Why the Star Wars Prequels Were Better than the Sequels
It’s amazing that after all the shade the world has thrown relentlessly at the Star Wars prequels that Disney then went ahead and did what they did with the sequels. Sure, they fixed some of the low hanging fruit that was a problem with the prequels. The dialogue was better in the sequels. The CGI looked a lot better. But what else was better? Just about nothing.
The Star Wars Sequels Lacked a Compelling, Consistent Storyline
What exactly was the storyline in the sequels, other than virtually a carbon copy of the conflict from the original trilogy? Okay, so there’s a new empire we need to beat. What happened to the old empire? Can you imagine how jarring it would be if you were to watch the Star Wars episodes in binge fashion like your favorite Netflix show and you lacked any context. Imagine the original trilogy is one season and then the sequels are the next season. You jump right into them and bam – literally the same conflict only now there’s a new guy with a mask with the dark side and a new Jedi in training instead of Luke.
I guess the main storyline in the first movie is – kill the Death Star 3.0. And find Luke Skywalker?
And then in the next movie, we find Luke Skywalker, he proves to be a dud, so Rey just does everything on her own. Oh, and they kill the big bad guy. And now…there really is no new story. So let’s bring back that creepy looking dude from the other movies and make him the bad guy.
At Least the Star Wars Prequels Had a Story We Cared About
Regardless of its issues, which were many, the prequels did at least promise to tell of a consistent story that we actually cared about – that being the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. From a story perspective, the first three movies actually make sense, and they make us care about what happens to the fates of the central heroes.
The Characters Lack Chemistry
When we think in regards to the original Star Wars trio, they totally had chemistry. The prequel trio of Padme, Obi-Wan and Anakin, although not nearly as great as the original trio, did actually seem to like each other. And we liked them (even if Anakin made it hard to).
But what about the trio in the sequels? Are they even really a trio? When they do share screen time it feels more like “oh yeah, you guys are all in the same movie, huh?” Not like a cohesive team or a dynamic trio. They are all okay characters on their own – but when they are together they do almost nothing for one another. Rey is a pretty cool Jedi, Poe’s an okay cocky pilot type of guy, and Finn is sympathetic but seems to flounder to find his place in a story that never really seems to revolve much around him. But when they are together? There really isn’t much dynamism. And they don’t make you care about them the same way the original or prequel characters do.
The one exception to this rule is Kylo Ren. He does create pathos, and you do genuinely care about what happens to him. You do also care about his relationship with Rey, and they do bring out interesting sides of one another.
The Rules No Longer Make Sense
Supreme Leader Snoke said it well himself “You were bested by a girl who had never held a lightsaber before”. How could a powerful, well trained Sith like Kylo Ren be beaten by a fledgling Jedi? Is there anything that explains this definitively? Does that same thing happen anywhere else in the story? Is it because of the dyad that exists between herself and Ren? It’s very unclear and a bit unsatisfying. In a story that always paid close attention to its power dynamics between characters, how the force works and what makes someone a skilled fighter compared to somebody else, no longer makes any sense.
The Lightsaber Battles Are Way Less Epic
There are one or two good fights in the sequels. There are many more than that in the prequels. You have Windu versus Sidious, Yoda vs Sidious, Anakin vs. Obi-Wan, Qui Gon Jinn vs. Darth maul, Anakin vs Count Doku and more. In the sequels, you have Ren vs Rey over and over again, and that one battle with Luke (that was pretty cool). Why take one of the most memorable aspects of the prequels and dispose of it entirely? It sort of makes sense given there are less Jedi around but still – they probably could’ve found an excuse for more epic light saber battles or showdowns between other characters.
The Prequels Didn’t Ruin the Ending
The Revenge of the Sith was actually a pretty good movie, and ended satisfactorily (minus the “NOOOO!” thing”). The Rise of Skywalker, on top of being intentionally misnamed, ends with a battle against a Sith Lord everyone thought and wanted to be dead. Bringing back Darth Sidious has to be the single biggest mistake of any Star Wars movie. And it shows in the reviews. The Rise of Skywalker is the most harshly panned of all the Star Wars movies.
To make matters worse, they don’t just let us find out for ourselves that Darth Sidious is back – they tell us. In the opening credits! When has any major plot point ever been introduced in the opening credits of the Star Wars movies? Did we find out that Sidious had secretly put order 66 into the minds of the clones in the opening credits? Did we find out that Vader was Luke’s father? That Leia loved Han, and that Han “knew” in the opening credits?
No! The opening credits just act as a way of setting up the scene of the epic drama before us. Bringing back a character and basically rewriting the ending of the original trilogy and letting us know that this was done in the opening credits is just poor story telling.
