'Star Wars Episode III': Lucas adroitly ties up the loose ends

Connecting dots and tying up loose ends.

That was what Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith needed to accomplish and it does. It also makes things right with disappointed fans who sat through the last two time-stalling installments in George Lucas' epic space opera serial.

Lucasfilm Ltd. 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' B+ The verdict: A satisfying, dark-toned wrap-up to Lucas' six-part space epic. Director: George Lucas Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee Run time: 140 minutes Release date: May 19, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer Rate "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Aside from the new movie's eye-popping computer-generated visuals, otherworldly landscapes and dizzying space battles, what this much-awaited film does best is dovetail with the original Star Wars, the 1977 blockbuster that changed Hollywood's box office expectations forever.

That first film is, of course, now understood to be the fourth episode in the saga, since director-screenwriter Lucas came out of retirement in 1999 to fill in the back stories and ancestors of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and the asthmatic, black armor-clad villain Darth Vader, a k a Anakin Skywalker, Luke's dad.

Revenge of the Sith efficiently wraps up the Clone Wars, consolidates the dreaded evil Empire and turns tragic as the once-powerful do-gooders, the Jedi Knights, lose both their footing and the Force.

This darker-toned, PG-13-rated episode is the one fans have been anticipating, as Anakin (Hayden Christensen), hailed as "the Chosen One" with the potential to bring balance to the galaxy, spirals toward the Dark Side and assumes the identity and mask-breathing costume of the dreaded Vader.

If that momentous change of allegiances is hardly a surprise, the very personal reason for Anakin turning his back on the Jedi might be.

Whether Lucas is responding to fan grumblings over Episodes I and II (The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) or simply staying a course he charted almost 30 years ago, Revenge of the Sith is certainly more action-packed, effects-heavy and plot-driven than any of the other installments.

Whether it becomes the most commercially successful film in the series will probably depend on how moviegoers take to its largely downbeat, middle-of-the-story tone, made more palatable by the collective knowledge of what comes afterwards.

There is a pleasurable jolt right at the beginning, on hearing the familiar John Williams theme music, accompanied by the iconic text introduction which scrolls and fades into the distance, even if it does proclaim "War!" and talk of a crumbling Republic threatened by Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee).

It is followed by an extended sequence of eye candy — a sky battle of darting space ships, aerial gymnastics and seat-rocking explosions. More than the last two Star Wars episodes, which seemed aimed at youngsters, these opening scenes are targeted at adults, with the pleasurable power to reduce them to their own youth, watching a Saturday morning serial.

Marking time until the serious drama kicks in, Lucas keeps matters entertaining with a heart-thumping multiple light-saber duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor, now bearded and looking more persuasively like a young Alec Guinness) and the new droid villain, a computer-generated General Grievous.

Yoda, far more mobile than in his earlier puppet days, is also on hand, spouting more of his fractured wisdom and showing off his fighting prowess with a light saber. And silky-smooth Ian McDiarmid, as the evil Chancellor Palpatine, almost steals the show as he choreographs the Jedi Knights' destruction and leads Anakin astray. His transformation into the Emperor in a duel with Jedi leader Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) is one of the film's most hair-raising sequences.

And yes, Chewbacca shows up for a moment. Then again, so does Jar Jar Binks (who thankfully doesn't speak).

If the movie has a weakness, it is the painfully stiff love scenes between Christensen and Natalie Portman as his secret bride, Senator Padma Amidala. Both are accomplished actors, but they are completely defeated by Lucas' goopy writing and lax direction, which weighs down the film until he begins wrapping up those loose ends leading to a climactic battle for Anakin's soul in a fiery lava pit.

Despite the diminishing payoff of the recent episodes, anyone whose imagination has been captured by the Star Wars mythology (and that's a lot of people) will want to see how it concludes.

This time, even though there are few surprises, the Force is certainly with George Lucas.