Horrible acting, cringey romance, basic plot

Rating: 3/10 (1 January 2020)

This trilogy came out when I was a child, and I must admit I found them fairly entertaining as a child, which I'll put down to 1) being a child and 2) Padme's impressive outfits that I wanted to own. As an adult watching them, this trio is absolutely cringe-worthy.
Hayden Christensen's acting is wooden at best, dreadful at worst. It's no wonder he no longer appears in Hollywood films. Portman's acting fared slightly better, but their dynamic was completely off, especially when Anakin was a child in the first film while she was a teenager. The whole thing feels a bit creepy. Plus, the fireside romantic scene with Padme is truly horrific to watch - not sure how parents sat through that with their kids.
Their dialogue is awkward, the actors clearly have no chemistry, and there seems to be no good reason why Padme still loves "Anni" and excuses his behaviour when he admits to murdering women and children in a fit of rage. Their relationship is in no way believable, which comes down to poor casting, poor script-writing, and poor acting.
Aside from that, there's barely any plot. To say it's basic is an overstatement. The only major plotline of this trilogy is "sweet Anni turns into a murderous dictator", which isn't much to sustain three entire films. There's nothing surprising and nothing standout.
On the plus side, there's less Jar Jar Binks than AotC and some beautiful scenery thanks to on-location filming in Seville and Lake Garda. Plus yoga is great fun! But that's honestly all I can say that's positive about this film.