First, let me say that I am excited. I have yet to see or hear anyone say a bad thing about ROTS. People are excited about Star Wars again, in a big way...I dare say people haven't been this excited since 1977
Now, I've seen a lot of people saying that Ian stole the show in RotS.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Ian was absolutely brilliant in Revenge of the Sith, but did he really steal the show?
Well, yeah, kind of? But was it the best performance in the movie?
I say no.
See, I knew after watching Ian's performance in ROTJ that the dude knew how to act. I knew that ROTS would showcase that in a big way.
The problem I have is, he's getting ALL the credit here, when one actor in particular really, REALLY blew me away.
Hayden.
Now, I thought he did an excellent job in AOTC. A lot of people didn't like his performance, but then again, maybe most don't realize that what we see as him being rigid and whiny is not Hayden, but ANAKIN.
I knew that ROTS was an opportunity for Hayden to show all the nay-sayers that he is for real. And boy did he deliver.
In RotS, Hayden had a much more complex character then Ian, and he runs through every emotion in the book in this little flick, and he does so believably. Honestly, every step of the way I found myself identifying with Anakin and his feelings and decisions. His performance was so believable that I was totally into the story, so much so that I didn't even blink at Padme "losing the will to live". Hayden's performance was so powerful to me I suspended all disbelief.
Isn't that the true hallmark of a brilliant performance?
And, one last note, in the end I found myself thinking that I could very easily have made the very same choices were I in his position. Scary, but it was just that powerful.
So, of course, give Ian accolades, I really think his performance was excellent. I hope he does get an Oscar. But, I hope that they recognize Hayden as well, for he undoubtedly deserves it.

Hayden, very well done. Bravo.