Are you threatening ME, Master Jedi?
By far, the most exciting thing happening in March for me is the NCAA tournament, and madness is approaching fever pitch already. But only slightly less known is this: Never mess with me when a new Sith trailer is on the line! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! [slumps over]

Okay, I've recovered, but not from the trailer which debuted following one of the worst shows I've ever been forced to sit through, the O.C. I can assure you that my eyes were tired from eye-rolling. The show is nothing more that a latter-day Melrose Place, and a crappy one at that. Excuse my vitriol, O.C. fans (dare you show your faces??), but when you are chomping at the bit for new Star Wars scenes, even vacuous teenage hot-bodies are loathesome.

However, as the Emperor might say, my patience paid off. The trailer was riveting from start to finish, with trademark half-second glimpses into all the new worlds, characters and scenes. Dominating the 2-plus minutes was Chancellor Palpatine and his alter ego, Darth Sidious. If the trailer is any indication, his role has been upgraded from supporting character to heavy-handed manipulator and scene-chewer. You get quite a few glimpses of him in action (flinging Senatorial pods at Yoda!), but the most chilling to me were his several snippets of quiet dialog with Anakin.

Of course, hands-down the scene that sticks out in mind and gave me the chills was the arrest scene. Mace Windu and several Jedi (four of them, sabers drawn) pronounce to the Emperor that they are placing him under arrest. The Emperor's reply (the title of this blog) is cool and edgy, almost a dare. The next thing you see is a shot of the Chancellor's lightsaber snapping into his hand, and then a shot of him leaping with feral menace to the Jedi, who justifiably are taken aback. My immediate, eruditic reaction to that part was "Holy shit!!!" Just what the Jedi were thinking, no doubt.

Honorable mention goes to the shot of an angry Anakin leading a group of stormtroopers into the Jedi temple. Overall, after seeing this trailer, there's no WAY this film isn't going to be at least PG-13. It looks dark, sinister, definitely scary, even... something we fans have been hoping and dreaming about. This isn't your father's trilogy, no. This is matured Star Wars. This is better.