Happy Jawa - Broken Allegiance

As if Darth Vader's "to do" list wasn't long enough already, now he has two apprentices who have gone AWOL and they aren't just taking a joy ride, they're skipping town. Ah, what's a Sith Lord to do?

Broken Allegiance is brilliantly directed and painstakingly crafted. The script was imaginative and didn't just borrow and update cliches but brought fresh ideas to the screen. The art direction by Frankie Chan is fantastic, with new ships and new costumes that are classic. The bridge of the Executor is nigh perfectly replicated. The music that Rich Johnson wrote for the film blends seamlessly with the film and supports the action. The acting is good and I was particularly impressed with the performances of Chris Brennan as Darth Vader and and Ben Fletcher as Darth Vader's voice. The writers really knew how to write for Vader. The city shots on Coruscant, though few, were breathtaking. Typically when I am searching for stills to capture to give you the flavor of the movie there are only one or two moments that strongly suggest themselves, but in Broken Allegiance there were many such iconic moments that could have been used. The only thing I seem to be running out of is superlatives.

If I were to find fault with Broken Allegiance, it would be with the interior of the stolen shuttle which was boxy and unconvincing. It opted for lots of knobs and levers on the walls and looked more like something out of an old Flash Gordon movie than the sleek Star Wars movie Broken Allegiance is.

Yes, there is the prerequisite lightsabre duel outdoors, but in Broken Allegiance it actually serves the story rather than being the reason for the story.

Broken Allegiance makes me hope that director Nick Hallam's "to do" list includes making more films like this.