I won't begin my review by relating to you the global significance of Darth Vader's character, telling you where I was when I first saw Episode IV: A New Hope, or being evangelical about how Star Wars has changed my life - it hasn't. But like many people with a healthy interest in fantasy and sci-fi, I'm a pretty big fan of Star Wars who felt that the first two films of the prequel trilogy didn't quite live up to the promise that they could have fulfilled.

As such, Revenge of the Sith had quite a job to do in making me care about Anakin Skywalker's fall to the Dark Side - an element of the overall plot which is so crucial that to fluff it could have a terrible impact on the whole saga. Happily, with Episode III of his Star Wars six-parter, George Lucas produced a better film than his two previous efforts, and in doing so has - just about - justified the existence of three films of backstory to one of the most revered film trilogies ever created.

Lucas has a gift in story terms with Revenge of the Sith, in that all of the necessary elements have been moved into place by episodes I and II, and enough groundwork has been done that he can cut loose and give the fans everything they've been wanting to see since the prequel trilogy was announced.

Key scenes to the story of all six films quickly begin to stack up - The Clone Wars, the downfall of the Jedi order, the birth of Luke and Leia, the exile of Yoda and (of course) the fall of Anakin Skywalker - and anyone with more than a passing interest in the films will be thrilled that all of these moments have finally been realised.

Lucas also manages to make some of the story elements far more interesting than anticipated, with the doomed young lovers' romance feeling a lot more genuine this time around, and Anakin's inevitable submission to the Emperor being a far more emotionally complex scene than a simple sudden switch to the dark side. You also have to give the director credit for allowing the requisite darkness to seep through the film, as this episode is unquestionably the most violent, despairing and scary of the entire saga, and fully deserves the higher classification rating which it received in many quarters.

Unfortunately, the most crucial problem with Sith is the same flaw that can be levelled at Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones: George Lucas' overly clinical direction. It seems apparent that despite all the visual flair and advances in special effects and film technology that accompanied the appearance of the prequel trilogy, Lucas has again neglected to give his film enough soul, as there are some moments where the audience would be forgiven for feeling that more could have been made of some dramatically important moments than is offered up. That's a frustration, especially considering some other moments (particularly the execution of "order 66") definitely do carry such emotional weight.

However, John Williams' score, both orchestral and choral, is rousingly effective at filling these gaps: beautiful and tragic, determinedly sinister yet with pangs of hope, Williams' music conveys at least as much emotion as the slick visuals, and is possible his finest work of the last three Star Wars films.

Luckily for Lucas, the level of acting is also at a new high for the prequel trilogy: Ian McDiarmid deservedly received high praise among critics for his portrayal of Palpatine, infusing his appearances with a dramatic weight which makes it impossible to take your eyes off him whenever he's on screen. His opera scene with Hayden Christensen was the film's highlight, and proves that the heart of the Star Wars story can be more keenly felt in a simple scene of one man telling another man a simple story than in a hundred lightsaber battles.

Christensen also surprised me with his layered, conflicted portrayal of Anakin in this film, with the clumsy romance of two young lovers feeling far truer here than in the meadows of Attack of the Clones.

And Ewan McGregor also does well with the material he's given, evoking real passion and a tragic conflictedness in his final showdown with the troubled Anakin.

It's these three actors who elevate the material to a higher plain this time around, and save the film from becoming the monotonous, hollow soap opera that plagued episodes I and II. Other scenes featuring more minor characters fall far short of this standard, however, and serve only as empty plot-driven scenes that barely sate us until we come back to the main three players of the movie. It's an uneven mix, but one that at least keeps us interested in the key points of the film even when others fall by the wayside.

It's difficult to sum up my feelings about this particular film without sounding a little schizophrenic, as Revenge of the Sith sticks firmly to the Star Wars prequel tradition of having some amazing moments which will blow the audience away, but mixing them with some howlers. As gripped as I was during the opening space battle, the later confrontation between Obi-Wan and General Grievous, the big reveal of the Emperor's grotesque visage, or the duel, there were little touches at each point which contrived to undermine some otherwise effective sequences (the slapstick battle droids; Grievous' bizarre coughing and chicken-walking idiosyncracies; the poorly-executed and over-exposed Emperor make-up; the intereference of silly flying lava-droids).

However, as the end of episode III bleeds into the opening of episode IV, a real sense of Star Wars magic is evoked. The final ten minutes of the film come closer to recapturing the spirit of A New Hope than any of the other prequels, and leaves you on such a high that the entire Revenge of the Sith experience is somehow improved by it.

The best thing that can probably be said about these three newer films is that the original trilogy is not subverted by them, or its impact lessened: in fact, there is more depth added to certain elements that make them far more interesting as part of a larger story. Lucas has not topped episodes IV-VI with his prequel trilogy, but he has at least contributed many new ideas (the arrogant fallibility of the Jedi; the conflicted and occasionally emotional nature of Vader; the all-to-real transition from republic to Empire) which enrich the entire story and make the 6 films a truly satisfying whole.