Here's how I see it:
-An Unexpected Journey vs The Phantom Menace: Both films had major flaws, but The Phantom Menace had more going for it imo. It introduced us to a pre Empire state in the galaxy with the Republic. We get to see Obi Wan as an apprentice and to me, I actually liked his relationship with Qui Gon. We had some very cool lightsaber battles, and while the CG wasn't what it could be now, it was still very good for the time the movie came out. Of course, there is the glaring negative that is Jar Jar Binks, and I think the film would have been MUCH better without him, but he's countered by the infinitely bada** Darth Maul, I'm glad they brought him back in the Clone Wars.
An Unexpected Journey bored me to tears however. It took nearly 45 minutes for them to go on said journey, in which I had to deal with dwarves being comic relief and singing and dancing and belching, cause ha ha, ten year old humor is funny! And then, when they actually go on the journey, the whole thing is one big filler. We get comic relief trolls, comic relief goblins, comic relief Gollum, etc, etc. The only thing in the movie I actually like was Bilbo, Martin Freeman did a fantastic job portraying him.
Winner: The Phantom Menace.
-The Desolation of Smaug vs Attack of the Clones: This is pretty much the opposite in my regards from the first two films. Smaug was my favorite of the Hobbit trilogy and Attack of the Clones is the worst prequel. We get horribly corny dialogue for the entire film, the Anakin/Padme romance is one of the most wooden, boring and bland romances I've ever seen in a film, and the ending fights in the gladiator arena and lightsaber battles were kinda lame. They also tried to show Anakin's darker side with him avenging his mother, but Hayden's wooden acting didn't convey the emotion I wanted.
DoS however was a perfect blend of action and storytelling. It kept me entertained (at least way more than the first film) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug was awesomesauce. While I do hate the romance between handsome dwarf and that elf chick, I can ignore it..for the most part. And the ending actually had me really excited to see the next installment.
Winner: The Desolation of Smaug.
-Battle of the Five Armies vs Revenge of the Sith: This one's pretty straightfoward. Revenge of the Sith is not only the best of the prequels, but I actually like it more than Return of the Jedi. Hayden's acting has improved, though we still have Lucas' bad dialogue and his need to make characters say what they feel instead of emoting it. I actually like Anakin's transition to the Dark Side and seeing Darth Vader act and fight before he got in the suit. We got a surprisingly cool Yoda fight, could finally see the Wookie homeworld, had a great score with the Duel of Fates and had an epic (though highly choreographed) battle between Obi Wan and Vader. The movie was pretty darn good all things considered.
Battle of the Five Armies was just...blah. They killed Smaug, the character important enough to get his name in the second film's title with 15 mins, and from there it was just one boring, cartoonish battle after another. I'm all for fights, but this was just one long, boring fight with fodder orcs fighting fodder elves fighting fodder dwarves. I didn't care who lived or died because none of them were important, unlike the original trilogy. Then it ends with a bunch of in your face hints that the original Trilogy is coming and that's it. Utterly forgettable.
Winner: Revenge of the Sith.
So, all in all, Star Wars Prequels>>Hobbit Trilogy.
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