They took Star Wars IP, but they still haven't topped the original 3 Lucas films (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi). Ep 8 was more or less using A New Hope as a template; Ep 9 almost ruined the flick w/ a pointlessly grumpy Luke (seemed so out of character for him and their explanation/reason was predictable, foolish, and did not go deep enough); Solo and Rogue One also still weren't close to the level of the original 3 Lucas flicks.
I actually liked the Solo movie a lot more than most people seem to have and Rogue One was quite enjoyable. I agree that the main series sequels were nothing special and what they did with Luke was absolute garbage. I'll admit though, that growing up with the originals definitely makes it harder to love anything since. I can at least understand folks that were born around/after the Prequels came out liking the new movies better than I do. Although they could make one hundred Star Wars movies and not top The Empire Strikes Back.
Rogue One and Solo were both better than episode 7 and episode 8. Episode 7 was alright, but episode 8 is down there with #2. It just wasnt a very good movie.
TLJ is a baffling misfire. It disregards the character development of previous entries under the guise of subverting expectations, but the movie just ends up aping the best parts of Empire and Jedi while going in a circle. I am a big fan of Rian Johnson's other works, but he really shit the bed with the TLJ script and apparently nobody told him so (other than Mark Hamill whom was told to zip it and just do his job). At the end of TLJ there is no hook or interesting plotline to lead into the next one, other than Kylo being an unhinged lunatic and now Supreme Leader. RedLetterMedia said it best, that the end of TLJ feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. "The heroes survive to live another day."
I really enjoyed TFA when it came out but in retrospect can see how its setup with the First Order and Resistance (rehash of Empire vs. Rebellion) was fairly uninspired. So, I can appreciate that Rian Johnson wanted to shake the saga out of what he found to be limiting, but he failed terribly and lost himself in a quest to unmake SW. TFA was a great reintroduction to the SW galaxy and did a wonderful job setting up the new characters. It's a shame TLJ just completely wasted that opportunity. It turned Luke Skywalker into a coward who did something out of character, with little to no justification, then ran away from his friends and responsibility. Hermit Luke was a great idea - in TFA Han suggests that "those who knew him best thought he went searching for the first Jedi Temple." That line implied Luke was looking for answers, still having a sense of purpose - nope, nevermind. He's just an asshole with a death wish.
Even so, Finn probably got the worst deal in TLJ. During TFA he goes from a wide-eyed rube who's crushing on Rey, but still has his heart in the right place, to a guy who finds a purpose and a family in the Resistance. Nope, nevermind, Finn wakes up in TLJ and wants to desert everyone so that Rey isn't there when they get blown up. All it would have taken is a single dialogue change ("I'm going to find Rey and help her bring Skywalker back here to save us") to rectify this. But hey, in the final battle he might get to do something heroic by sacrificing himself to save his new friends - nope, nevermind.
Rey finds a father figure in Han during TFA. She sees Kylo murder him in cold blood. By the middle of TLJ, just days after the previous events, she suddenly thinks Kylo isn't such a bad guy and can be turned back. But hey, she might actually team up with him as neither Jedi nor Sith, just two force users who are rejecting the shackles of the past - nope, nevermind. Rey doesn't like Kylo much anymore.
It's a running theme with TLJ that the broader ideas are interesting (to show Kylo and Rey both isolated from people they want to teach them) but the execution is horrible. Johnson teeters on the edge of actually doing something bold then pulls back each time. Plus it's all wrapped up in the most boring chase/standoff imaginable.
TLJ reenactment:
Rogue One is fine - the first two thirds are a slog and the character development is pretty thin, but the climax is exciting. Fan service or not, that Vader scene is fantastic.
Solo was better than it had a right to be. At its worst the movie is an unnecessary checklist of explaining things that don't need explaining (this is why Han calls Chewbacca Chewie! This is why his name is Solo!), but it's still a fun romp and benefits from being a smaller scale story that doesn't revolve directly around giant superweapons.
Rankings:
- Empire - it's easily the best
- Jedi - my personal favorite; while it could have been better, it has the [customspoiler=highest highs][/customspoiler]
- A New Hope
- The Force Awakens
- Rogue One
- Solo
- The Phantom Menace - despite the flaws and goofiness, it feels more consistent than the other two prequels
- Revenge of the Sith - most entertaining prequel but some really bad writing
- The Last Jedi - close call, but I'll give TLJ the edge for being well-acted, well-shot, and generally well-made
- Attack of the Clones
Shout-outs to An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
Nothing will reach the greatness of the OT, which is why those movies will be remade (or re-imagined, with some different character and plot arcs) within the next 10-15 years.
I wouldn't be surprised if JJ's Episode IX sets up some kind of Force echo parallel universe thing a la his Star Trek reboot. That way the stage is set for a future reboot of the OT without actually changing/wiping it from the Official
™ Star Wars
™ canon
™.
(How's that for a MysterD style wall of text?
)
