15 More Dumb Movies Which Are Secretly Smart

The Star Wars prequels, though seriously flawed and uneven, are smarter movies than they're often given credit for. 

First off, on the surface, the story of the fall of Anakin Skywalker, the destruction of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire is a very rich and thought-provoking one filled with powerful twists and turns. 

Most notably, Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiamird) big plan was some Game of Thrones-level political maneuvering awesomeness. There were a ton of plot holes, sure, but this trilogy has a more complex and ambitious storyline than either of the other two Star Wars trilogies.

Furthermore, there's plenty going on beneath the surface too. The entire trilogy is cleverly designed as a mirror of the original trilogy, with many scenes being designed as visual and thematic callbacks and inversions of scenes from the original films. For example, much like his future son, Anakin Skywalker blows up a big mothership at the end of the first chapter and loses his hand to a Sith at the end of the second. 

George Lucas also filled the movies with symbolism and layered thematic details. He was inspired to make the planet where the clone troopers are born a water-based planet, since water is the source of life, and it is very significant that the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan takes place on a planet filled with lava. As Lucas puts it, Anakin has made a deal with the devil and his climactic defeat takes place in a planet designed to resemble hell.