[LazarusLong42]

OK, I'm bored and forced to be awake for another hour or so, so y'all get to hear my opinions on AotC, which I had the opportunity to watch about eight hours ago. I'm not all that awake, so I may not do a great job filtering spoilers. You Have Been Warned.

First off: I'm going to echo Will's comments about Ms. Portman. Hot hot hot. You don't need raging teen hormones to see that. Hell, my girlfriend noticed. We both think Kirsten Dunst was hotter in Spider-Man, though. YMMV.

Plot: I'm going to climb on my high horse--just for a moment--and ask where all of you who say you saw plot holes saw them. As a writer, I dare say the plot in AotC was pretty tight. There were a couple of loose ends, but we expect that from an ongoing story. Remember--like Lord of the Rings, the story doesn't end here. Prior to this, only A New Hope and Return of the Jedi had solid endings--the former because Lucas couldn't be sure he'd be making the other movies, the latter because, well, it's the end of a story. In the most basic sense, though, guns on the mantelpiece in Act I were fired in Act III (cf. Anton Chekhov).

I know, I know, the plot's all political intrigue wrapped around a love story, and I can hear you saying: "Less politics, less kissing, more ***-kicking." To you I say: Go rewatch The Princess Bride, and remember that politics and kissing are generally necessary to make ***-kicking possible in a story. Often one or the other is a motive for said ***-kicking.

Acting: Meh. What do you expect? Even Harrison Ford was a carpenter when he got the job for the original Star Wars. Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee do credible jobs, though--and let's face it, Ewan McGregor is filling some pretty big shoes (namely, Sir Alec Guinness, the original Obi-Wan).

Character Development: Perhaps not as great as the original, but it's certainly a helluva lot better than Phantom Menace. I mean... there were actual characters this time around.

Other: Graphics were awesome, but a movie can't really stand on those alone. Sound... eh. John Williams wrote great stuff for Star Wars in 1977, but he seems unable to write anything new for Star Wars; the same ol' themes keep popping up, and though recognizable... still. Toss the onionskin, Johnny.

The action was great, exactly what Star Wars is about. If nothing else, you must see this movie to see Yoda kick some major ***.

OK, there's my overly-analytical five or six cents. Next?

Eric/LL