15 reasons why the Star Wars prequels are better than you remember

6. Cool Villains

Star Wars is known for having great bad guys. Darth Vader is a legend from the original trilogy, and the Emperor basically defines evil. Kylo Ren is pretty scary himself, although the sequel trilogy wasted a good opportunity like Supreme Leader Snoke.

This is where the prequel movies shine! Each movie has at least one, if not two new mysterious villains working for the Dark Side. They’re all completely different from one another, but each belongs in the annals of great Star Wars villains.

Darth Maul’s terrifying face and lack of lines is absolutely iconic, so much so that they brought him back to life to continue his story in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Then you have Count Dooku, played by the incomparable Christopher Lee. He’s a former Jedi who’s turned to the Dark Side who used to be trained by Yoda! How cool is that? Then they up the ante one more time with a creepy spider-like cyborg who can wield four lightsabers at a time! All of these villains in one trilogy? Sign me up!

7. Jar Jar is Fun!

Enough with the Jar Jar hate. Miss me with all that. Do you know how horribly received C-3PO and R2-D2 were when the original trilogy premiered in theaters? Star Wars has always had helpless sidekicks that mainly serve as comedic relief. So Jar Jar speaks gibberish. So he never has any idea what’s going on. So what? He’s funny, and sweet, and quite endearing.

Ahmed Best brings Jar Jar to life with a comedic physicality that is nothing short of genius, and the CGI they use for the character is ahead of its time. It’s revolutionary, whether you like it or not. Also, Jar Jar is not as useless as you might think. He negotiates with the Gungan’s and helps lead a very important attack on the droid army in Episode I, and eventually ends up a prominent member of the Senate. He’s even responsible for Palpatine being granted emergency powers, which isn’t a good thing, but it makes him an important part of the overall story.

I’m done pretending that Jar Jar is lame. He’s weird and offputting, and that’s exactly what I love about him.