Titanic in space?

Yep, that's how George Lucas is describing the last installment in the Star Wars prequels: Revenge of the Sith.

Before I discuss how I feel about that description, I need to fill you in on some background. I am a Star Wars fan. The only thing that prevents me from turning the entire basement into some sort of shrine to the Dark Side is money. Plus, my wife would blow a gasket, and I would have no place to store my gaming stuff, but those are secondary concerns. So, instead of buying Stormtrooper armor, I just watch the movies. It's a comprimise that I can live with, but am sometimes unhappy about. (True story - when my wife and I first started dating, I told her: "Love me, tolerate gaming, tolerate Star Wars." )

So, when I downloaded the trailer to Episode I: The Phantom Menace, I whispered a little prayer of thanks. Sadly, while the trailer looked kewl, the horror of Jar-Jar Binks was not readily apparent until I watch the film in the theatre. I can understand the need to have some character with which the children can empathize, but even the kids in the audience were offended. (Again, I am also the guy who cheers when the Stormtroopers slaughter the Ewoks, but that's just my Dark Side showing through.)

Fast forward a bit, and we get to Episode II: Attack of the Clones. This time, my prayer was "Please, be better than the last one." And, in some ways it was - Jar-Jar had a lot less screen time, and the whiny dialogue of young Anakin is proof that he and Luke are related. But, still, the movie just wasn't that good. Not when stacked up against the original trilogy.

Now, having watched both trailers for Episode III, my prayer is "Please, let it not suck." I'm not asking for much: I know that Anakin goes to the Dark Side and becomes Vader. I know that Palpatine seizes power, and lots of Jedi get killed. But I'm a lot more leery when I hear it being called "Titanic in space." I could barely sit through Titanic. I found the dialogue stilted and wooden, and the characters flat. The film just didn't move me - by the time the ship actually sank, I was rooting for the iceberg.

It's not because it was a chick flick. I can sit through those, and while I might make fun of them, I do the same thing to action films. Titanic just got so overhyped that the reality was far short of what the film actually delivered. I hope that I am not saying the same thing about Revenge of the Sith in a couple of months.