What All the Prequels Should've Been

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2016)

This movie shares a few of the problems that it's predecessors had. This includes an unlikable Anakin, cringe worthy dialogue, and confusing plot points. I'll get to Anakin later so for now I'll talk about my other 2 problems with the movie. Surprisingly, the cringe worthy dialogue had been severely limited. The only point where I cringed was that one balcony scene with Padme and Anakin. Everything else between the two in this movie was pretty tolerable and at times believable. Okay, that liberty line was dumb to and General Grievous' dialogue is a bit too silly but those are scattered throughout the movie. Most of the time I don't even notice nor care. I also kind of like some of the dialogue others seem to hate. I felt the emotion when Anakin betrays Padme. You can see at this point that Anakin is far gone and even if they didn't truly love each other, seeing a once noble (for the most part) Jedi being seduced by the dark side is pretty tragic. I'll admit that Anakin is a bit better in this movie and like I said, I did feel the emotion as he turned to the dark side and killed all those Jedi. His motivations are strong enough but the one thing I will not let slip by is Anakin murdering those younglings. Why would you do that when your wife is pregnant?! FATHER OF THE YEAR AM I RIGHT?! That's what I was thinking at least. I don't think anyone would murder younglings to save their wife. I'm sorry. I get why it was put in the movie but it really didn't have to be younglings. Anyways, my last problem with this movie is one really confusing plot point. For the most part, this movie is pretty easy to follow which is a good thing. However, I don't get why General Grievous had to die. I may sound like an over-obsessive fangirl for saying this but was there any point to him dying? The Jedi were planning to bring General Grievous to justice to end the war, but did it end the war? NO! The war continued even after his death. Yes, I know General Grievous is just a pawn for Count Dooku and Darth Sidious so they can kill more Jedi. However, he didn't have to die so early on in the movie. I would've liked to see a duel between General Grievous and Anakin. At least it would've been a cooler and more memorable way to die. Anyways. Onto more positive things. As you can tell, I really like General Grievous. He is one of the best characters in these prequels next to Obi Wan. He's also an interesting concept. Another thing like about this movie is how visual it is. They use visuals to tell this story in a unique and dazzling way. They don't flat out say Anakin is being seduced by the dark side. They show him killing all those jedi, nearly killing his wife and engaging his former master in a duel. It's also a much slower process than people give it credit for. As Anakin starts to spend more and more time with the Chancellor, Anakin becomes more and more interested in the dark side. This eventually leads him to making the wrong decision during the showdown with Mace Windu and at first, he is regretful for his actions. I kinda like that actually. The lightsaber duels are also much more intense. Remember in a New Hope when Vader and Obi Wan were just tapping light sticks? Well in this movie the same people are doing flips in mid air, clashing swords, riding small rocks over a river of lava, the list goes on! The opening space battle actually looked like a Star Wars movie. Yeah that always kind of bugged me in the prequels. They spend so much time on the planets in a movie called "Star Wars." Here I don't mind it as much since the planets are much cooler looking or pretty. Overall, I really love this movie and I kind of hate to admit that.