I was on board with every word until "the kids they were made for". Yeah yeah, whatever. Even if true, "it's a kids movie" is not an excuse for shitty writing. Anyway, Ewan should be happy that he's one of the few things most people were pleased with. A lot of us still want a solo Kenobi flick.
Star Wars is primarily for the younger audiences, menchildren's sense of entitlement notwithstanding.
I think he means the feedback from those kids/fans (i.e. 10 years old when Menace came out in 1999) is more pleasant than the usual feedback (salt) he receives from older fans.
Yeah, this was even a thing back during the original trilogy. Those that were 10 or 11 when Star Wars came out in '77 were 16 or 17 by the time of RotJ and as such, generally hated the Ewoks, while those that were again, 10 or 11 or younger in 1983 generally loved them. Personally, I'm a little bit younger than both of those groups, but I was still exposed to all three movies at a young age and as such, 6 year old me loved the Ewoks, including the cartoon and those tv movies (mostly the second one.) As such, when the prequels rolled around I was in my late teens/early 20's and I recognised the Gungans for what they were: something for the 6 - 11 year olds in the audience. It's be awfully selfish and mean spirited of me to begrudge them the same enjoyment I got out of Star Wars at that age just because I wasn't a kid anymore. I still managed to enjoy the prequels for what they were and in the spirit in which they were intended. Indeed, my most vivid memory of seeing RotS in the cinema wasn't the movie itself, but a kid (who must have been about 11 or 12) two seats down from me saying aloud just as the Lucasfilm logo came up "I've been waiting five years for this!" Part of me couldn't help but internally scoff thinking "Sure kid. When you've had to wait almost two decades, then come talk to me!" but at the same time it was the first time I truly appreciated that those movies were *his* Star Wars. The older generation can whinge and whine all we like about Gungans, awkward "romance" scenes and all the "yippies!" and "nooooooos!" but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Kids loved those movies and time has told.
I was 8 (almost 9) when The Phantom menace came out, and that movie certainly wasn't meant for me, even at that age. Disliking Jar Jar even as a kid is my most clear memory of my childhood feelings about the movie, although I'm sure the endless politics probably bored me even more then. So, yeah, thats BS. I've hated Jar jar since I was in the demographic, and I know I thought that Attack of the Clones was pretty shit even at age 11 and a half. being a kid doesn't mean you automatically have bad taste, and it doesn't excuse Lucas' shit work.
The Prequels aren't as bad as the most disappointed and even bitter fans have thought they are and they're not as good as the Original Trilogy(nor even a couple of the most recent films). I have a deep affection for Episode I in spite of its flaws, can get through Episode II by enjoying Obi-Wan's sequences and the final battle on Geonosis that starts the Clone Wars and deeply respect and enjoy Episode III for the dark and unhappy take that George has on the story and how he peppers the film with just enough hope and light to generate a swell of warm emotions during the final act and closing montage showing our characters disappearing into hiding and assuming the identities they'll have in the Original Trilogy. Are they GREAT films? Storywise, eh. Not really. Episode III has the strongest and most emotionally-impactful story of the entire Prequel Trilogy and even it has its flaws. Technically? They're largely brilliant if tiresome at times with George's obsession with CGI turning some scenes into glorified live-action video games with about as much emotion and organic flow. But on balance the Prequel Trilogy is decent-to-good and that's pretty acceptable considering the pure bile that's been thrown at them even when they've deserved to be criticized as falling short in some area of storytelling or characterization or going way over the top in another. I don't rush to rewatch the Prequels in most instances but if they're on or I get the urge to play one of the films I don't mind them and find myself becoming immersed in the movies to the extent that I still feel I can be. The Prequels aren't terrible and they're not top-notch narrative deserving of writing and directing awards. They're fun, though, and in the end if a movie isn't fun or at least watchable then it's failed. And in my estimation the Prequel Trilogy did not fail.
Totally agree, they don't deserve a lot of the crap thrown at them. Of course they have faults, but at least they told an original story (despite us knowing the outcome), were technically groundbreaking and had great world building in them - something you can't say of the sequel trilogy, which I have found to be pretty bland and disappointing so far. Hand on heart I'd rather watch the second two of them over TFA and all of them over TLJ. I'd also love to see Ewan in an Obi-Wan standalone film too.
"Not crap" is a disappointing, long-awaited answer to "great and cinema-changing." Disappointment magnifies bile.
I'll avoid the comparison solely out of being profoundly tired of all the TLJ-related drama. I will say, though... Revenge of the Sith was an incomparably more satisfying Star Wars experience for me than The Force Awakens.
I also like it more than TFA. It's underrated because George directed it and it's a Prequel but it delivers an emotional wallop and keeps the mistakes made in AOTC to a minimum or eliminates them from the narrative. Does it wrap things up a little too quickly? Yeah, probably. Does it suffer from worse problems than the Sequel Trilogy? Not even close.
OK. Too much story packed in to too little time, overlong battles with little stakes, and very odd character choices. Generally speaking it is an exhausting spectacle that left me feeling worn out and unsatisfied by the end. Contrast with TLJ which is the middle of a trilogy and I am waiting to see the wrap up in Episode 9.
I swear I'm not throwing shade, but I read that sentence as if you were talking about TLJ (which btw, I mostly enjoyed) before I twigged that you actually meant RotS (which I also mostly enjoyed) and it all read like fair criticism. So perhaps the two have more common ground their either side may want to admit. Indeed, I've read some vintage fan reactions to tESB back when it was released and those weren't a million miles away from this either. Not everyone liked the twist, some people felt the movie was anti climactic, others weren't sold on the Han/Leia love story and were convinced she should be with Luke in the next one. I think a big part of this is that all three are bridging movies. that had a lot of expectations put on them. Yes, RotS is the final part of a trilogy, not the middle like tESB & TLJ but it's the bridging point between the PT & OT, and it was the instalment everyone was waiting for from the moment the new movies were announced.