The Skywalker saga is nearing it’s end with The Rise of Skywalker primed to bring the franchise to a conclusion when it releases in theatres later this year. We’ve had our three trailers for the blockbuster and it would be no understatement to say that the reactions have been mixed. To some, it looks like a movie capable of bringing the fandom together again following The Last Jedi. To others, it’s just another overhyped, overkilled film.
No Star Wars movie has been perfect so far, however, including original trilogy instalments The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and A New Hope. We now take a look at what has been the worst thing about every movie so far.
The Phantom Menace: The Politics
One of the biggest complaints of The Phantom Menace is just how prominent Jar Jar Binks is throughout the whole thing. The Gungan was introduced to provide some light comic relief but ended up aggravating plenty of fans, many of which accused him of being irritating. However, despite the fact that Jar Jar undoubtedly has his shortcomings, he isn’t the worst thing about the movie.
Instead it’s all the jargon on the politics, the senate and the Trade Federation. George Lucas has always claimed that Star Wars is made for children but, if that’s the case, why did he choose to throw such adult themes in there? Even the adults struggled to keep their eyes open during these scenes.
Attack Of The Clones: The Dialogue
Attack of the Clones is an incredibly divisive movie. On one hand, you’ve got some astonishing action sequences such as the battle of Geonosis and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s showdown with Jango Fett on Kamino. But, on the other, you’ve got arguably the worst script of the entire franchise.
Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker is unfortunately the one who has to say them out loud. No actor can make words like ‘I don’t like sand’ and ‘you call this a diplomatic solution’ sound riveting. He was up against it from the start and Lucas and other bigwigs at Lucasfilm, fortunately, upped their game for the next instalment.
Revenge Of The Sith: Anakin Going From 0 To 100
Revenge of the Sith was a movie that generated much excitement among the fans, despite the two previous outings proving to be divisive. This was it, the moment we’d all been waiting for. Finally, after all these years, we’d get to see what tipped Anakin Skywalker into turning to the dark side and eventually becoming Darth Vader.
But yikes. Anakin turns when he realizes he needs Darth Sidious to keep wife Padme Amidala alive. Yet as soon as he pledges his allegiance to the Sith Lord, he’s suddenly a man transformed. Killing your old Jedi friends? No problem. Slaughtering innocent children? Yeah, fine. Donning a hood and looking ultra badass? Yep, that’s cool. Anakin goes from 0 to 100 real quick and it’s just a minor complaint in an otherwise brilliant film.
A New Hope: The Death Of Obi-Wan Kenobi
The very first Star Wars movie, A New Hope, is close to flawless. All three of the original trilogy blockbusters are. So that means that the worst thing about the movie is merely our own sadness at the decision to kill off the likable Ben Kenobi, who sacrifices himself during a duel with long-term enemy Darth Vader.
Kenobi acts as a mentor to Luke Skywalker, introducing him to the ways of the Jedi and giving him his father’s old blue lightsaber. He’s pretty slick for an old guy, too, managing to get inside the Death Star and cause havoc for their security systems. Many were sad when he died because there felt like there was more to come but, fortunately, Alec Guinness’ character would return for The Empire Strikes Back.
The Empire Strikes Back: Goofy Yoda
We’ve mentioned about how the original Star Wars trilogy is spectacular but The Empire Strikes Back is arguably the pick of the bunch. The movie has everything you’d hope for, from thrilling action sequences to imaginative worlds, complex characters to a fascinating twist at the end.
So our complaint, once again, is rather minor. Fans had been expecting Luke Skywalker to meet a grandiose Jedi Knight to continue his training but their expectations were subverted when he comes across Yoda. The scenes between the duo are incredibly slapstick at first and a tad cringe to watch all these years later. Thankfully, Yoda resembles more what fans want as the movie goes on.
Return Of The Jedi: Ewoks
There’s nothing wrong with Ewoks, the furry little creatures who live on the Forest Moon of Endor. They play a key role in helping the likes of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa in defeating the Empire, using any means necessary to inflict death on any Stormtrooper who they deem a threat.
Yet the reason they’re the worst thing on the list is because many fans believe they were merely placed in the blockbuster as a way of getting children to beg their parents for merchandise involving them. By this point, George Lucas was making cash from all directions but toy sales were particularly good. And, given how many children then did get Endor merchandise for Christmas that year, it’s hard to disagree with the sceptics.
The Force Awakens: It’s A Rehash
Don’t get us wrong, The Force Awakens was the solid first outing that the sequel trilogy desperately needed to get fans on-side given the mixed reaction the prequels received. Disney opted to play it safe, having Rey and Kylo Ren meet the for the first time while original trilogy heroes, barring Luke Skywalker, were thrown into the mix as well.
However, good though the movie is, it’s a near carbon copy of A New Hope. A memorable opening scene that shows off a big, brooding villain? Check. A Jedi Knight in waiting who grows up on a harsh desert world? Check. A Death Star-esque enemy base? Check. You get the picture. It’s a good movie - but not an original one.
The Last Jedi: Luke Skywalker
Fans were expecting big things from Luke Skywalker when The Last Jedi released in 2017. After all, Mark Hamill’s character had been held back in the previous outing right until the end and people were tipping Luke to be near enough the same as he was during the events of the first three Star Wars movies.
Except...he wasn’t. Rian Johnson completely altered the character of Luke, something Hamill has hinted wasn’t to his liking. The old Luke would never have turned his back on his friends, refused to train somebody or attempted to kill his nephew. But Johnson made the Jedi knight do all that - angering many, many people in the process.
Rogue One: The CGI
Rogue One is arguably Disney’s finest Star Wars movie to date, performing well at the box office and pleasing critics along the way. It’s another near-faultless blockbuster with the story of the Rebel Alliance desperately trying to get the Death Star plans perfectly told through interesting and flawed characters such as Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor and K2SO.
But the one area where it falls short is the CGI used on the characters of Grand Moff Tarkin and Leia Organa. While it undoubtedly looks good, it’s just a tad unsettling because while it’s clear it’s meant to be Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher, we just know it’s not. The movie could, perhaps, still have been similarly good without either of the duo making an appearance.
Solo: The Settings Are Boring
Solo: A Star Wars Story was the first within the entire franchise to fail to really be a box office hit. That’s a shame because it’s a good, fun ride. Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover are great as Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, while Amelia Clarke’s Qi’Ra is a character with a bit of mystery about her. Yet our biggest complaint is the lack of imagination used on the worlds within the story.
Kessel is a forgettable planet, while you probably have to Google to find out the location of the final showdown (it’s Savareen, which sounds like something you’d take as medication). This complaint could perhaps be extended to the Star Wars sequel trilogy, too, but it’s definitely most applicable to the second spin-off from Disney.