The time is almost on us. I'll be at the midnight premier of Revenge of the Sith on Wednesday, but I won't be dressed as anybody but an aging dork.

The reviews are starting to come in, and they've been generally upbeat and positive. But I really didn't let myself get my hopes up too much until today. The bad review from the New York Times has become as much a part of Star Wars tradition as the Thursday preimere. This is the paper that said of the first movie "The way definitely not to approach 'Star Wars,' though, is to expect a film of cosmic implications..." and of Empire "Compared to its predecessor, the present film is just as polished and technically proficient, but seldom as lighthearted and seldom as much fun." A.O. Scott had this to say about Attack of the Clones: "Attack of the Clones" is not really much of a movie at all, if by movie you mean a work of visual storytelling about the dramatic actions of a group of interesting characters."

So imagine my surprise when I read A. O. Scott's review of Revenge of the Sith, which included this sentence:

"This is by far the best film in the more recent trilogy, and also the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed. That's right (and my inner 11-year-old shudders as I type this): it's better than "Star Wars.""

We can presume that Mr. Scott didn't want a crushed trachea out of the deal.

Better than Star Wars?

Yep. Faster paced, kick ass battle scenes, decapitations, and more Yoda than you can shake a light saber at. The best part? Jar Jar says absolutely nothing.

Of course, others may disagree: "Breaking me a fucking give."

Oh hell, I think I just ruined the whole movie for myself, for this:

is remarkably similar to this:

Seriously, why should anyone care what the New Yorker thinks about a Star Wars movie? Woody Allen movie? Sure. Short fiction? They've got it covered. Plithy cartoons? You bet. Poetry? No, New Yorker poetry almost always sucks. They're a great magazine, and they've published a bunch of great articles by Sy Hersh about Iraq, but their take on Star Wars is like my take on the NHL: irrelevant because they don't get it.

I really dug it. It was pretty much the movie I wanted to see when I was 12 years old and read in Starlog magazine that Lucas wanted to do a prequel trilogy.

I have yet to see it, but will tomorrow. Speaking of series' finales, I hope its better than the series finale of Enterprise which has got to be one of the worst Star Trek series finales in all Star Trek series history. What an utter disappointment: it was completely discombobulated, it never once really brought the main cast together in any kind of "crew family" feel, it ignored and dismissed major plot developments, and it was completely unexciting, not one single thing excited me or interested me in the least. Sorry to see a great series end, but was even sorrier I watched the series finale. I give it a thumbs down! Boooo!!!!

The only good thing I can say about the Enterprise finale is that is wasn't as bad as the X-Files finale.

Just saw the film today. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Wish Darth had done more evil stuff though. Reveled in the death of the Jedi and the younglings.... Hmmmm. Delighted in the birth of Vader. Did Lucas take me there or do I have latent Sithiness? By the way--is it just me or does Lucas have no talent for writing dialogue?

On the set of Star Wars, Harrison Ford famously said to Lucas "You can type this shit, but you can't say it!" It may also disturb you to find out that the only reason the dialouge was as good as it was is because playwright Tom Stoppard worked on it.

Did Lucas take me there or do I have latent Sithiness?

I can think of a few of your ex-girlfriends who would vote for Sithiness, and not of the latent variety.

I almost bought a bootleg copy of Sith on the street in Bangkok for $1.75 because I wasn't sure if I could wait to get home to see it on the big screen. I should've saved myself some time and $$$ and gone with the bootleg. My favorite quote from the New Yorker:
The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion.

I saw the film last night. Overall I thought it was good, but I have to say that I thought the first thirty minutes was about the lowest part of the whole series (and that includes the Ewoks and the love nest from Episode II). Great effects but the acting and editing blows. Lucas truly manages to pull wooden, stilted performances out of gifted actors--it may be all of the green screening and effects but geez...

Everything did pick up though-- I thought the slaughter of the Jedi was especially gripping and who could not love Yoda and the Emperor slugging it out.. All in all I'd say the first three episodes were on par with a good episode of Star Trek-- which, for anything other than the Star Wars franchise would be high praise but for Lucas it left me feeling a little disappointed and generally glad the whole thing was over.

Over the last week many of my fellow respected geeks have sincerely recommended that I see it again sans jet-lag. I think I'm going to give it another shot and try to keep an open mind.