One of the Better Ones, and Best Storytelling

Rating: 9/10 (1 August 2018)

I too was critical of Lucas' prequels, after all, how could you improve upon the originals; but after watching them again and taking my time with "understanding" what Lucas was trying to lay out as the foundation, I grew to enjoy "some" of the prequels (still can't stomach Jar Jar or young Anakin), and thoroughly enjoyed Revenge of the Sith. For much of the same reasons that TESB is my favorite of the original movies (seriousness, tragedy, and directing), ROTS is by far my favorite of the prequels, and sadly, includes The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens, which in my opinion didn't do anything for the franchise. The storytelling and direction in ROTS is top-notch and although people, I know, hate Hayden Christensen's portrayal of Anakin, I feel he redeemed himself and brilliantly portrayed a flawed character who went selflessly down the wrong path for a noble reason, his love for Padme. That path, told throughout the three movies, is evident and painful through his transformation because of the unknown, to fear, and ultimately ending in anger and madness in ROTS. Could it have been a better movie, possibly, but as movie afficionados, don't we all wish our favorite movies had been better in some ways?
I think "fans" have wrongly, unmercifully and unapologetically trashed this movie unnecessarily, IMHO, of course. Again, the best of the prequels and infinitely better than VII and VIII.