Saw Episode III this morning at 9:30. Is it the best movie ever made? No. Is it entertaining? Heck yeah. Is it a fitting end to the Star Wars saga? I think so…it’s clearly the best movie of the first 3 episodes, and it’s up there with Empire in my book for best in series.

Random thoughts (no real spoilers):

• Visually, it’s amazing. It’s easily the most visually dense movie I’ve ever seen — there’s so much detail on the screen it almost becomes overwhelming at times. But overall, it’s a beautiful picture.
• The opening shot that tracks two space fighters careening through this huge intergalactic space battle is one of the best pieces of f/x work I’ve ever seen.
• The biggest defect in Episodes I and II was inappropriate comic relief. Episode III has a couple of strategically placed humorous momements but they’re done well this time around.
• There were a couple of moments in the score that I thought were just fantastic. At one point, John Williams had the Hero theme from Episode IV backed up with a countermelody based on the “Duel of the Fates” theme from Episode I. Very cool. It’s too bad that “Duel of the Fates” was wasted on Episode I, because it’s definitely the musical highlight of the first three movies.
• Ian McDiarmid totally steals the show. His lines just drip evil and manipulation.
• The plot moves very fast. There’s a huge amount of story crammed into 2:20. I guess Lucas figured everybody was familiar enough with the story at this point that he could just get on with things. Still, I would have liked to have seen a little bit more on the seeds of the Rebellion being sewn…

Nitpicking aside, as a Star Wars fan since childhood I’m satisfied with Episode III. It really is a pretty darn good film, and one that I’m sure I’ll see many, many more times…