What I fear about Revenge of the Sith is that Lucas is lying, or at
least will soon change his mind: This is not the last Star Wars. He
always said he had nine stories, that the saga has three more chapters
that take place after Return of the Jedi. The big problem for him
(and ultimately for the fans) is that the ending of this one is bound
to be a huge downer (unless, as Jonah suggests, Jar Jar gets
Mussolini-ed onscreen) as Anakin becomes Darth and all the Jedi but
Yoda and Obi-wan are killed.
Compare, for example, the ending of the original trilogy, where Darth
shrugs off the power of the Dark Side and saves Luke from the Emperor.
I recently watched it again with my boys, and I have to say, it’s
pretty darn cathartic. I don’t think Lucas will be able to don his
plaid flannel every morning having bummed out an entire generation of
future Jason Apuzzos.
I don’t care if this movie is “good” or not–I already own my
tickets for opening day. It has to be an improvement over Attack of
the Clones, which I called “How a Bill Becomes A Law in Space,” owing
to its multitude of committee scenes. (You can see how Lucas, mired
in endless production meetings, is truly writing what he knows.)
And I apologize to K-Lo, who has now had to hear this conversation twice.