There’s a lot of analysis of Episode III floating around the blogosphere right now, and I’ve read it all with interest. Great stuff. Well, I got to see it yesterday, and if you’re looking for more critical analysis, you won’t find it here.

I sat my ass in that chair, and when the theme song started roaring through the speakers at heart-shuddering decibels and those words started scrolling by, I realized I’d never seen a Star Wars movie on the big screen and I was lost. I watched the final installment with a childlike joy that no amount of analysis can touch. I had popcorn, Sno-caps, a huge soda and Yoda kicking ass. Content, I was.

Yeah, I have thoughts on some of the story arcs and all that jazz, but I came away from the theatre with an unwillingness to dig too deeply. But, despite that, I’ll ‘fess up a couple of things that bugged me—

1—Samuel L. Jackson and Ewan McGregor did not belong in the Star Wars movies. As a friend of mine commented to me, Samuel L can’t play anybody but Samuel L. And Ewan McGregor’s prissiness…the words Queer Eye for the Jedi have passed between my husband and myself more than once during the odyssy of the prequels. Not that their acting was bad—I think they’re both brilliant. They may, unfortunately, have been too brilliant for these movies, which made them stand out, which is bad in an ensemble cast. (And I’m going to say this in public—I thought Hayden Christiansen (I think that’s his name) played Anakin perfectly. So there.)

2—I was made very unhappy by the “younglings incident”. In a mere moment, they managed to destroy 2 1/2 movies of building a conflicted, pretty well-motivated protagonist.

I can’t decide if I like III more than V, but overall, it was a kick-ass movie, and a great climax to the saga. It answered my questions and tied in well to IV. And Yoda kicks some ass, did I mention?