It's no secret that the Star Wars prequels didn't get a lot of love when they first released. Though plenty of fans have really come around on them over the years, there's still plenty of harsh criticism out there. What if, when you really look at them, the prequel films are actually way better than you remember?
From the years-long payoff of Anakin Skywalker's final transformation into Darth Vader to the films' strong focus on the important bonds between their main characters and more, the prequels deserve way more love than we still give them.
The Star Wars prequels and Anakin Skywalker's slow rise to darkness
From the moment we saw that unforgettable movie poster for The Phantom Menace, the one portraying Darth Vader in young Anakin Skywalker's shadow, fans couldn't wait to see how a promising Jedi Knight would eventually turn to the dark side. It was Palpatine at work the whole time; that much was clear. But it ended up being so much more than one Sith Lord's decades-long master plan.
The prequels set it all up for viewers. Anakin's love for and protectiveness over his mother. His refusal to honor his own values over his love for Amidala. His recklessness and constant deviation from Obi-Wan Kenobi's teachings. It happens gradually over the trilogy, culminating in a sinister turning point where he fully embraces his inner darkness. It is both fascinating and sad to witness, which is what makes these movies shine.
A return to themes of found family
Star Wars is about many things, but the nearly unbreakable bonds between found families, and sometimes real families, are essential to its authenticity. The prequels focus on many of these relationships, making them stand out because of how much the idea of love always transcends hate in a way that honors the original films that came before these movies.
Luke and Leia's mother, for example, gives up her life so that her children might survive and one day save the galaxy from evil. Obi-Wan's brotherly love for Anakin makes the latter's descent into evil that much more heartbreaking. Bail Organa cares so much for Amidala that he agrees to help keep her children hidden from the Emperor. Love in many forms is all around in the prequels, the same as the original trilogy, just portrayed in different forms. It is Star Wars, arguably at its best in this way.
Revenge of the Sith ties it all together
If you analyze the prequels thoroughly, especially Revenge of the Sith, of course, the small cracks become visible. The final film in the trilogy had one very large objective: to directly connect the prequels to the original movies. Which meant some characters had a very specific endpoint the story had to get them to by the end, and it certainly wasn't perfect.
It's that lack of perfection, however, that somehow brings out its magic. It makes you think back to the clunky, low-budget masterpiece of A New Hope in some ways. Somehow, still, the movie is captivating and haunting in its portrayal of the fall of the Republic, and of Anakin and his relationships with his wife and master. Just because not everything ties together flawlessly doesn't mean it isn't well done. The story stays with you. All three of the prequels' narratives do. They are iconic in their own unique way, and they truly deserve more respect than we collectively give them even now.
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