Putting the prequels in perspective

Rating: 2/10 (8 December 2011)

I am writing this review a full six years after the last of the prequels was released in theaters. Looking back at the full body of work that is the prequels, and comparing them to the original three and any other movie released for that matter, I now consider this the best of the three prequels. That's like somebody receiving an award for the tallest midget, however. Though this film had a horribly conceived plot, at least it had a horribly conceived plot. The two movies that followed (Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) were both completely incoherent messes. These three movies compare in no way with the original three, and in fact don't hold up well with your run-of-the-mill Hollywood blockbuster. When viewing all six films with an adult frame of mind (I was alive when the original three made their theatrical debuts) it is clear that the Empire Strikes Back is easily the best film. The original and Return of the Jedi are next, a far chasm away from Empire. Then there is another huge chasm with this movie being the "best" of the prequels. That's why I give this film two stars. The extra star is for the horribly conceived plot. The last two films, in my opinion, are so bad that they don't even qualify as films, because they lack an important ingredient that makes a film a film. That ingredient is a plot.