In Defense of Star Wars

With the release of The Book of Boba Fett, the new Star Wars series on Disney+, I thought it might be a good time to revisit the saga and point out why it’s not as bad as audiences seem to think. Star Wars fans are referred to as the people who hate Star Wars the most. Some fans will refer to others as “fake fans” if they enjoy anything outside of the original trilogy, some if you haven’t consumed every available piece of Star Wars media. As a result, I believe these movies get over-scrutinized and are rarely enjoyed for what they should be.

The Original Trilogy

A New Hope – 95/100 | The Empire Strikes Back – 100/100 | Return of the Jedi – 91/100

The original trilogy is widely regarded as one of the greatest trilogies of all time, in terms of story, filmmaking, and cultural impact. While the effects mark the era that they come from, these movies stand the test of time. A New Hope introduces us to the base story and delivers key world-building as it introduces us to it’s galaxy. We meet characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, a character with limited screen time but a large impact, and Darth Vader, perhaps the most menacing and iconic villain to appear on screen. To this day, it contains one of the most iconic scenes in film as Luke watches the twin sunset.

The Empire Strikes Back is a masterpiece. It shows that a war extends beyond the destruction of an enemy base, that the Empire is a greater threat than just the Death Star. The sequence on Hoth, the ice planet, is a fantastic opening, showing that the Rebels have been pushed into hiding, Han’s internal conflict, and the subtle development of Luke’s Jedi abilities. Then, the Dagobah training introduces us to Yoda and continues the development of Luke as a character and Force-user. To close it out, the Cloud City portion demonstrates the stakes with Han’s imprisonment in carbonite and delivers the greatest twist ever in a movie with the reveal that Vader is Luke’s father. The final shot, our hero’s staring out into the expanse of space, is a beautiful moment that tees up the next movie without the need for a final stinger or cliffhanger.

Finally, Return of the Jedi finishes the trilogy with a beautiful flourish. Jabba’s reentrance and the payoff of his threat against Han from A New Hope, followed by the fight over Sarlacc pit gives us greater insight into Luke’s off-screen growth and the type of action we can expect in this movie. This is where we see the supposed demise of Boba Fett, before his return in The Mandalorian.

Then, the new Death Star establishes the heavy stakes and delivers the same symbolic representation of the Empire that the original did. The threat of the Empire looms large in this movie, as the story makes Luke’s potential turn to the dark very believable. His return to Dagobah shows that as much as he has grown, he may not be strong enough to overcome this darkness. Yoda’s death leaves Luke to stand alone, with no mentor left to aid him. While the Endor sequence is divisive, I personally enjoy it. The Ewoks provide a bit of levity in this movie and Lucas finds a way to get a “car” chase sequence in with the speeder bikes on the forest moon. Finally, Luke’s affect on his father and Vader’s subsequent return to the light is a fantastic way to convey the downfall of the Empire. Additionally, I love the fact that Lando gets true redemption as he delivers the final blow to the new Death Star.

Although I wish that George Lucas hadn’t tried to fix was wasn’t broken, this trilogy remains the best of Star Wars to me, even if they are chock full of needless CGI and ridiculous edits.

The Prequel Trilogy

The Phantom Menace- 79/100 | Attack of the Clones- 82/100 | Revenge of the Sith- 98/100

The prequel trilogy holds a lot of nostalgia for me, as these are the Star Wars movies that introduced me to George Lucas’ world and the ones that I grew up with. As a result, I am partial to this trilogy, despite the fact that I know it’s not the best. The Phantom Menace, while flawed, introduces great new characters in Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. Maul doesn’t say a single word in this movie, but remains menacing as a skilled combatant. The Duel of the Fates fight between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Maul may be the second best lightsaber battle in Star Wars. It has has one of my favorite teaser posters, where a young Anakin casts the shadow of Vader.

Attack of the Clones is a step up from Phantom Menace, but still a weak addition to the prequels. While the Clone Wars show tackles the politics of the galaxy better, this movie holds it’s own as a sort political thriller. Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor come into their roles as Padme Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi, respectively. Hayden Christensen delivers the performance that I believe was asked of him – the awkward, uncomfortable teen that doesn’t know how to express emotion. It’s important to remember that this is a set up to his turn to the Sith and he shouldn’t be particularly likeable. Still, the writing in this movie is abysmal and the return of Jar-Jar Binks as not only a side character, but the agent for Palpatine’s rise to power is painfully frustrating. Similarly, the acceptance of the Clone army by the Jedi Counsel is an equally dumb decision that shouldn’t have happened. Parts of this movie are still enjoyable though. The gladiator fighting, Christopher Lee’s performance as Count Dooku, and the entrance of the Clones and the swarm of the Jedi army, followed by the subsequent battle are all saving graces for an otherwise milquetoast movie.

The prequel trilogy ends on a very high note with Revenge of the Sith, a movie that has cracked my top ten movies of all time. The relationships that make up Anakin Skywalker culminate in a way that pushes him right into the clutches of Palpatine. Obi-Wan, his mentor, brother-in-arms, and father figure, is removed from the equation as he goes to find General Grievous. His tense standing with Mace Windu explodes in a heated argument over rank and respect. On the side, Palpatine continues to manipulate him as he presents himself as the only person who trusts and encourages Anakin, while convincing him that Padme will die without Palpatine’s help. Anakin’s turn is further made believable as he still turns in Palpatine to the Jedi as the Sith Lord, despite these relationships, but only stops Mace Windu because of his fear for Padme’s life. The nail in the coffin is his aid in the execution of Order 66 and the slaughter of the Younglings.

Then, we get the greatest lightsaber battle with his duel against Obi-Wan on Mustafar, the lava planet. Brilliantly spliced with Yoda’s duel against Palpatine, this fight holds so much weight – brother against brother, mentor against student for the fate of the galaxy. The choreography is masterful, with nearly every step and swing wrought with purpose and danger. Then, Obi-Wan uses Anakin’s hubris against him, baiting him into attempting the same finishing move Kenobi used against Maul. McGregor delivers a heartfelt and sorrowful breakdown as he stands over a mangled and burning Anakin. Then Anakin’s transformation to Vader is completed when Palpatine essentially rebuilds him and informs him of Padme’s death.

While the prequel trilogy does not match the level of the original trilogy, these movies are a fun exploration of a time before the control of the Empire. Revenge of the Sith is masterful and delivers a meaningful end to Anakin Skywalker and a wrenching start to Darth Vader.

The Sequel Trilogy

The Force Awakens – 89/100 | The Last Jedi – 78/100 | The Rise of Skywalker – 66/100

While The Force Awakens was quite the cultural event, on par with the excitement of recent blockbusters such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers: Endgame, this trilogy was noticeably the weakest of the three. Many people consider The Force Awakens to be a copy-paste retelling of A New Hope. Such a classification is a gross devaluation of the movie as both its own story and what it meant in regards to culture. This is the first Star Wars movie fans saw that contained the cast of the original movie since 1983 – a 32 year gap.

The movie finds its own way, its own unique story beats. It takes Finn, a stormtrooper, and has him defect, then sets him up to be a Jedi – potentially the best character arc in Star Wars (if it had ever gotten a payoff). That was a fantastic story decision that I don’t remember seeing in A New Hope. Rey, in fairness was similar to Luke, but her fascination with the Resistance and her excited, impulsive demeanor were delivered excellently by Daisy Ridley. Seeing Harrison Ford as Han Solo was a huge moment for audiences, and his death at his own son’s hand was gut-wrenching. Kylo Ren being a former student and nephew of Luke Skywalker, just as unstable as his lightsaber blade and trying to live up to the wrong side of his grandfather’s legacy, was an interesting character that showed what Luke might have been had he fallen to the Dark Side. The idea of Starkiller Base being another Death Star is legit, but the scenes and action that took place on it hardly mirrored the trench run of the original.

Although I can understand the critiques of The Last Jedi, this movie gets far too much hate. I actually enjoy this movie and the way it takes Luke’s character, which I know is not a widely held opinion. Luke was entrusted to carry on the Jedi Order by himself, a huge weight to places on the shoulders of a man who had limited training in the Jedi ways and no resources or archives to turn to. Then, he senses the darkness in his nephew that he sensed in his father, and for a moment he ignites his lightsaber. He immediately recognizes that this path is not the way to go about it, but it is too late – Ben Solo sees his uncle standing over him with an ignited weapon. Luke loses everything – his nephew, his school, his students, and all the progress he had made rebuilding the Jedi order. Blaming himself he shuts himself off from the world and the Force – and his arc in the movie to reconnect with his faith and recognize that isolation is not the path for him either.

The surrounding plot is somewhat convoluted but does it’s best to create a ticking clock in a space movie with wizards that have laser swords. Physics can’t really apply in these movies to the same extent they would apply to a movie like The Martian, but it is a fair enough critique of the movie that I don’t blame anyone for having. The casino planet gets a little preachy but serves to represent the war profiteering that has been going on likely since the start of the Clone Wars. The choreography in the throne room battle is terrible and is was propelled my dislike of the Force dyad between Rey and Kylo Ren. However, I like that Kylo Ren’s killing of Supreme Leader Snoke didn’t end with him turning back to the light, but rather ended with him executing a sort of coup and seizing power. Admiral Holdo was an annoying character as much of the conflict in this movie could have been avoided if she had just told Poe Dameron the plan. Still, her decision is somewhat justified as Leia had just demoted him. On that note, Leia flying through space was goofy and the destruction of the main bridge was a lame way for Admiral Akbar to go. Finally, Luke Force-projecting himself across the galaxy and showing up Kylo Ren was awesome. It ended his arc with a satisfying return to his connection with the Force and a peaceful exit set to a beautiful sunset – paralleling the start of his journey as he watched the twin sunset on Tattoine.

Rise of Skywalker was remarkably disappointing. It wanted to be the capstone to the Skywalker saga, to be what Avengers: Endgame was to Star Wars so badly. In the end the story was ruined by excessive fan service and the poor use of many of the characters. Every moment tried to be worthy of the applause from fans on opening night but they all drowned each other out. The actual plot of the movie was problematic as well. Rey getting sent on a treasure hunt and lining up the knife with the exact right debris of the Death Star at the exact right perspective is a little to much for even me. Unfortunately the movie that everyone was given last left a bad taste in the mouth.

While this is the weakest trilogy in my opinion, the movies are still very enjoyable – even Rise of Skywalker – if you suspend your disbelief enough and are willing to zone out to some fun action.

More Star Wars Movies

Rouge One – 94/100 | Solo: A Star Wars Story – 72/100 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 69/10

Although not part of any trilogy, there are three Star Wars movies that are contained in the Skywalker Saga that help to fill in the gaps left by the others. Rouge One, which details how the Rebels got their hands on the plans to the Death Star, is phenomenal. The cinematography alone elevates this movie to the upper echelon of Star Wars, but the underlying story and the characters that help tell it are what really launch this movie for me. Felicity Jones delivers an excellent performance as Jyn Erso. Her demeanor really captures the “reluctantly dragged in” character, and the weight that she feels in terms of her parents is felt by the audience as she struggles with the loss of her father twice. Then, the final sequence in which the ensemble cast all dies during the onslaught of the Empirical base made me feel for characters I had only met two hours or so before. It is shot in such a beautiful way, especially the final shot where Jyn and Cassian Andor embrace as the base is destroyed by the Death Star. Vader also gets some great sequences that help to grasp just how dangerous he is.

I don’t believe every character needs an origin story, but Han Solo got one. Solo carries many of the same problems that Rise of Skywalker does – an exuberance of fan service accompanied by a lackluster plot. It has its moments and delivers a unique persepective of the character but is overall lost in itself, making it perhaps the most forgetful Star Wars movie to date.

Finally, we come to our first and only animated feature in Star Wars so far. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is nothing special. It gives some needed context for it’s television successor, but delivers nothing particularly exciting in its own right. While Rouge One is my only hard recommendation here, I think all are worth a watch at anytime to better understand the Skywalker Saga and the Star Wars universe as a whole.

Television Series

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – A | Star Wars: Rebels – A | The Mandalorian – A-

Star Wars television knocks it out of the park, which excites me for The Book of Boba Fett. The Clone Wars was the first of the TV shows, which aired on Cartoon Network when I was in grade school. It was abruptly cancelled but got a proper closure when Season 7 was released in spring of 2020 on Disney+. This series tackled it all, from the action of the Clone Wars themselves to the tense political arguments that would of course follow suit. Season 7 was a masterpiece of animation as it refined the unique style of the show’s earlier seasons into work of art. The series was a moving tribute to the established characters and introduced a fan favorite in Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s padawan.

Star Wars: Rebels was able to find its own footing as well as a cult following with its unique story and characters. While the show featured cameos from Clone Wars characters, it introduced an entirely new ensemble cast that developed into a found family spanning a diverse range of groups from Jedi to Twi’lek to Mandalorian and more. The story takes the time to flush out every character and connect you as a viewer to feel like you’re a part of this found family – making certain moments as moving to the viewer as they are to the characters.

Finally, we have the first of the live action television series in The Mandalorian, a Disney+ original that has quickly become a fan favorite due to Grogu, dubbed Baby Yoda by fans, and his relationship with Din Djarin, the Mandalorian charged with protecting him. While parts of this show can sometimes feel like video game side missions, the series is captivating and gives fans a look at the galaxy after the fall of the Empire. While season three isn’t due until late next year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a cameo from The Mandalorian himself in The Book of Boba Fett, as their paths have become somewhat intertwined due to events in the last season.

Wrapping It Up

So that’s my case for Star Wars, the defense rests. While the franchise gets a lot of hate, I believe very little is deserved. The movies and shows are fun and offer an escape from the normality of our world. and I can’t wait for more to come in the future. I hope you feel the same if you’re a Star Wars fan, and if you’re not – Come to the Dark Side, its pretty cool and stuff.

May the Force be with you. – Multiple Jedi and other characters

#Prequels #Sequels #SkywalkerSaga #StarWars