I’ve gone on rants on this site about some flaws of ROTS, but every time I rewatch it, I get swept up in emotion and really enjoy it.
Man, I wish I had the same reaction. After I saw so many positive reactions to ROTS I wanted to give the movie another chance. But when I tried rewatching it like around 2 years ago, it just came off as hopelessly flawed. There were glimpses of chemistry between Anakin and Obi-Wan in the opening space battle scenes, but it was just way too little and way too late. The middle segment of the movie is a CGI circus featuring a cartoon cyborg riding a unicycle while a cartoon lizard chases him.
Anakin’s turn seemed paradoxically both too sudden and also predictable, because his entire arc was mostly incoherent and spastic. He already slaughtered an entire village in the previous movie, then reverted back to “good guy hero” mode, then immediately agreed to mass-murder children like an hour after we saw him having a fun adventure with Obi-Wan. The Order 66 scenes have some dramatic weight, but just barely. The ending lightsaber duel is mostly meaningless spectacle until the very last scene, when Ewan McGregor breaks down in tears, which I admit does manage to bring out a bit of emotion in me… but again, it’s just way too little and way too late.
I’ve tried to enjoy this movie, and I’ve always been jealous of those who do, because I’ve always wanted an Anakin Skywalker movie I could enjoy. On paper, it’s such a compelling story. The real “Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker” is that his story was never properly told.