The Positives About The Star Wars Sequels

 

I, like many others, was not the biggest fan of these sequels. There were too many cooks in the kitchen and there wasn't anyone to make sure that it all stayed on course or make sure there was one cohesive story from beginning to end. Then, you had two directors that didn't like what the other had done before, so they set out to "correct" what was setup prior. Which is a shame because there were things that both brought to the table that would've been interesting if they had followed through with some of them.

Now, here comes the part where you click away from the article; I think The Last Jedi was the best of the sequels...

You still here? Good! Let me briefly explain. 

Don't miss understand me, I am fully aware, and acknowledge, that the movie has a lot of problems. Was it the right choice to to make Luke a grumpy hermit? No, probably not. Killing Snoke so quickly, after building him up? Again, probably not the best of choices. Though, I will agree with everyone unequivocally that there was no reason for Holdo to not let Poe know what the plan was; all it did was make the situation worse!

But the reason why I like it the best out of the three is simply because I hate being bashed over the head with nostalgia. A little is fine and fun, but The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker did basically nothing except nostalgia bait the audience for over 2 hours. And for all its faults, I at least felt like The Last Jedi was trying something a little different. It doesn't all work, but of the three it's the only time I feel like I'm watching a somewhat new story in the Star Wars saga.

Now to get back on track with the point of this article. 

Despite the many, many flaws of the sequels I do believe there are some positives for this trilogy. And I just wanted to go through a few of them in no particular order.

Finn And Poe

We are introduced to these two in The Force Awakens and they were instantly a very likable duo! The chemistry between John Boyega and Oscar Isaac (respectively) was really engaging. I wanted more of it, but the movies decided to either split them up or not really get back to that dynamic again. Which is a shame as there was more they could've explored with Finn being a former Stormtrooper and Poe being a solider for The Resistance.

Kylo Killing Snoke And The Throne Room Fight

As I mentioned earlier, I don't know if it was the right decision to kill off Snoke that early with all that build up. But the way they did and the subsequent fallout from it was one of the highlights from The Last Jedi for me. I like that Kylo Ren wanted to usurp his master, fully embrace the Dark Side and take control of The First Order. Then the fight with Snoke's Elite Praetorian Guards was very cinematic (though some of the choreography is fairly clunky with some very accommodating stuntmen)! I love the red background as Rey and Kylo battle the guards, moving back and forth, and around each other; not only are they fighting to protect themselves but each other as well. Then as the throne room burns around them they both try to convince the other to join them in their cause.

Expanding The Force

This is one that I never really understood people's issue with. Why wouldn't people want an expansion of what The Force can do? I really enjoyed the concept of being able to see, touch, and pass things through The Force. Not only visually, but just lore wise as well. And I don't mind the Force Healing, I just think they could've handled it a little better.

The Kylo vs. Rey Fight On The Ruins Of The Death Star

Probably one of the best duels from this trilogy; I like the feel of this fight. It's the last one Kylo and Rey have against each other and it almost has the weight needed to stick the landing. But the trilogy's issues rear their ugly head again, because we never got some truly great character beats between these two. But I think the setting is great with them fighting on the half-sunken wreckage of the Death Star as the waves crash around them, threatening to wash them away. And I like that when Kylo senses that Leia died, and he gets injured, it started to ignite his change of mind about the path he was truly on.

Han Solo's Appearance In The Rise Of Skywalker

And following up with that last pint is this scene. Not only was it great to see Han Solo back one last time, but I love the ambiguous nature of his return. Was he a Force ghost? Or was he just Kylo's conscience taking the form of his father? Either way you want to look at it, I think it's one of the best moments from the trilogy. I like how it echoes their last moment together from The Force Awakens, but this time Kylo needs the extra push to turn him back to the Light Side. And I think both actors do a great job here!

Captain Phasma

This one hurts the most out of this list for me! Such a cool character and I was really excited to see what they'd do with her. But--going back to the problems with the movies--the creative team didn't do anything with her character after The Last Jedi. And they could've brought her back after she "died" in that film to have one final confrontation with Finn. Think how much cooler it would've been to see Captain Phasma and Finn fighting onto of one of those Star Destroyers in The Rise of Skywalker! Seeing those two having one last fight was one of the things I was really hoping to see from that movie, but was unfortunately let down in that aspect of it too. And they could've even designed her armor to have been repaired in a fun and menacing way.

As a side note, if you haven't read her stand alone comic, you should! It details what happened to her between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. And it's a pretty good read. You get to see more of her character and just how far she's willing to go to save her own skin! Definitely go check it out!

The Kylo vs. Rey Fight Through The Force

This just a visually exciting scene to watch! I love the concept and execution of it. I know if you were to show it from one of the perspectives of the other characters it'd look like Rey or Kylo Ren were just swinging wildly at thin air, but for us the audience it's a fun moment! And I like that it expands on some of the moments that came before it, like Kylo finding water droplets on his glove after he and Rey have their first connection through the Force. Or when he snatches the beaded necklace from her to learn her location. But it also helps set up the moment later when she passes the light saber to him. All in all I think it was a unique way to have a light saber battle without it feeling like all the other ones.

Kylo Ren

Okay, I lied a little earlier. I wanted to save this one for last!

Easily the best thing about the whole trilogy. Honestly, if he was the focus of the story the movies would be a little better for it. Adam Driver must have back problems from holding those films up. Which is funny to think about now, because at first I wasn't the biggest fan of his character in The Force Awakens. He seemed too whiny and threw temper tantrums at, what seemed to be, the drop of a hat!

But as the trilogy came to a close, he quickly became the most interesting character. I liked the idea of him basically being seduced back to the Light Side and fighting against it. And as mentioned earlier, him killing Snoke and taking over The First Order, and wanting Rey to join him was exciting. His moments with Han Solo were both very solid (though TFA got a little too heavy handed with the visual symbolism) and showcased his mindset and struggles at both ends of the trilogy. And those are just a few examples.

 It's a shame the movies turned out the way that they did, because if the had more connective tissue and weren't trying to undo what came before his character could've been something special.

 

And those are just a few of the things that I think the sequels did pretty well. I just wanted to take some time to highlight some of them as I feel it's too easy to tear these movies apart. And as I said earlier, I'm not the biggest fan, but these aren't the worst movies to ever exist either, they are just not as cohesive of a story--with some questionable choices-- as they should be. But under the right circumstances they can still be fun as long as your expectation are tempered.

But what do you think? Are these some of the positive things for you from the sequel trilogy? Do you have any others to add? Or do you think there are absolutely no redeeming aspects to these film? Let me know in the comments below!