There are two new Star Wars videos on the web worth checking out:

Lego has a humorous “Revenge of the Brick” Star Wars movie on their site. For the most part it isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, but there were some chuckle-worthy moments that make it worth checking out.

The other one is the latest TV ad for Revenge of the Sith, “End of Wars“. I’ve seen all the trailers and all the TV spots, and I have to say that this one might be my favorite. There are some new shots I haven’t seen before, and the dramatic soundtrack is perfect.

Revenge of the Sith is still getting mostly-positive reviews, though a few loud voices of dissent have made themselves heard:

Rolling Stone says Sith is “the final and most futile attempt from skilled producer, clumsy director and tin-eared writer George Lucas to create a prequel trilogy to match the myth-making spirit of the original Star Wars saga…” I agree with their assessment of Lucas, though they do go on to note that there are some scenes that do work in Sith – they’re just too little and too late to redeem the film.

More troubling is the review from IGN, which has another criticism I’ve been worried about: inconsistencies in the Star Wars universe. “Just because we’re in “a galaxy far, far away,” for example, does not mean that the ‘laws’ of that galaxy…or the intricacies driving stories told in that galaxy…can be ignored.” They go on to say “Like a reckless and impatient teenager behind the wheel of a very cool car, RotS is determined to get somewhere, but it doesn’t care how it gets there – and it amasses casualties along the way.”

IGN’s review also admits there are good things about the film, but I’ve read their list of inconsistencies, and though I can get past some of them, there are a couple really BIG ones that bother me. This is somewhat spoiler-ish, so stop reading if you want to remain completely pure, though most of this won’t surprise long-time fans.

Okay, Anakin/Darth Vader is a complete idiot. Mr. Most Powerful Jedi Ever doesn’t know his wife – the woman sleeping next to him – is pregnant. Pregnant, by the way, with twins, at least one of whom has latent force abilities – though according to Return of the Jedi, they both do.

Anakin as Darth Vader probably doesn’t have any good memories of Tatooine and so doesn’t want to have anything to do with the place. Still, I find it suspect that it’s too remote to be detected by the Sith. So let’s get this straight: Anakin can sense his mother on Tatooine, but years later, when he is even more powerful, he can’t sense his kid on Tatooine, because now it’s too remote?

Worse, Anakin actually captures and tortures his own daughter in A New Hope. We aren’t talking distant, remote planet. We’re talking, she’s right in front of you, and you don’t have clue one that she might be your kid? C’mon. If Luke, who has very little training and should not be even remotely as powerful as Vader, can sense Leia is his sister, how can Anakin be completely clueless?

Will these things completely ruin my enjoyment of EP 3? No. But unless Lucas is planning to go in and screw around some more with the original trilogy, these inconsistencies bother me. It’s depressing that Lucas apparently spent more time on creating Jar Jar than he did on creating a watertight story.