Best of the Prequels, but Still Far from Great

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2018)

Revenge of the Sith has a special place in my heart. It came out in theaters when I was still a kid, and it was the one I probably watched the most growing up. I know nearly every line of dialogue and can recite lines on command. As a kid, it was probably my favorite Star Wars movie. But then, I grew up and realized that the movie has tons of flaws, sharing many of the problems that the other prequels have.
It has become clear to me that many people really love this movie, claiming its one of the best Star Wars films, etc. While I agree that there are many aspects of the movie that are great, the film has so many problems that people are overlooking for some reason. Good movie? Yes. Perfect movie? Far from it.
Let's start from the beginning. Revenge of the Sith has a gigantic opening action sequence, as Obi-Wan and Anakin try and rescue the Chancellor from General Grevious's ship. There's a lot here to like. Some of the banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty solid, considering there was none in any of the previous two movies. The lightsaber fight involving Count Dooku is very well done and way better than the one at the end of Attack of the Clones. However, the opening also contains horribly written dialogue, mostly coming from Anakin. The film attempts to have Anakin and Obi-Wan talk as if they have a great, brotherly relationship even though we haven't seen anything of the sort at all in the other films. There is a huge reliance on CGI here as well.
Why is General Grevious in the movie anyway? We haven't seen this character at all yet. He is randomly and awkwardly introduced in the beginning of the film for no reason at all, just to die about an hour later at the hands of Obi-Wan. We are told nothing about this character, nor are we given a reason to care about him at all. The horrible dialogue from the beginning lasts throughout the entire film, especially in the dull and forced scenes between Anakin and Padme.
The over-reliance on CGI is a problem throughout this film, and it has become more apparent as the years go on. When Obi-Wan is chasing General Grevious (who shouldn't even be in the film) on a dragon-reptile thing, it looks ridiculous and unnecessary. When Order 66 happens, it's very sad and well-done, but the Jedi getting killed have gotten virtually no screen up to this moment, so we have trouble caring about their deaths.
One of my biggest issues with the film lie in Anakin's eventual turn to the dark side. It's so abrupt and awkward, as Palpatine randomly knights him as 'Lord Vader" as if he pulled the name out of a hat. Granted, the fight between Palpatine and Yoda is pretty badass, but the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin goes on far too long. Its cool to look at with the raging lava and all, but it drags on for eternity, with virtually no dialogue throughout to slow things down. You should never be bored during a lightsaber fight, but here I was. And I'm not even going to mention the atrocious NOOOOO once Anakin is actually put into his suit.
It may seem like I'm bashing this movie a lot, but I actually do like the film quite a bit. I just struggle to understand when people say this is their favorite, as it has nearly every flaw that the other prequels had.