenty of time.

Regardless, I just didn't expect this. I knew the film was popular already. As I mentioned in a previous Blog, Star Wars is ubiquitous these days. I just didn't think the line would be this intense.

Talk about foreshadowing.

The lights finally dim, and goose bumps shot through me. Here I was, at the very last Lucas helmed Star Wars motion picture (I expect someday there will be more, Lucas or not. They make too much money for Hollywood to ignore), and I was a picture of nerves, excitement, and anticipation. Finally...A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Far, Far Away.... I clapped, I smiled like a kid at Christmas, and I had no idea what I was in for.

I have to admit, during the first 15minutes, I had mixed feelings. I thought the opening sequence with Anakin and Obi-Wan swooping in and out of star ships was spectacular, and even dizzying (literally). Then, the two heroes landed on the ship that held Chancellor Palpatine (played to stunningly bone chilling effect by Ian McDiarrmid), and all the Battle Droid chatter started. I was not a happy Jedi. One of my biggest complaints about Episode I was the idiotic, incessant, and juvenile chatter exhibited by these droids. In Episode III, they sound like digitized chipmunks! I was worried this mood would be pervasive throughout the film.

I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as Count Dooku appears, the mood changes dramatically. In a stunning and dramatic turn of events (the first of many; they get darker and more intense with every subsequent plot twist), Anakin decapitates Dooku at the insistence of the Chancellor. From this moment on, I really think I was agape for the duration of the film.

Things really fall apart rapidly for the Republic (fortunately, no political discussions to really speak of in this film), and Palpatine works his cunning and deception of Anakin to an almost surgical precision. Palpatine really is the incarnation of evil in this film, and Anakin never really seems to have a chance. Since he is still plagued by intense nightmares involving the death of his mother, he is never fully at peace. To make matters worse, he is convinced that Padme will die in childbirth, and is determined that she will not suffer the same fate as his mother. He makes the fatal mistake of revealing his paralyzing fears to Palpatine, and the results are cataclysmic to the rest of the galaxy.

Suddenly, the dark tone of the movie is encapsulating. Anakin gives in to the Dark Side of the Force once he believes that Palatine (now revealed as Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith) can help him learn to manipulate midichloriants to bring people back from the dead. He is determined to prevent Padme's seemingly inevitable death, and will stop at nothing to save the woman he loves.

This is where Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader ceases to become an enchanting villain, and becomes a tragic and despicable figure the likes of which would make Hamlet gasp. After Mace Windu (finally played with Samuel L. Jackson's trademark intensity) is informed that Palpatine is the Dark Lord of the Sith, Anakin marches in on their confrontation, and Darth Vader is born. The duel between Mace Windu and Darth Sidious is just one of many duels that are edge-of-your-seat gripping and shocking all at once. Anakin helps destroy Mace Windu, and later goes on a murderous killing spree. Perhaps most shocking and disturbing of all, Anakin kills all of the Jedi children. Truly, this is not the Star Wars of our youth.

Showdown after showdown ensue. The Clone army in traitorous fashion exterminates most of the Jedi, and Darth Sidious takes his self-proclaimed role in the galaxy as Emperor. His duel with Yoda is the stuff of cinema legend, and was worth the price of admission alone (for me, anyway). The macabre Emperor Palpatine has twisted Anakin so much so that he is insatiably angry, confused, and paranoid. He becomes wrongly jealous of Obi-Wan's intentions towards Padme, and attempts to strangle her in a fit of jealous rage so troubling, you can't help but feel a twinge in your heart. She later dies of grief, and it is easy to see why.

The epic showdown that Star Wars fans have waited since 1977 ensues, as Obi-Wan and Anakin engage in the Lightsaber duel for the ages. Anakin is so blinded by hatred that he arrogantly leaps at Obi-Wan, and is promptly cut down in disturbing fashion. Obi-Wan and Anakin share their most dramatic moment as Kenobi explains how much he loved Anakin as a brother, and a severely burned and mangled Anakin screams, "I hate you!" I would venture that most Star wars fans could not help but get a little emotional or teary eyed during this landmark moment in the Star Wars saga.

Once the menace of Darth Vader is encased in his famous black armor, the emotional sucker punch that is Anakin's fall to the Dark Side is complete. You see the pain and agony on his charred face as the digitized mask covers his face for the first time. Once the Emperor twists the proverbial knife into Vader's heart by revealing that he killed Padme in a fit of rage, Vader's menace is reveled; he hates himself for killing the woman he loves (even though this is not entirely true; however, he certainly killed her through intense grief) , and as a result, the rest of the galaxy is going to suffer for Vader's intense anguish-the likes of which are cinema history.

This film was nowhere near what I expected; it was insatiably dark, moody, and depressing, and is one of the most powerful films I have seen in a long time. It far eclipses the first two prequels (really the absolute dramatic polar opposite of Episode I), and will haunt you in a surprising way. Who would have thought that a Star wars film would bring forth such sadness, tragedy, and evil. Until now, these tales of woe have only been hinted at, or tantalized to our movie-going senses. However, I am willing to bet that seeing the Classics (still the best of the Star wars saga) will forever be changed, especially after seeing the nightmarish fall of Anakin Skywalker, and his ghoulish rise as the evil Darth Vader.

So, no, George Lucas is not crazy; far from it. He truly is the master poker player, holding his cards until Episode III danced onto the screen for the first time. He played the master bluff by letting us believe that Anakin Skywalker was a silly adolescent, using an actor with embarrassing range. As it turns out, he was holding a full house all along, with powerful actors and incredible (as well as disturbing) images, and when he finally lays his cards out on the table with Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, your Star Wars experience will never quite be the same. Truly, Lucas is the master storyteller we all dreamed and hoped he would be, and this thunderous stamp on the movie going public will not soon be forgotten.

5 stars (out of 5)