6. 'Little' Annie
Talk to most prequel haters and it wont be long before the topic of Anakins age being all wrong will come up. I couldn't disagree more. Lucas opted for as young as possible so that we see Anakin at the earliest point that would make it interesting. This prevents conjecture over his upbringing and past. We meet this kid at the right age to prevent further mystery (beyond his immaculate birth but of course that comes up in Revenge of the Sith anyway) and despite some iffy acting from young Jake Lloyd we see that Anakins journey was reflected in Lukes journey. Because of that, we begin to see why Obi-Wan and Yoda probably had a whole lot of fears when it came to the son of Skywalker, given his similarities to his father. Skipping back to young Anakin, I dont get the angle that fans wanted some teenager hot head bad ass on their screens, showing a young Vader as a tyrant ready to turn to the dark side. Why the hell would the Jedi even take a kid like this on and if they did why wouldn't they have taken him out long before he had the chance to turn to the dark side, right? The angle Lucas took is far more heart breaking and a whole lot more in tune with what was going on in the Original Trilogy. Anakins fall is as much to do with the Jedi as it is his own terrible choices. In Episode I, the Jedi are already keeping this boy at arms length. Theyre not welcoming or understanding or even willing to find a home for him. Its really only Qui-Gon who is giving us a view of what the Jedi should be like towards a child of considerable power and Qui-Gons death is very much a catalyst towards the fall of Anakin Skywalker and in many ways gives Anakin a father figure he can never bring back.