The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2020)

In an iconic franchise that has highs and lows, Revenge of the Sith stands out as one of the best films in Star Wars. While certainly not taking home the awards for best writing, it more than makes up for that with the best action, visuals and score out of the entire saga.
Revenge of the Sith stands out for being so strikingly different from any other movie in the Star Wars franchise in tone and visuals, but not in a bad way. The darker tone fits with the story and is welcome in a franchise usually about the good guys triumphing over the villains. The dark tone of Sith plays especially well in the Order 66 massacre scene and during Obi-Wan and Anakin's legendary duel, particularly when paired with John Williams unique score. Revenge of the Sith has the most variation to its musical score than any other Star Wars film, which is why I personally consider it to be the best. Very little of the music is lifted from previous films and the strong presence of vocals creates an eerie environment in many of the scenes, especially Padme's ruminations.
The acting improved for this movie, particularly Hayden Christiansen, who demonstrated in scenes where he is silent that it is rather bad dialogue than poor acting which caused the problems in the previous two movies. The scenes where he does not say a single word and instead simply uses his expressions are powerful and even heartbreaking. Ewan McGregor is fantastic as always and through his performance, you can truly feel Obi-Wan's grief at losing his friend to the Dark Side.
Revenge of the Sith stands out as not just the best film in the prequel trilogy, but one of the best films in the Star Wars saga. It is better than all the sequel trilogy combined and needs more praise for what it brought to the table. Sith is truly the great tragedy of the Star Wars universe, but not in a negative way. While it had a rocky beginning, the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker certainly delivered in the end.