Early Episode III review from Kevin Smith

[OB1]

There's nothing inconsistent about any of the prequels. That's what everyone was expecting, a repeat of the original trilogy. But that's not possible. The prequels are about how the world of the OT came to be, what circumstances led up to it and why the characters turned out the way they did. Doing a prequel trilogy in the same tone as the OT would do a disservice to the OT and would actually cheapen that trilogy. I never had a problem with that, because I get used to change very quickly. I get a very different feeling from the prequels than the OT, and I am very glad about that. I can't get that OT feeling from the prequels and I can't get that prequels feeling from the OT. Yet it all fits together so perfectly, and both trilogies complement each other perfectly. Yin and Yang, and all that jazz. There's a reason why Lucas started off the movies with the second half of the story, and that's because it was the more adventerous half, the more easy-to-understand half. The prequels are wrapped up in politics and seriousness (for the most part), and this trilogy ends on a very dark and depressing note. The OT is the complete opposite.

The style of dialogue is absolutely consistent with the OT. It's just that you see more of one side than the other in the prequels. But it's all completely consistent. And 3/4s? Come on, don't exaggerate. The romance stuff in Episode II is very short, not even a quarter of the film. Lucas described the love story of Episode II as a "love haiku", and he did exactly that. Of course it's not as involving as Casablanca's love story, that entire movie was about the love story (not to mention that Casablanca is one of the finest films ever created and very few movies--none of which were made in the past three decades--can compare to it), but it's still far, far better than most people give it credit for. And I love that style of dialogue, so I love the characters of the prequels (save Jar-Jar, though I understand his reason for being there). They certainly don't lack depth compared to the OT characters, even if Han is my favorite character of the saga. The characters are archetypes, and they have to be. The most complex character of Star Wars is definitely Anakin, which you will be able to appreciate more with Episode III. I suppose it all comes down to whether or not you can accept the style of dialogue of the movies. It's unfortunate if you can't, but that's alright.

But man, if only you guys could appreciate Star Wars like I do. It's pretty damn great. :D