Star Wars: Every movie in the Skywalker Saga, ranked from worst to best

9. Episode II: Attack of the Clones

The Star Wars prequel trilogy had a lot of world-building potential, but it mostly fell short when it came to execution. The prequel films get a bad rap, and understandably so, but Attack of the Clones is arguably the worst of the trio. This film doesn’t just suffer from the poor quality the prequel films were cursed with, but it also shows some serious signs of middle-movie syndrome.

Although Attack of the Clones puts all the pieces in place in preparation for Revenge of the Sith, it’s hard to feel like many of the action sequences and chase scenes matter in the grand scheme of things. And even if you enjoyed those components of the film, much of it gets lost in the blossoming love story between Anakin and Padme — a necessary part of the movie that, unfortunately, was just too cringy to enjoy. (They’re corny throughout the trilogy, but especially during the second film.)

There’s also the Count Dooku storyline, which is interesting but certainly could have used a bit more exploration. A former Jedi choosing the Dark Side makes for an fascinating villain, but Dooku spends most of the movie standing on the sidelines while his cronies do his dirty work for him (though he almost makes up for it with the lightsaber battle at the end).

Despite being our least favorite of the Star Wars films, Attack of the Clones does have its strong points. Finally seeing Master Yoda in action is a highlight of the movie, as is the frequent banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin (which only makes the final installment hurt even more).