2nd best in the series

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2020)

Even prequel haters will admit that this is the one that stood out from the others, and for many reasons. For one thing, this was Star Wars as we've never seen it before. The fall of Anakin Skywalker. We all wondered how he became Darth Vader, and we all knew it was going to happen, but I don't think anyone was prepared for what we got. This movie was not only dark, it ended in complete tragedy. To see the Jedi getting wiped out, witnessing Anakin's fall from grace, his relationship with Obi-Wan and Padme falling apart, the Empire rising. It was all very bold, despite us knowing that it had to happen, and the movie did a good job of setting things up for A New Hope very well.
Anakin's fall to the Dark Side was especially well done, and in a very believable way, and despite all the horrible things he did, you can almost understand. And while some people said that Anakin went all in to the Dark Side a little quickly, I viewed it that once he made his decision to do whatever it took to save Padme that he would really do it whatever it took, so he went all in. He knew he couldn't go back on his decision once he made it, and had no choice but to push on ahead, otherwise it would have all been for nothing. He was focusing entirely on saving Padme, not realizing that he was becoming more and more corrupt, and falling deeper into the Dark Side. And after Padme's death, he had no one and nothing left except Palpatine and his goal of conquering the galaxy since he had turned his back on everything and everyone else. And yes, some of the dialogue is cringy, but the acting is really good, especially the scenes where the characters didn't speak and simply relied on their expressions.
But lets get this out of the way. Padme's death. Yes, I fully agree that the whole 'she lost the will to live' thing was stupid, but I don't think that's actually how she died. Childbirth is complicated and can be dangerous. Even the healthiest of women can die during it. Anakin predicted her death in childbirth, so we already knew it was, at the very least, going to be a very rough one. And after everything that happened leading up to it, she just gave up on everything, and that was why she died in childbirth, not simply because she lost the will to live. Medical experts will even confirm that people who are sick or injured who just give up will have their chances of survival drop significantly. And while I hated seeing a once strong female character brought down to this state, the circumstances make it somewhat understandable. Her husband fell to the Dark Side, betrayed everyone, and killed a bunch of children, the Jedi were wiped out, the senate was completely under Palpatine, a Sith Lord's, control, everything had just fallen to ruin. It's enough to break some of the most strong-willed of people.
But whatever flaws the movie has, the rest of the movie more than makes up for it. And lets not forget the most epic of light saber fights in the whole series. The battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan was more than awesome, but then we also got Yoda versus Darth Sidious. To be fair though, yes, the way Anakin was defeated was a little anti-climatic, but what they had given us during the fight more than made up for it. Everything in this movie took everything about Star Wars and cranked up the intensity and drama to levels we never saw or expected to see in the series.