The Rise of Skywalker (spoilers!)

[Kin]

I think in a weird way the prequel and sequel trilogies illustrate two very different ways movies can go wrong. The prequels suffer because they're entirely the vision of one guy who didn't seem to have anyone around him adding input or telling him what worked and what didn't. The sequels, to me, are sort of the exact opposite. Made as sort of a top down corporate decision clearly trying to appeal to everyone without a singular coherent vision. As a result the prequels are demented nonsense, the sequels slickly competent but soulless and forgettable.

To some extent, I almost prefer the prequels. I don't want to watch them again but they're more fun to talk about.

 

[herman]

I dug into The Clone Wars after going through The Mandalorian because I wanted something to binge (and I had a lot of time to kill).

It really gave the Prequels more room to breathe and Anakin/Obi-Wan's relationship (and relationship to the rest of the Council and Republic) are fleshed out. If you can ignore the terrible dialogue writing and forced CGI (pun intended), the throughline of the Prequel trilogy is complex and brilliant. Season 7's final arc carries far more emotional weight than the Episode 3 volta does because of the relationships developed with the clone troopers as individuals.

I actually thought The Last Jedi had set it up to take it in a nice direction but as it happens TLJ may as well not have happened...

Yeah, I agree here. The Sequel trilogy was an opportunity to really examine the lore of the Jedi. Obi-Wan called the Republic days a more civilized time, but the Prequels showed that to be a false veneer of politicking and self-aggrandizement. Again, the Clone Wars series does a really good job interrogating and dispelling the mythos (especially through the lens of Republic citizens and the insider/outsider audience surrogate Ahsoka) in much the same way TLJ Luke became disillusioned when he tried to recreate that former Jedi glory only to succumb to the fear the Jedi only learned to suppress out of fear.

https://twitter.com/ariesanakin/status/1259205536488329219
https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wars-dave-filoni-on-duel-of-the-fates
This guy should've been in charge of the Sequels (he's certainly getting the reins now at least on the Disney+ series side).

 

[Kin]

I still say that the only really good Star Wars stuff since the original movies are the KotOR games.

 

[L K]

I think in a weird way the prequel and sequel trilogies illustrate two very different ways movies can go wrong. The prequels suffer because they're entirely the vision of one guy who didn't seem to have anyone around him adding input or telling him what worked and what didn't. The sequels, to me, are sort of the exact opposite. Made as sort of a top down corporate decision clearly trying to appeal to everyone without a singular coherent vision. As a result the prequels are demented nonsense, the sequels slickly competent but soulless and forgettable.

To some extent, I almost prefer the prequels. I don't want to watch them again but they're more fun to talk about.

It was interesting.  There is literally no breathing room in a movie that basically has nothing happening. 
Every quiet second has some silly comic relief event.  Jar Jar steps in poop.  Jar Jar trips on a droid. Jar Jar waves his hands or sticks out his tongue.  Traveling through the.  Need two "theres always a bigger fish scenes, plus more stupid Jar Jar crap".  The pod racing scene has an obnoxious commentator.  Quick cuts in the middle of the Naboo infiltration scene.  Its just non-stop.  There is no breathing room in the movie.  As you said there just wasn't something to tell George, no.  Stop adding stuff.

Ignoring that Jake Lloyd was awful (and I'm really not going to jump on a child actor) every other actor was seemingly advised to try and act monotone if they were a comic relief character. Stoic was confused with flat.

 

[Kin]

Ignoring that Jake Lloyd was awful (and I'm really not going to jump on a child actor) every other actor was seemingly advised to try and act monotone if they were a comic relief character. Stoic was confused with flat.

It's been a long time since I've seen them but my recollection is that Ewan McGregor is, if not good exactly, seemingly the only one in the movie having any fun with his role.

And I do think that's one of the things that's often overlooked about the original movies. The performances are almost uniformly terrific. There's really only 7 on-screen actors in the entire trilogy in Ford, Fisher, Hamill, Guinness, Williams, Cushing and McDiarmid and who's the weak link there?

 

[Bender]

demented nonsense

I'm going to start using this  ;D

 

[herman]

It's been a long time since I've seen them but my recollection is that Ewan McGregor is, if not good exactly, seemingly the only one in the movie having any fun with his role.

 

[LittleHockeyFan]

I haven't seen Rise of Skywalker yet. I'm afraid to. I'm a fan of the original three--Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, from back in the 70s/80s when they came out.
The only good thing about the prequels was Ewan McGregor. Those movies were terrible. Just awful. I didn't care much for Force Awakens or Last Jedi either. The only good thing about that one was Mark Hamill and what they did to his character was nothing short of criminal. So for me, only the first three (episodes 4 5 and 6) were ever made.