Original sentence: It was criticized for its slow pace and awkward screenwriting; in particular, critics disliked the way the characters tend to deliver highly rhetorical speeches at each other instead of speaking conversationally
Edited sentence: It was criticized for its version of history (which critics contend made it nothing more than pro-Confederate propaganda, as the Union generals were unanimously portrayed as incompetent and malicious, while the Southern generals were shown as emotional beings), slow pace and awkward screenwriting; in particular, critics disliked the way the characters tend to deliver highly rhetorical speeches at each other instead of speaking conversationally