Directed by: George Lucas
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid
The Star Wars prequels are not good when viewed in comparison to their influences, but - Episode III has enough solid and genuinely engaging spectacle to qualify for a solid 60+ score out of a 100. And also had two solid improvements in the dramatic department, as well as the story-boarding, editing, and VFX chops that are arguably George Lucas’s real talents, so you’re not coming away disappointed in any measure.
Influence aside, this film really was an improvement. It’s not perfect - there are still MASSIVE disconnects at a few points, where if it were any other film we’d all decry it as unspeakably bad - but after the first two prequels, fans at that point were like, “oh well, it’s not as bad as the others,” and let it slide. The fact that we finally got to see Darth Vader be “born“ probably helped too. Obi-Wan Kenobi, as always, is solidly acted, and Emperor Palpatine gives a performance for the ages. The lightsaber duels hit a peak that will never be reached again, and there was some genuine pathos conveyed at two moments (the Order 66 scene and the “you were my brother!” scene).
If you’re an American or an average person or whatever you’ve probably seen these films. But if you already own it or have Disney+ or whatever, it’s worth a nostalgic rewatch. At the least, you’ll see all the moments that have become memes. The prequels' pairing of truly dramatic moments with atrociously written dialogue is everything a meme is made of.
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