BY GEORGE - can you feelthe forced? Twenty eight years after director George Lucas launched the convoluted saga with Part IV, STAR WARS REVENGE OFTHE SITH (12A) finally concludes hissix-part journey in style... with Episode III.
But forget the dodgy maths. What an eye-popping, inter-galactictrip it's been since 1977, when orphan Luke Skywalker first learned aboutthe Force from old Ben Obi-WanKenobi (Alec Guinness).
In an instant, Hollywood waschanged for ever thanks to a filmmaker inspired by Flash Gordon andwho's now honouring everything from in time for Episode IV.
Like Titanic and Apollo 13, fans will know what must eventually happen between the Jedi and the Sith to take us back to square one - but that doesn't spoil the journey.
Lucas sensibly maintains a brisk pace for 140 minutes, Droids C3PO and R2-D2 are used sparingly and the annoying Jar Jar Binks from Phantom Menace is barely seen.
But the director is so quick to move on from Vader's first breath that he misses the chance to create a spell-binding moment of tension.
Elsewhere, Master Yoda is the principle source of humour at a time when Anakin's life is dramatically turning upside down and Obi seems to be hiding behind facial fuzz more suited to a baby walrus.
The fluorescent saber fights are fun and the sets are mind-blowingly diverse, though sometimes so detailed behind the frantic action that it's impossible to see the asteroids from the comets.
Beefing up the action to warrant a 12A certificate is generally beneficial, but what's most remarkable of all, given its record-breaking gestation, is its apposite reflection of today's post-election Britain.
There are so many relevant lines that the script must have been written with a crystal ball.
Imagine Tony Blair taking his kids to see this and hearing phrases like "Into exile I must go" followed by a: "You were the chosen one!"
It could be painful, especially when it's suggested that The Apprentice (Gordon Brown?) can kill his master in his sleep.
And that war is defined as 'a failure to listen'. Oh, no - not Iraq again!
