This 2005 epic promises to answer the question on the mind of every Star Wars fan: How did Darth Vader
get to be Darth Vader? The answer: He did it all for love.
When the movie opens, Jedi knights Anakin Skywalker (played by Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi
(Ewan McGregor) are on a mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of a Sith lord. In doing so, Anakin
executes the Sith lord (at the behest of Palpatine), even though he knows that's not the Jedi thing to do (although Obi-Wan
didn't seem terribly distressed by it).
They return Palpatine to wherever he's supposed to be, and Anakin reunites with Senator Padme (Natalie Portman).
I didn't see Episode II, but I gather that Anakin and Padme were secretly married, and now she's pregnant. Anakin gets
freaked out when he has a premonition that Padme will die during childbirth.
While Anakin anguishes over his disturbing dream, he falls further under Palpatine's spell. Palpatine appoints
Anakin to the Jedi Council, but the council refuses to make him a "master" right away. Instead, they ask him to spy
on Palpatine.
Anakin eventually figures out that Palpatine is the ultimate Sith, Lord Sidious. But, when Palpatine promises to
help Anakin save Padme from dying during childbirth, Anakin gives himself over to the dark side and is dubbed Darth Vader.
After that, he goes on a murderous rampage, following orders from Palpatine to eliminate young Jedi wannabes.
He then goes to some volcanic planet to eliminate politicos who could be a threat to Palpatine. This planet is
where Vader has a showdown with Obi-Wan, and things do not end well for Vader.
Overall Review: *** The acting in this movie is nothing to write home about. Instead, the film is all about
plot and action sequences. And that's plenty. This movie is a tragedy in the sense that Anakin's love for Padme
is the very thing that drove him to the dark side.
After being very disappointed with Episode I, and skipping Episode II, I ended up liking this one a lot more than
I thought I would.
