As anticipation for Star Wars: The Force Awakens reaches fever pitch, the release day draws nerve-wrackingly close. We’re all hoping for the Episode VII we deserve, and yet secretly, at the back of every fan’s mind, there’s one niggling consideration: what if the film isn’t everything we hope it’ll be? What if – god forbid – it’s anything like George Lucas’ much-derided prequels?
From Jar Jar to Darth Vader’s unintentionally hilarious birth, there’s a lot to justifiably hate the prequels for. Whether it’s the wooden acting, stale dialogue, poor characterization, over-abundance of CGI, or the borderline racism of those Trade Federation aliens, you can have your fill of disappointment and then some from the Star Wars prequels. But you already know all the reasons why you hate Episodes I–III; this list isn’t for more of that.
This list is instead for all the things about the prequels that are actually pretty great. Because, despite what the consensus says, there ARE things to love about George Lucas’ latter Star Wars movies.
They can be bad, even terrible, but not all the time – the truth is more complicated than that. Here, then, are nine reasons why the prequels aren’t as bad as you remember.