For me it's obi wan totally not remembering R2D2/C3PO at all in TNH. I mean common!!
shareIn ROTJ when Luke tells Leia that they are brother and sister, she replies, "I know... Somehow, I've always known." It certainly casts a new light on ESB when she gave him that sloppy wet smooch.
shareThe inconsistency that bothers me the most is that Force powers are completely forgotten about or not considered during times when they would be extremely useful.
Too many examples to list, but the one that always comes to mind is the super speed that Qui Gon and Obi Wan show at the beginning of Episode 1. Then later during the duel of the fates, Obi Wan can't make it through the energy fields, because he runs so slow.
Times when they could have jumped, levitated, thrown heavy objects, etc... Like they completely forgot they could do those things.
Rise of Skywalker, everybody's sinking in quicksand. "How will we ever get out!? If only one of us had telekinesis!"
shareThen they're trying to climb the hill/cliff to the abandoned ship to escape. "If only one of us could hurl heavy objects to heights and use the force to throw us up there!"
share"Oh, no, the sea's too rough for boats; how will we get across!?"
I think it doesn't help that they kinda get stronger in each movie.
Star Wars: it can trick Average Joe types with a hand wave, gives you vague and troubling premonitions, and let's you "sense" how to attack.
Empire Strikes Back: with *deep* concentration, you can move objects. *Really* powerful Jedi can lift big things (Yoda, the x-wing, Vader those large pieces of equipment), but always with deep concentration. You can see vague visions of the future.
Return of the Jedi: LIGHTNING BOLTS, YOU GUYS!
Phantom Menace: Oh, what powers do you want? Hyper-leaping, super-speed, twirly fighting, loads of mind control and levitation, ESP stuff: whatever...
And so on until...
Rise of Skywalker: healing people, planetary EMP thunderstorms...
It certainly would have been different if the Force was kept as sort of an augmentation to natural talent (Luke leaping out of the freezing chamber or doing somersaults through the swamp with Yoda on his back) or if it required deep concentration (Yoda lifting the X-Wing). That changes the dynamic a lot.
However, I wouldn't have a problem with the escalating powers if there were consistency with when and how they were used.
The prequels date back to a time when Jedi had studied and trained in the Force for millennia, so it would make sense that they had greater abilities than Luke trying to figure it out or Vader in his twilight years. But don't show me the ability to "Force wave" large groups of droids, but then "Oh no, destroyers. They have shields. How will we ever succeed? It's a stand off!"
The Emperor revealing a previously unseen power of Force lightning shows a level of mastery that demonstrates his power as the final boss, so to speak, so I'm okay with that too.
But at the risk of beating a dead horse, don't show that the ability exists, then completely forget about it when it could be useful solely to generate suspense or drive the plot.
I'm okay with it in the original movies because there's sort of a logic there. As you say, what they are capable of makes sense. They also don't (to my recollection...) bust anything out in one situation that wouldn't have made another problem go away. Vader choking people is the closest thing, but Vader's never trying to actually kill people most of the time, is he? He wants Han and Luke alive in Empire. We can also suspect that he needs focus and needs to be close in order to do it (ie: he can't choke out Rebel pilots in the trench). Palpatine's lightning could have been a taser or some medieval torture device: same end. There might be a counter I'm not remembering...
Once we hit the prequels, though, it's obvious that, not unlike R2-D2, they've turned it into a get out of jail free card for difficult situations that the writer can't be bothered to figure out conventionally. Phantom Menace rocks out hard out of the gate with super-speed that Obi-Wan does not bother to use so that the plot master can get the outcome he wants for the final fight. (Look how spoiler-free that sentence is!) Prequels is also where R2 goes from "can talk to computers" to "plot solving Swiss Army sonic screwdriver".