6: Revenge of the Sith
Forget the entire trilogy, because this is the only prequel that truly matters. It still suffers from some wonky pacing throughout, but by the end of the film, Revenge of the Sith really picks up some steam.
Anakin’s turn to the dark side of the Force came to fruition, taking a welcome step back from the political nonsense in the first two films. Even though Hayden Christensen’s performance still left much to be desired, seeing one of cinema’s most iconic villains come to be almost made the first two entries worth it.
Another factor that deserves to be applauded is Ewan McGregor’s portrayal as Obi-Wan Kenobi, which came full circle with Revenge of the Sith. Even though the entire trilogy more or less focuses on Anakin Skywalker, seeing Obi-Wan develop through personal loss and tragedy lends Alec Guinness’ portayal of this mentor figure some much-needed and well-deserved depth. By the end of Revenge of the Sith, we couldn’t help but feel sorry for most parties involved, lending this entry way more heart that its two predecessors combined.
