9 Smart Movies That Tricked Us Into Rooting For The Bad Guys

7. Everybody Loves Vader - Anakin Skywalker In Star Wars Prequels

Lucasfilm

Darth Vader, with his deep voice and obsessively cool mask was a key part of Star Wars' success, so as the trilogy developed it pushed him further into the limelight, eventually giving him a redemption (the eternal sign that the villain is so popular his adoration has to be justified).

So it wasn't really the prequels that had us loving Vader. Rather, they took a character people liked and made him the hero; we had absolutely no choice. When the prospect of sequels was as viable as filling out the missing early episodes it was pretty smart to stick with Anakin's story.

Although that'€™s one thing Lucas was always good at when making new films; listening to what the fans wanted. He cut out Jar Jar, made Anakin a little less whiny in Episode II, replaced politics with action and made Anakin a little less whiny still in Episode III, all good improvements. Shame he didn't listen to fans about the special editions.

You could say that we were rooting for Palpatine all along just so we could get out of the political quagmire, but that seems a little too cynical for my liking.

Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.