After D23's Star Wars announcements saw new images for the live-action series Ahsoka and its connections to the animated series Rebels, the prequel films have been at the forefront of the fans' minds - especially Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
Given Ahsoka's close connection to Anakin throughout Clone Wars, many fans are curious as to how the creators will manage to bridge the two projects together and whether the new Disney+ series will manage to fix some plot inconsistencies. Redditors have certainly been hoping for the creators to fix some of the glaring holes in the franchise, particularly the ones that have left a bitter taste in their mouth - even 17 years later.
Anakin's Turn Feels Too Willing
Although everyone was aware that Revenge of the Sith would end with Anakin's villainous descent, fans still believed that it needed to feel like a journey worth watching. Unfortunately, the journey to Anakin's turn had several significant flaws that Redditors can't overcome.
For Redditor Oridol, they said "It feels too willing. It felt like they took you down a far more complex road of Anakin than was needed just to get to a half-a***d turning to the dark side." While Anakin's darkness had been hinted at throughout the second movie (with the death of his mother), other than this one instance, the prequels didn't show much of it. Hopefully, with Ahsoka, she might be able to provide a few more examples or stories about his darkness.
The "Rank of Master" Scene
One scene that some viewers couldn't stand was Anakin's discussion with Mace Windu about wanting to be a Jedi Master - especially since it was missing some context surrounding who recommended him for the position in the first place.
As Redditor points out, "In the loss of the Palpatine context, it simply didn't make sense to me." with another agreeing that this scene wasn't "done very well" and they could understand where the confusion came from. There's certainly some truth to the statement, as the scene did feel like they were mistreating him as he was the only Jedi this rule didn’t apply to and the audience really has to read between the lines to understand their motives fully. Again, it just felt like they were trying to get to Anakin's downfall really fast instead of expanding on this plot, which meant it came at a cost some fans can’t ignore.
The Performances
The prequel films delivered some of the most cringeworthy parts of Star Wars, mainly due to the performances in the films that culminated in Revenge of the Sith. BrewtalDoom believes, "The film feels flat. The performances are flat, [and] most of the time it just looks like one or two actors against a blue screen…".
While the movies had some talented actors under it's belt, like Natalie Portman and Samuel L Jackson, unfortunately, Revenge of the Sith didn't utilize them right as they were relegated to side characters rather than main ones. Much to the annoyance of fans, a lot of Obi-Wan and Padmé scenes were deleted as well, which was a great shame since they would have enhanced the story even more (particularly in the final scenes on Mustafar). Luckily the Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, has done its best to fix some of these issues and added a bit more depth to Padmé and Obi-Wan's friendship.
The CGI
While some may believe this film has some of Star Wars' best practical effects, other effects may not hold up. While the CGI’S quality was consistently brought up as a weakness, one Redditor detailed their issue with the CGI, saying, "The CGI is very heavily used in the first 45 minutes—the 3rd act is more practical effects, but yeah, it's still too much."
When CGI is used to the point that the film isn't visually appealing to the audience anymore, then it becomes an issue. This is disheartening to fans when the franchise has, in the past, drawn the audience in with the beautiful sceneries and lifeforms, as well as weapons with lightsabers and blasters.
Too Much Talk
Adding an additional layer to the stiff dialogue that the audience has to get through when viewing this film is the fact that it relies heavily on dialogue to get from point A to point B.
Best summarized by Ender_Skywalker, they believe that the movie had "some of the driest, talk scenes in the series… [but] without those scenes, you wouldn't really have any setup for Anakin's fall." At this point, the prequels spent hours talking about the political landscape, and this film gives no reprieve because it’s a major part of Anakin’s fall. Instead of telling this story with an interesting mixture of words and actions that show the audience Anakin’s reality, it’s thoroughly explained in dialogue.
It's Anti-Climactic
Anakin's turn to the dark side builds tension across five movies, and it's over in less than half an hour. While the prequels may have some of the best performances from Jedi, some feel that the final battle wastes the weight of Anakin's turn. As Chen_Geller writes, it's a "letdown that all this great Machiavelian drama comes down to a 20-minute rock-'em sock-'em lightsaber showdown between the characters."
Everything led to this moment, and some viewers believe this fight is worse because of the "overly choreographed" style. While style isn’t new, considering Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon against Darth Maul, this was the final fight all Star Wars led to, and it fell flat when the stakes were highest.
The Writing
While the prequels overall gave many quotes that are so bad they're good, this film delivered the most lines in that category, causing one Redditor to see the writing as "subpar in almost every way." The writing is never spoken very highly of between some seeing a convoluted narrative and its dialogue.
For such a pivotal moment in the Star Wars story, the poor quality of the film's writing makes it difficult to watch. After two consecutive movies with what some consider the worst writing of any film, the third poorly written movie in a row went too far for some fans to forgive, considering how important this film was for the entire Skywalker story.
Overhyped Action
While some see this film as one of the movies that ruined a great franchise, it's recognized for having some of the stronger fight scenes. However, Beatlemaniac__ feels the action at the end didn't tonally fit with what it should have been, and they disagree with how everyone sees "Obi-Wan and Anakin is the best duel in the entire franchise… aside from meh CGI, it starts off strong… [but] it completely loses its effect."
This duel is moments before Anakin becomes Darth Vader, leaving some fans wanting Anakin’s story to end in more than a fight. Additionally, the fight drags on longer than it should for some because it's longer than other lightsaber battles, and they know how the film ends, diluting any suspense over the battle’s outcome.
"Padme, Nooooo!"
In a significant moment of pain for a character, the delivery of this line completely undermines what the audience is supposed to feel for Anakin at that moment because they cannot take it seriously.
Gmorkenstein's description of this scene makes it clear how they and others in the audience feel when watching this, saying, "This is a ridiculous scene. It's comical yet blasphemous. This should never have been allowed to be made public." In a moment that is supposed to be heartbreaking for Anakin as he loses Padme, given the performance and dialogue, the audience can’t feel what they are supposed to.
It Cheapens A New Hope
Perhaps the biggest crime this film committed to some was its implications on the original trilogy, especially the beloved A New Hope. FM-101 writes their main issue is how "it worsens the plot of A New Hope… because Revenge of the Sith had to lead up to it, it seems like they had to shoehorn in a lot of things that made it worse."
The original trilogy is held so closely to fans' hearts that anything that jeopardizes how they see them will be scrutinized. This level of admiration creates a major issue for Revenge of the Sith as it calls into question Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine and Luke’s Jedi training that he’s not supposed to receive but does anyway when it’s nearly too late for the Rebellion.