Star Wars: A Sequel Trilogy Retrospective

Beware of spoilers for all 3 films…

22nd May 2020

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…

It seemed like Disney had a masterplan for their highly anticipated sequel trilogy for Star Wars; as it turns out, that wasn’t really the case. There have been tonnes of differing views on the series since it’s 2015 revival and now that the concluding chapter, The Rise of Skywalker, is finally available, I figured I’d share my views, from a critical standpoint and as a Star Wars fan. 

For a bit of background, I’ve been a Star Wars fan since the age of four, when my uncle took me to see The Phantom Menace in 1999. It was my first cinema experience of a non-animated feature and I was immediately entranced by the world it presented, falling in love with the climactic lightsaber fight and Darth Maul as a cool villain. Since then, I’ve seen every new theatrical release as soon as possible and, with the introduction of Disney Plus, I’ve finally caught up with the fantastic Clone Wars series. Now I feel like I love this universe even more. 

Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Back in 2012, Disney purchased the franchise from creator George Lucas and quickly announced a new sequel trilogy taking place after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The news had many fans excited but others were cautious, a stance that would remain a running theme with the impending release of each instalment. Personally, I was looking forward to seeing how the saga would continue, especially with the might of Disney behind it, and I still have vivid memories of the excitement my friends and I experienced before a midnight IMAX showing of The Force Awakens.  

Strange as it sounds to say now, I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Force Awakens initially and felt quite underwhelmed by the whole experience. In hindsight, I probably set my expectations far too high given the hype surrounding the release and the epic trailers that made the film seem like the best thing since tauntaun sleeping bags. However, I’ve now seen The Force Awakens on the big screen no less than 6 times, the most of any movie I’ve seen, ever, and it’s a record I’m unlikely to top.

It’s a movie that still holds a mixed opinion amongst Star Wars fans. Many fans and critics thought the movie was just retreading familiar ground with too many moments that felt like outright copies of A New Hope. Others felt like it did enough to stand out on its own, recapturing the swashbuckling adventure of the original trilogy, while adding a little nostalgia to the package for good measure. I fall in firmly with the latter camp. Whilst the final battle feels extremely similar to the iconic assault on the Death Star and there are familiar beats with certain characters and situations, this is a film that more than succeeds on its own merit and it’s a great beginning to a promising trilogy. 

After this first instalment, I was looking forward to seeing how the new characters developed given the intrigue and mystery surrounding the origin of Rey, her lineage and the unexplained and surprising strength of her force abilities. The twist to Kylo Ren’s character was also an interesting development. From the trailers, he appeared to be nothing more than a Darth Vader clone and the beginning of the film did little to dispel that characterisation. He later betrays this demeanour when things don’t go his way, showing his youth and lack of experience through a series of explosive temper tantrums. The big reveal that he’s the son of Han and Leia adds to his inner conflict.

Episode VIII: The Last Jedi 

In 2017, the next instalment in the trilogy, The Last Jedi, arrived amid a storm of controversy and it’s a movie that you still can’t mention without people voicing strong opinions - it’s an incredibly divisive movie. Some claim it’s the worst Star Wars movie ever made while others hold it in high esteem as one of the best entries in the saga. This was another release where I made sure to have tickets for the midnight showing, and just like with The Force Awakens, I wasn’t a big fan at first. Whilst I had lowered my expectations to avoid disappointment, the film didn’t match my preconceived idea of what a Star Wars movie, in the middle of a trilogy, should be. This upset me at the time but after subsequent viewings, I’ve come to realise just how genius and risky that move was, turning the formula on its head for the better. 

Don’t get me wrong, the movie definitely has its issues. The side-story following Finn and new character Rose (who, by the way, gets way too much hate from the fans and for no good reason) while they search for a codebreaker to help save the Resistance fleet from annihilation, definitely drags the movie down quite a bit. It doesn’t add much to the story and the gambling planet they visit feels just like some of the worst parts of the Prequel Trilogy. Thankfully these sections don’t last too long and once they leave the planet, the pace starts to pick up again. 

Aside from that, the film is wonderful in pretty much every other aspect. The scenes between Rey and the returning Luke Skywalker add a level of fun and intrigue as she attempts to convince the Jedi Master to train her in the ways of the force. Meanwhile, Luke begins to sense the darkness inside of Rey which surprisingly leads quite well into the next movie. The space battles are gorgeous as always and the soundtrack cannot be faulted. Even the length of the movie, which at over 150 minutes seems like it should be too long, actually ends up adding to the already epic feel of the story. By the time we reach the final 15 minutes, it feels like we’ve been on an incredible journey. 

The biggest complaints from fans seem to stem from the fact that the mysteries of The Force Awakens are somewhat ruined. Rey’s parents turn out to be nobodies (of course that won’t be retconned) and the main villain, Snoke, dies before we get a chance to learn his history. However, by subverting our expectations of what a Star Wars film should be, the unpredictability of this movie then becomes legendary. In my opinion, this is a wonderful Star Wars movie and easily makes my the top 3 favourite movies of the series so far. For anyone that’s only watched it once and made up their minds that they hate it, I urge you to give it another go. You might be pleasantly surprised. 

Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

After the backlash from The Last Jedi, Disney was seemingly terrified by the reactions of angry fans and as a result, they backed down from continuing the story elements left open by The Last Jedi and retconned big parts of the story by going in a completely different direction. I do hate this approach as the conclusion of The Last Jedi’s story could have been something special with the right director on board. And so, The Rise of Skywalker was announced with the added tease of a returning Emperor Palpatine to help boost ticket sales. The reaction to this movie was quite different from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Opinions weren’t particularly divided and it was pretty much written off as a bad movie by both critics and fans alike. Some went as far as saying that it’s the worst Star Wars movie, even praising the prequels as much better films.

So, now that I’ve had a chance to see the movie in theatres and again at home, I can honestly tell you that I didn’t like it. 

I LOVED it. 

OK, calm down, take your finger off the trigger, lower your sights and let me explain. Is this movie rushed? Yes. Is this movie disjointed from the rest of the trilogy? Absolutely. Is this movie a fun time? One Hundred Percent. I can’t help but love it. This is the kind of mental Star Wars movie I’ve wanted for ages and, for me, it ticks all the right boxes. There are still a few parts that annoy me like the pointless fake death of Chewie and the shoehorning of Palpatine into the story, who has somehow secretly amassed an enormous army of Super Star Destroyers, but this is definitely a movie where you can just turn your brain off, sit back and enjoy and I have no problem doing that. The final battle is epic, the nostalgic moments hit just the right point and it’s never boring at all. It’s over the top in all the best ways and I can’t wait to experience it again. 

At this point, it’s pretty obvious that this may be the most disjointed movie trilogy in history. The Force Awakens sets things up nicely, The Last Jedi takes the story in a totally unexpected direction, and then Then Rise of Skywalker goes in a different direction yet again. So, while the movies themselves range from good to fantastic, as an overall story it’s very weak. For instance, Finn started off as a major player and someone I wanted to know more about, but by the end of the trilogy, we learn nothing more and he fades into the background. Even poor Rose, who wasn’t deserving of such fan hate, and played a big part in The Last Jedi, simply became an unwanted extra in The Rise of Skywalker (Disney’s reaction to negative fan reception). 

A disjointed end to the Skywalker saga…

As single experiences, these movies can be enjoyed pretty much endlessly, but they just don’t gel together properly due to a lack of forward planning on Disney’s part. Even the prequels do a better job in that regard. Maybe they should have kept J.J. Abrams in charge or even brought in Kevin Feige to try and replicate the success of the MCU.

As a movie fan, I can’t help but love these films as standalone pieces of adventurous cinema, but as a Star Wars fan, I’m left disappointed by the disjointed storyline and expected a better-connected trilogy to round out the Skywalker saga.

Peace.