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SPOILERS AHEAD!
There's really not much to say about this movie. Except that it was the best movie that I have ever seen. Ever. In my entire life. The absolute best. Uncontested. Even by the other Star Wars movies. This movie was so good, I was quite literally tensed up almost the entire movie. George Lucas was insane for thinking that this movie wouldn't be good, or that it would bomb. Definitely see it!
Plot: As you've surely heard, this movie is a lot darker than the other Star Wars movies. Up until this point, Star Wars was a movie about a young kid fighting an evil intergalactic empire, discovering the truth about his family, and picking up the old Jedi tradition almost lost after the destruction of the Jedi by Anakin Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine. Up until now, the methodical execution of the Jedi was a mere legend. This movie makes it a reality. This movie actually shows you how the Jedi were nearly exterminated, connecting all the loose threads that had been created by the previous Star Wars movies.
In the beginning of the movie, Anakin Skywalker is the hero of the movie. He has become a full-fledged Jedi, defends peace and justice, and so forth. He is the messiah of the Jedi. This movie is about the transformation of Anakin from messiah to the devil.
In the opening scenes of the movie, the scrolling text tells us that Emperor Palpatine has been "kidnapped" by the Trade Federation, but we can infer that the abduction is fixed. The scene directly after the scrolling text takes us to a jaw-dropping aerial battle in which Anakin saves Obi-Wan's life. Anakin and Obi-Wan board a federation ship in which they once again confron Count Dooku. Obi-Wan is defeated, and Anakin and Dooku are now locked in a duel, with the Emperor being held hostage in the same room, observing the fight. Anakin cuts off Dooku's arms, and debates whether to arrest him or kill him. The Emperor quickly tells Anakin to kill him; part of the Emperor's plan to make Anakin his next apprentice. Anakin carries Obi-Wan on his back, and he and Palpatine quickly make their way out of the burning ship.
They land back on Coruscant. We see Anakin and Padme together, happy, though their marriage is still a secret. She quietly whispers to Anakin that she is pregnant. This is where the trouble starts. Anakin starts having dreams of Padme being killed during child birth, similar to the ones he had before his mother was murdered by the Tusken Raiders.
Meanwhile, Palpatine and Anakin are getting closer and closer. Palpatine tells Anakin what he wants to hear, bloating his Ego and Head. Palpatine tells Anakin that he does not trust the Jedi council, and believes they are hungering for power. He also tells Anakin that he wants Anakin on the Jedi council to be his personal spokesman to them. When Anakin tells the council this, they disprove of it, but allow Anakin to join the council without giving him the rank of Master. Anakin finds this quite insulting. Furthermore, the council asks Anakin to spy on Palpatine. Anakin grudgingly agrees.
Palpatine seems to catch on quick. He asks Anakin if the council asked him to spy on him, still filling his head with trash, trying to brainwash him. He tells Anakin that everyone is after power, even the Jedi. He tells Anakin a story about a Sith who learned to cheat death by keeping other people alive. He slowly reveals to Anakin that he knows a little about the force, and that he knows how to use the dark side of the force. Anakin then figures out that Palpatine is the Sith Lord that the Jedi have been fighting against, and draws his lightsabre. Palpatine is unphased. He tells Anakin that if he has to kill him, then go ahead and do it. He also tells Anakin that he knows that he and Padme have eloped, and he knows about his dream. He asks Anakin to join him, and together they would learn the power to keeping Padme alive. Anakin refuses, and resolves to tell the Jedi council about Palpatine's treason.
When arriving back at the Jedi temple, Anakin tells Mace Windu about his conversation with Palpatine. Windu tells him that if what he speaks is true that Anakin has earned his trust. Windu heads out with some other Jedi to arrest Palpatine. A fight ensues, in which Palpatine quickly kills the other Jedi that Windu had brought along to help arrest Palpatine. Windu and Palpatine fight. Meanwhile, Anakin hears Palpatines voice, that if he were to be arrested Padme would surely die. This causes Anakin to get in his speeder and go to where Mace Windu and Palpatine are fighting. Eventually, Windu beats Palpatine at the lightsabre duel, and Palpatine is on the ground, making a final attempt to hold Windu back with his force lightning. This is where Anakin shows up. Palpatine begs Anakin to help him, while Mace Windu tries to convince him otherwise. Palpatine tells Anakin lies, about how he said that the Jedi would try to overthrow him, and about how together they could save Padme. Eventually Palpatine, can not hold on any longer, because prolonged use of his force lightning has deformed him, and he's to weak to hold Mace Windu off. Windu raises his lightsabre to kill him, but Anakin quickly cuts off Windu's arm, who had not suspected that type of betrayal, and Windu flies out of the window, and dies. Palpatine is pleased with Anakin, and Anakin pledges his loyalty to Palpatine afterwards. Palpatine tells him the first thing Anakin must do is go to the temple and kill all the Jedi. The Emperor then tells the commander of his clone army to target all Jedi, and betray them, while already in the midst of fighting the federation's battle droids.
We see Anakin go to the temple, and draw his lightsabre on the children. We then see many other Jedi being slaughtered by the clones, and eventually only Yoda and Obi-Wan are the only two known Jedi survivors. Yoda and Obi-Wan go back to the temple. Obi-Wan searches through the security holograms at the temple and is appalled to discover that it was Anakin who killed everyone at the temple. Obi-Wan and Yoda know that they must take out both the Sith swiftly.
Obi-Wan talks to Padme. In the conversation, he tells Padme about the attrocities that Anakin has done, and finds out that Padme is carrying his children. Padme, in disbelief, goes to the firey planet (I don't know the name) to find Anakin, and to see whether all of what Obi-Wan has said is true or not.
She finds him, and discoveres it is true. She tells him that he has changed. Obi-Wan arrives almost immediately after. Anakin calls Padme a traitor, and chokes her for disclosing his location to Obi-Wan. A fight ensues between Anakin and Obi-Wan, while we see another fight between Yoda and Palpatine. I will not say anything further, because it would take 10,000 words to properly and fittingly describe 10 seconds of action, but in the end, neither Yoda nor Palpatine are victorious in their duel, but guards come in and Yoda can no longer continue his duel. Anakin is severely burned. Obi-Wan leaves him burning (perhaps supposing that he will die). Yoda says that he has failed, and therefore must retreat to Dagobah. Palpatine finds Anakin, hurt but alive. We see Padme give birth to twins, who she names Luke and Leia, and then Padme dies. Senator Organa, Yoda, and Obi-Wan assert that the children must be seperated so that Anakin can not harm them, and Organa says that he and his wife would be glad to adopt Leia. Obi-Wan says he will take Luke to his family on Tattooine, and will watch over him. Yoda tells him that Qui-Gon has found a way to communicate, and while Obi-Wan is in solitude on Tattooine, he can talk to his old master. We then go to the final scene, where Anakin's mask is being put on. He rises. Palpatine asks him if he can hear him, and Anakin says yes. Anakin asks about how Padme is, and Palpatine responds that in Anakin's anger, he ended up killing Padme. We see the room shake, and things explode, and the movie ends.
Action / Special Effects: The new Star Wars movies and the Matrix are unparalleled when it comes to their action sequences. The fights in this movie are awesome. Their is a massive battle in the beginning, which is pretty exciting to watch. The fight between Anakin and Dooku is pretty fast-paced, and pretty much all you see is a flurry of swift movements, attacks, and lightsabres clashing. The next fight between Mace Windu and Palpatine is fun to watch, especially as you watch Palpatine's force lightning being absorbed by Windu's lightsabre, and you see Palpatines face deform. There is another fight in which Grievous, a four armed droid (I believe) fights Obi-Wan. Grievous has been trained in the Jedi arts, and fights using four lightsabres. When you saw Darth Maul use his double-sided lightsabre, it was very impressive, and Anakin fighting with two lightsabres in Episode II brought a new type of fight to the Star Wars world as well, but this is something else altogether. Very interesting to watch. The fight between Yoda and Palpatine is certainly exciting, but it is overshadowed by the Obi-Wan-Anakin duel. That may be the best fight in the history of movies. It went on for quite a while, and was just so intense, so dramatic, so fast-paced, that even though you know what the outcome will be, it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
Acting: Similar to any other Star Wars movie. It has everything you need. It is Star Wars, after all, so it doesn't require any fancy emotional acting, although it is their at times. In my opinion, some of the scenes between Anakin and Padme are still a little too melodramatic, but it is understandable. A very well-acted movie.
Overall: 100/10. Yes, I mean that. 100/10.
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