Why do I still watch this stuff? It’s a question I’ve asked myself a few times recently. Am I seduced by nostalgia and hype? I hope not, though there’s a fair amount of that. But it’s not the entire answer.

Am I, then, enraptured by the story unfolding before me over 6 films and more than 12 hours? Again, I don’t think that’s quite it. True, I get involved with the movies when I watch them (ahem, Episode I apart), and tonight I found myself wrapped up in the story of Episode III to such an extent that I actually found my critical faculties had been disengaged by my narrative concentration. This doesn’t happen often. Usually I have a response to a film formulated by the end, this time I just sat and dumbly watched the credits until they flicked the lights and shooed me out. I was taking in the enormity of what had happened – not onscreen (though that was pretty huge, it was not unexpected), but inside me.

It’s over. Something I’ve carried with me since day one – I was born the year Star Wars was born, as the twins were born the same time Vader was rising – something I had thought complete for so long was now truly complete.

But why – to return to my original thought – do I care so much? Honestly, I don’t know. At points during Sith I thought “If I wasn’t a fan, this would be shit. Look at that! What’s up with that?”

But I am a fan. I think it’s that simple. I care because I love the films, like I love a person. Okay, you’re backing away, but it’s the only applicable emotion. It’s flawed as hell, it’s difficult and it’s sometimes bafflingly frustrating. Sound like anything you’ve experienced lately? But I love it anyway, you love what you love and if you feel like there’s something wrong with it, there’s something wrong with you, because you’re bound to it.

Hmm. Special pleading much? Can’t the films be films, do you have to get all fanboy on us and view them on merit? Actually, amazingly, I think they can be viewed on merit. But not by me. And not by those who hate Star Wars, either, because that’s as unreasonable as love.
So fuck it. Here’s my review:
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