Star Wars - Episode IV - A New Hope
Opening in theaters today

It's getting harder and harder to review these Star Wars movies. They almost seem to defy all the normal rules that would apply to modern movie making and critique. The writing is average with flashes of brilliance, the acting is average at best. The movies revel in there B-grade heritage. For all intents and purposes these movies should be utter failures, relished to late night TV and straight to video releases. But, for some unknown reasons they transcend and have become a touchstone of our modern pop culture.

It has been several years since writer/director George Lucas put out what many thought would be the final installment of his then Star Wars trilogy, Revenge of the Sith. When we last saw our heroes, the bad guys had won. We watched with horror as the valiant Jedi Knights were gunned down, shot in the back and betrayed. We watched our hero Anakin Skywalker fall into the darkside and fight to the death with his former mentor Obi-wan Kenobi. We saw hero after hero go down, another pawn what ultimately turned out to be the game played masterfully by the newly crowned Emperor Palpatine. There were many who thought Lucas would just end it there with his fable being a warning to those who would put too much power into the hands of those who are not trustworthy. A dark, down ending for our dark and down times.

However, that may not be the case. For now, we have all waited in anticipation as Mr. Lucas has gone on to explore other areas and other endeavors and now he has after some years away come back to his Star Wars Saga. Now, we have Episode IV - A New Hope.

As before we have a brief prologue to let us know the state of the galaxy since we last left it. The Empire is still in power, oppression and fear are the norm, but a small Alliance has been formed to fight the Empire and restore the democracy of the Old Republic.

In what feels like a very odd choice, we pick up our story nearly 20 years after the end of Episode III. We have a new cast of characters, mostly, to be introduced to. There is a definite feeling of having been here before. I would hope that is intentional and that this is all part of Lucas's master plan. We meet a feisty young Princess Leia Organa, and an innocent farmboy named Luke Skywalker. It seems that these are the grown up children of Anakin and Padme.

However, no mention is made of there heritage save for one speech by now older and grayer Obi-wan Kenobi, played masterfully by Alec Guinness. Who does have some rather large shoes to fill, picking up where Ewan McGregor left off. I am glad that they changed actors here, old-age makeup on actors always looks bad and is distracting to the audience. Obi-wan's speech however leaves many to wonder if the Jedi has gone mad in the desert.

Just like the previous three movies, this one grabs you immediately with a brief action scene. The fearsome Darth Vader has outgrown his Frankenstein stage and is now the #2 baddie in the galaxy.

Much of what we had grown accustomed to in the first 3 is seemingly gone now. The Emperor is never seen in the movie, nor is the Senate, or the capital. They are merely mentioned in passing in one almost forgettable scene. More could have been done with this, but the lack of political machinations and endless speeches is a good thing. This movie is straight action-adventure.

The first act is a little bit slow as we follow our 2 favorite droids across the desert, but there is enough intercutting to keep it lively and entertaining. However, it quickly picks up and we have a fast moving action romp thru Acts 2 + 3.

The look of this movie is vastly different than the previous installments. Where before we had grand sweeping vistas of the elite classes of society. Here we are down in the trenchs with the oppressed, and the small group of freedom fighters who are hopelessly outnumbered. The galaxy is a very different place than we when we last visited. The look and feel of the movie is there to remind us that. Gone are the optimistic speeches of the the power of the force, replaced instead by cynicism and sarcasm at the "hokey religions and ancient weapons." You can almost feel the Imperial propaganda machine at work, rewriting history.

In the end this movie really is a new hope. It is the light, showing us there may be a way out of the darkness. Gone from the movie are the many shades of grey that were everywhere throughout the first 3. Good is good and bad is bad. This movie we are always clear on who is a villain and who is a hero. After hours of ambigiouity, it's nice to have something clear cut.

A final note to parents, for those of you who were put off by the darkness of the previous installment, this movie has returned to the PG swashbuckling adventure of the first 2 installments.

4.5 out of 5

*edit* Proper credit needs to be given to The Stooge and his blog which was my inspiration, you can check it out herehttp://blogs.starwars.com/joke/112