The best of the prequel trilogy by far!

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2016)

This film is a fitting ending to a disappointing trilogy of films, this film shows the best that the prequels had to offer whether that be in its story, acting or the action in the film. Saying that this films still does have some of the problems that over two films previous have as well.
The first positive of this film are two main leads that are portrayed by Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. Yes you read that correctly I believe and will aggressively defend Christensen in this film, I believe that he brings a much needed breath of fresh air and maturity to the character that was sorely needed. Instead of begin this annoying adult as he was in Attack of the Clones, Christensen is allowed to bring out the dark side and weakness in the character that transforms him from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader. He also shows this angle to the character for his motivations for turning to dark side and his reasoning, the fact that he believes what he is doing is correct even if that means killing kids. Ewan Mcgregor is once again fantastic as Obi-wan Kenobi and is pretty much this best part of this film and the prequel trilogy as a whole. He steps ever closer to Sir Alec Guinness in this much older interpretation of Obi-Wan which is really interesting and cool to see. In some of the scenes in this film its as if Obi-Wan was played by the same actor throughout the Star Wars saga truly brilliant and should be championed for his work in these three films.
The next positive is about half of the lightsaber battles, yeah I know that doesn't sound much like a positive but hear me out. The rematch between Anakin/Obi wan versus Count Dooku is really good from start to finish and is far less visually aggressive as it was in Attack of the Clones. This one shows much more an even contest and an entertaining watch, especially as Anakin is persuaded to let out his anger to ultimately kill Count Dooku. Obviously the end battle between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi will go down in Star Wars history as the greatest fight ever, in my opinion anyway. From start to finish this fight is insane, heart pounding non stop action, showing a really brutal fight between two former friends now enemies. At some parts during the battle its is as if either of them is fighting themselves because their matching each other blow for blow. Even the infamous George Lucas dialogue isn't as infamous on Mustafar for the battle and is truly out of this world and memorable, especially the extremely sad ending where Obi-wan is almost in tears as he shouts at Anakin he was the chosen one. Brilliant stunt work and choreography and acting by both actors fantastic to see how Anakin becomes Darth Vader.
The next positive is the order 66 scenes that see many Jedi get slaughter by clone troops across many different worlds in the galaxy. Whether it be Ki-Adi-Munid, Plo Koon or Aayla Secura all of the Jedi deaths are done fantastically well and bring a great emotional weight into the film that the prequels were so sorely missing. Its especially hard when we see Yoda sense that a great tragedy has been and he falls to the ground. This links into a couple of other positives with the film, the action in the film never lets down, whether it be from the opening space battle that is a true marvel or to the battle on the ground on Kashyyyk. All the action is done really well and shows that not everything went completely wrong with these films.
The final positive of the film is seeing the brutal and visually horrifying transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. When I first saw this film I was genuinely shocked that they would show the full extent of Anakin's injuries and why he had to don the suit for the remainder of his life, especially the gruelling surgery that he endures is simply brilliant. These scenes actually help the original trilogy in answering how and why Vader is like he is, and shows the true trauma that he had to endure.
Now the negatives with the film and yes being one the Star Wars prequel films it seems fitting that there are some shockers. Firstly any dialogue between Anakin and Padme should locked away and never to be shown again, its truly awful, wooden and just awkward.
The other half or majority of the lightsaber battles are over the top and boring just like they were in Attack of the Clones. Both the Mace windu versus Palpatine and Yoda versus Palpatine are just awfully choreographed but this was probably done due to Ian McDiarmid's age and lack of physical movement.
Another negative is a common one among the prequels and that is the over use of CGI or special effects in scenes, some of it is starting to look a little dated which could have been avoided if more practical effects were used, but it may not of because practical effects don't work all the time.
The last negative and probably the most annoying for the obvious reasons, Padme's death.................*sigh*...........lost the will to live........come on really then how does Leia in Return of the Jedi remember her mother then hmmmmm ( Or was that someone completely different then I look and stupid). Truly dreadful writing!
Overall this is the best out of the prequels and due to that reason the positives of it outweigh the negatives of the film, I know its a shocker. There are some truly memorable moments in this film that will personally stay with me forever and for that reason this film is a 75% out of 100!