Despite heated debate about the newer movies, there is only one bad film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. When the sequel trilogy was first announced, audiences were extremely excited to see where the story would go next, but were also looking forward to seeing a Star Wars closer to the original trilogy as opposed to the prequel trilogy, which many audience members didn’t connect with. However, as the films came out, many grew more and more frustrated with the films they were seeing, and the sequel trilogy now has a reputation for being some of the worst that Star Wars has to offer.
Now, three years after the last installment of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released, shows like The Mandalorian and Andor proved that Star Wars can be great and receive a more far more unified and positive reception than the sequel movies. However, looking at the films after a few years of retrospect, the sequel trilogy was not truly as bad as audiences seemed to think. The first two films of the sequel trilogy may have divided the audiences but as a whole were not bad films; in fact, it is only The Rise of Skywalker that doesn’t hold up.
The Force Awakens & Last Jedi Are Divisive Star Wars Movies
When The Force Awakens was first released in 2015 under the director hand of J.J. Abrams, most critics and audiences loved the film. Since many viewers were heavily disappointed with the prequel trilogy, it was a smart writing and marketing decision for The Force Awakens to draw more parallels to the original trilogy. The plot for Episode VII relied heavily on A New Hope to the point where the two films were nearly identical. While some audiences were not happy about getting an A New Hope rehash, a majority were pleased with what had been set up and were excited for what was to come.
The Last Jedi in some ways was a turn for the worse. Rian Johnson took over as the director and went in the opposite direction. Rather than rely on the original trilogy, he took Star Wars in a completely different direction. While some found this refreshing from the repetition Force Awakens gave, others felt it deviated too far from not only what had been previously set up for the sequel trilogy, but also from what makes Star Wars special. Characters like Finn and Poe were given stories that ultimately didn’t add much to the film, the treatment of Luke Skywalker remains a sore spot, and the ‘romance’ between Rey and Kylo Ren was hit-and-miss with audiences.
The Rise Of Skywalker Is The Sequel Trilogy's One Bad Movie
While the first two films were divisive but still good films as a whole, The Rise of Skywalker pleased almost no one. Unlike the other two films, there are severe fundamental flaws in the film such as pacing, plotting, and character. The plot was a chase after a classic MacGuffin filled with way too many needless action scenes and contrived coincidences. The retcon of Rey’s parentage being a Palpatine was weak and her ‘descent’ into the darkness - as well as Kylo Ren’s ‘redemption’ - were rushed and unbelievable as the characters they have been set up to be, and their kiss was a clear sign of fan service that was unearned.
These problems with the plot and characters were evident when The Rise of Skywalker was released. The film did not have the initial positive reaction that The Force Awakens had, and it also didn’t have many defenders as The Last Jedi did. Instead, the film was instantly met with criticism with critics pointing out its obvious fan service and lack of identity, while audiences were either dissatisfied with how the setups from the previous films paid off or were questioning the reveal of plot points such as Palpatine’s abrupt return and the Sith dagger having the location of the wayfinder MacGuffin.
Why The Rise Of Skywalker Fared Worse Than TFA & TLJ
The wasted opportunities in The Rise of Skywalker could be attributed to the burden of being the final film in The Skywalker Saga. Star Wars is a series spanning over 40 real-life years, and audiences wanted an ending that felt right not just for this sequel trilogy, but for all nine films in the saga thus far. Not only did the film have to do justice to the new characters set up for the sequel trilogy, but The Rise of Skywalker also had to pay off arcs and stories from both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy.
Having three directors write and direct their own film in the sequel trilogy may have seemed like a good idea, but it ultimately backfired. Originally, Colin Trevorrow was slated for Star Wars 9, but his Star Wars 9 script was cancelled due to The Last Jedi derailing The Force Awakens' set up, and instead J.J. Abrams had to return to do damage control. The Rise of Skywalker feels less like a cohesive story with the vision of one director and more like a collaboration of notes given by the studio to appease audiences, and offers as much nostalgia as possible to distract from how rushed everything is.
The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi had their flaws, but they were still the visions of Abrams and Johnson respectively and worked as films on their own. The Rise of Skywalker was instead a tangle of conflicting ideas that desperately wanted to entertain everyone, but ended up pleasing no one. Ultimately, it would have been much better to have all three directors sit down and plan the prequel trilogy together, and since future Star Wars movies are on hold and seemingly being properly thought out, it would seem that the lesson has been learned.