Will People Eventually Like the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy?
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Oct. 29, 2023, 3:45 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
When the Star Wars prequels were first released, many fans of the original trilogy disliked them, criticizing various aspects of those movies and believing that they could not compare to the legacy of the original trilogy (forgetting that the original trilogy certainly had flaws, as well).
However, in the years that have passed since the prequels were released, some fans have grown to appreciate them, acknowledging that they do have some redeeming qualities, so I wonder if fans shall eventually change their minds about the sequels, given that a significant number of fans, or, at least, some very vocal fans, have expressed dislike of those movies.
I have no doubt that some viewers shall eventually like the sequels, but I do not believe that I shall be one of those people, since The Force Awakens was too similar to A New Hope and both The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker went in drastically different directions in terms of storytelling. The prequels, for all their flaws, at least had a unified vision for the story they were telling, but the sequels clearly did not have much, if any, advance planning.
What does everyone else say about this? Will people eventually like the Star Wars Sequels?
Only time will tell for sure, though my gut says they will not age as well as the prequels did.
The prequel trilogy has a major factors going to it.
First, they tell a single narrative. Events occurring in the films are sometimes dumb and often could have been better written, but every single element plays a part in the greater story. If you watch them again, every seen establishes something that will be important later, either in terms of the plot or the character development.
This cannot be said about the sequel trilogy. Take the second movie, for example. A large chunk of the movie is spent looking for some character who literally has no outcome on the plot. The story could have progressed to exactly the same conclusion if del Toro’s character was never introduced. Similar other flaws permeate the sequel trilogy, resulting in films which feel like a narrative mess.
This is particularly true because you can feel the distinct visions due to director changes. The Last Jedi simply discards things (like Snoke) it did not like about Force Awakens… and Rise of Skywalker simply discards through exposition a lot of things in The Last Jedi (like Rey’s ancestry).
Second, the prequel trilogy is not well written - some of the dialogue in particular is painful. But it has something powerful going for it - it is campy. You can get away with a lot more in a campy film than you can in something which takes itself seriously - bad dialogue, for example, takes on a certain degree of charm when it is in something we are not taking seriously. The viewer is capable of both saying “okay, so this is pretty bad, but I had fun regardless!”
The sequel trilogy is poorly written as well - but it is poorly written in a way which takes itself way too seriously. This compounds the bad - the viewer is being told “take this movie seriously” and thus is being told “please do not laugh at our bad script and thus find some other avenue for enjoyment.”
Next, the prequel trilogy has aged pretty well due to real world changes. The story of demagoguery corrupting once proud institutions and individuals is far more relevant in 2023 than it ever was when the prequel trilogy was released.
The sequel trilogy does not have a single message. It jumps around with “bad guys are bad” messages without saying anything more. That is not a bad thing per se, but it does mean the movie will not find any new meaning as time progresses - it will always say the same jumbled, cliche things it always has.
All told, between having a more focused plot, being more “fun” to watch, and having a plot which aged like fine wine, the prequel trilogy had a lot going for it which allowed it to find some love it initially lacked. The sequel trilogy is missing a lot of those elements, and thus will have a harder time finding its niche.
October 30, 2023 2:37 p.m.
Crow_Umbra says... #4
I think Caerwyn is pretty spot on with their analysis, but I wanted to add a few more points, that I think are helpful to consider:
The addition of animated series like The Clone Wars and Rebels also helped to add further depth to the Prequels, and bridged the narrative with the original trilogy. I think it also helps that many that grew up with the Prequel trilogies, likely also grew up with the animated Clone Wars and Rebels as they debuted.
I also think that the proliferation of meme content across the internet over the last decade also contributed to the resurgence of the Prequel trilogy's popularity. To Caerwyn's point about the campiness of the Prequel Trilogy's dialogue, much of the meme content focuses on specific lines (Obi-Wan's "Hello there"/Grievous' "General Kenobi" in Ep 3 for example). Hell, the Prequel Trilogy has an entire reddit sub just for meme content. Fans being able to appreciate the campiness via memes could have contributed to people re-examining the Prequel Trilogy more fondly.
Time will tell if kids that grew up with the Sequel trilogies will give them a similar treatment in terms of "rehab via memes".
October 30, 2023 2:59 p.m. Edited.
Dangerwillrobinson79 says... #5
I love Star Wars. The simple joy of new content got me to the theater to see the prequels and again for the sequels. I watched them again when I got Disney+. The prequels are fun and every 8 years or so I need to marathon them. I enjoyed the first sequel. They don’t have much rewatchability after that.
A few key points in no apparent order. 1. Weird Al didn’t make a song for the sequels and that says something. 2. I could watch Rogue One 4 times a year for the rest of my life. 3. Solo was solid. 4. Dr. Sattler from Jurassic Park made that particular sequel unwatchable for me. I just hated her character! She was good in JP tho. 5. There didn’t need to be 3 movies. They meandered pointlessly for far too long… 6. Great thread! 7. BB-8 accounted for 47% of what I liked about the sequels. 9. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!
November 2, 2023 11:52 p.m.
Whenever I have rewatched the prequels, I have always thought that the director could have benefitted by using some of the subtle newer-age tricks to make us, as viewers, understand that Anakin was being swayed by subtle mind-warping Sith tutelage. You know things like a little whisper-echo effect or little zoomed in facial twitches, dilated pupils, etc... So that instead of feeling like Anakin's responses were so far-fetched & corny, you instead could understand better that he was being corrupted by an unseen Force. But, I also think that old-established directors won't necessarily look to their inferiors to learn new tricks either :)
But, whatever, I'm more of a Trek guy. That being said, the outer rim in Star Wars always intrigues me. I'm more of a frontier guy. So more exploration of unknown instead of struggles between greater known forces
Daveslab2022 says... #2
I enjoyed them personally. Sure they weren’t perfect, but what is?
October 29, 2023 7:42 p.m.