Originally Posted by
Poisoned Youth
I think it's entirely plausible to be a fan of the franchise, be a fan of the film, be a 'kid again', suspend disbelief, and yet still be critical at the same time. In fact, I give more credence to opinions and discussion on PE that show a person's ability to be both positive and critical.
Ultimately this is my take as well. I was 7 when Star Wars was released and it was a defining moment in my life, and eventually my career. I can't help but be personally "invested".
Looking back on the original trilogy, while it was "serious filmmaking" for its time, they were never serious films. There were always silly moments, and many times when you really have to ignore what would normally be common sense. But the movies were fun and imaginative.
And honestly, I was always (and still am) a closet prequels fan. And as fun and imaginative as they were (but much more silly), they had a few serious flaws that can't be ignored, like some god awful dialog and delivery, that really detract from the experience. But while others focus on Jar Jar, pod racing, midichlorians and Padakin, for ME the most poorly executed aspect of the prequel trilogy was the single most important story element - Anakin's character arc and descent to the dark side.
The sequel trilogy, in the end, is more nostalgia than anything else. It feels like an obligation for fans that grew up as kids knowing that Lucas envisioned 9 films. While TFA is certainly a "fun" film that feels like a worthy follow up to RotJ, there's no ignoring that the story is super familiar - not only because they essentially re-wrote A New Hope, but because even the non-parallel elements seems safe and familiar. But it works.
In regards to TLJ, I will stand by my criticism of the film. Changing the author of a story half way during the book is generally not going to generate great outcomes. Had it actually been something mind-blowing I'd have supported it. I like the film for the action sequences and the Snoke death scene.
As I mentioned earlier, RoS essentially makes most of the plot decisions in TLJ moot. You can remove much of the film without skipping a beat. RoS is "emotionally satisfying" I suppose. Sort of like TFA, it kinda "seems right". I think my biggest criticism of the film would be how the Jedi/Sith continue to be more OP. I felt the prequel trilogy did the best job of fleshing out the Jedi. TLJ and RoS took it to the Marvel level or even God-like. Beyond that, it seemed as if they couldn't really figure out what to do with most of the characters beyond Rey and Kylo - from the "main characters" to the Knight of Ren. KoR? What lamos! Granted, the mysticism regarding this group was mostly fan driven since TFA, but it was a missed opportunity imo.
Beyond that, I would say that Disney kept the ending VEERRRY safe, with the obvious intent of keeping options open to have any of these major and minor characters to appear in future SW content.
With all that said, I am still fairly optimistic that Disney will be more free now to re-shape the SW universe going forward, now that the Skywalker saga has ended (presumably).
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