The first two movies are fucking incredible. A+ implementations of the creators’ favorite ideas, blended into something distinct and novel enough to support fifty years of screwing around in the same universe. It barely matters that the third movie was already so-so. The original trilogy, as a whole, is still genuinely fantastic and deserving of its reputation.
The most recent trilogy is a hot mess. That’s not just old farts scoffing at Kids These Days™ or modern audiences rejecting a vintage genre. They are broken products. 7 is shallow fanfiction, 8 is an anarchist deconstruction until it careens back toward the status quo, and 9 is a plot faucet recounted by a toddler. I am an ardent defender of The Last Jedi being the best of the three, with some amazing ideas that visually convey its thesis, and I still admit it’s a flop.
Rogue One is excellent despite having no reason to exist. Solo is conceptually dumb as hell for trying to explain away the magic of the first movie, but it does function.
The prequel trilogy is the only thing this post could apply to. If you were a kid and enjoyed them - great. But a lot of kids didn’t. They’re a weird pulpy mess that tries redeeming some racist caricatures as alien mannerisms. They’re directed by a fat old man surrounded by yes-men. And they’re ultimately about the coolest bad guy ever growing up as a whiny child and then a whiny teenager.
The first two movies are fucking incredible. A+ implementations of the creators’ favorite ideas, blended into something distinct and novel enough to support fifty years of screwing around in the same universe. It barely matters that the third movie was already so-so. The original trilogy, as a whole, is still genuinely fantastic and deserving of its reputation.
The most recent trilogy is a hot mess. That’s not just old farts scoffing at Kids These Days™ or modern audiences rejecting a vintage genre. They are broken products. 7 is shallow fanfiction, 8 is an anarchist deconstruction until it careens back toward the status quo, and 9 is a plot faucet recounted by a toddler. I am an ardent defender of The Last Jedi being the best of the three, with some amazing ideas that visually convey its thesis, and I still admit it’s a flop.
Rogue One is excellent despite having no reason to exist. Solo is conceptually dumb as hell for trying to explain away the magic of the first movie, but it does function.
The prequel trilogy is the only thing this post could apply to. If you were a kid and enjoyed them - great. But a lot of kids didn’t. They’re a weird pulpy mess that tries redeeming some racist caricatures as alien mannerisms. They’re directed by a fat old man surrounded by yes-men. And they’re ultimately about the coolest bad guy ever growing up as a whiny child and then a whiny teenager.