Poll Did the sequel trilogy add anything meaningful to the saga?

A simple question. Do you think that the sequel trilogy added anything to the saga?

I've wanted to ask this question for two years now, ever since I saw The Last Jedi and felt that it didn't add anything substantial to the Skywalker saga. Then I thought… I'll wait two years to see if they redeem themselves with Episode IX. Personally, with The Rise of Skywalker now out and the saga complete, I don't think that we got a trilogy that enriched the saga as a whole.

The prequel trilogy, though it could have been done better, did give us quite a bit with the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, the rise of the empire, the development of some familiar characters, and so much more which lead right up to the original trilogy. But what did the sequel trilogy really offer? Sure, we got to see some old faces but what else did it really accomplish? Maybe you have some answers but I don't have much.

 

Heavens, no. I expect they'll end up like Voyager and Enterprise - fondly remembered by a dedicated subset of fans, but shrugged at and forgotten by most.

 

I voted for a different sequel trilogy but by that I mean using a lot of the ideas of this one but going in different directions. Not playing it so safe. There's things that are alluded to in the backstory and concept art that feel kind of cool and different to the other trilogies, some similar to the EU stuff but stuff mainstream audiences might not have experienced. I like all the characters and think some could have gone in interesting places.

 

I voted that they should have left it at the original trilogy. The sequel trilogy brought nothing substantial to the table... in fact, in many ways, it was a rehash of the original trilogy (take another look at The Last Jedi and tell me it's not Empire Strikes Back in reverse to a great extent).

The prequels are another matter. First, it's like that long wait before a funeral where you know how it's going to turn out and you can't wait to get to the end. The whole thing is a funeral. Second, there's really nothing about the prequels that couldn't have been summed up in one big movie. Think of the Countdown comic before the release of Star Trek 2009.

 

Nah. Well, it all depends on what Disney pushes going forward. If the toys, consumer products, and decor, especially at Disney theme parks, all feature Sequel trilogy characters and imagery, then it'll live on to the larger audience. Time will tell.

I voted for different sequel trilogy. More than just Ben/Kylo, I think the main characters should have all been presented from the start as descendants of the Skywalker family. There needed to be a clear 3 part story to tell and not have directors trying to undo the damage or cause damage for other directors. The overreaching arc should have been more obviously connected to rebuilding the Republic (and not some splinter portion of the Galaxy), and no resurrection of Palpatine.

 

I voted for the Sequel Trilogy. I liked seeing the expansion of the more spiritual themes, as well as many of the new characters. Do I think it is perfect? No, but I think it was additive.

 

Not necessarily.

This is not a thing that actually happened.

 

If RoS hadn't fought so hard to undo some of the deconstruction of the franchise that TLJ poked at, then I might say Yes.

Unfortunately, because RoS fought so hard against some of the things that TLJ pushed, and didn't really propose any new ideas, and because it ultimately comes off as obvious that the three movies weren't written in a way that tells a cohesive narrative...I'm really not sure.

The prequel trilogy has its fair share of weaknesses, but it has enough things I found enlightening about that point in the timeline that I'm willing to give it a pass, though I wish the fall of Anakin had been handled in a better manner.

Compare and contrast with Rogue One, which effectively didn't tell us anything we didn't already know, but managed to tell its story well and which I would put at least in the top three SW films.

 

Nothing that you said here actually happened relative to TLJ and TRoS.

 

Well, I stand corrected then.

Oh wait, no I don't, because a whole lot of people disagree with your statement. I'm afraid you're going to have to do just a wee bit better than that if you wish to persuade. And if you don't wish to persuade, then at least don't troll everyone here by responding to points you don't agree with with the equivalent of "Nope!"

And by trolling, I do mean that if I see you respond to another post in this thread in the way in which you did to me and the poster above me, I will notify the mods and we'll see whether they think you're trolling.

 

Like what? Genuinely because I just finished a TLJ rewatch after watching TROS a week ago. Each step built upon the last, with Poe stepping in to a more leadership role, Rey continuing to struggle with her sense of self and identify and Kylo Ren working to increase his power.

 

There's probably more, but I'll give three to start with:
1) TLJ in particular pushes the idea that Rey's lineage is nothing special. RoS refutes that. There's also an underlying narrative in TLJ about how anyone has the potential to be a Force-user that in turn is weakened here.
2) After Snoke's death it appears that Kylo Ren is being set-up to succeed him. Within the first ten minutes of RoS (grant me a moment of hyperbole), with Palpatine's return, Ren is reduced to being a lackey in the service of a greater power once more.
3) TLJ spends enough time developing Rose Tico to suggest that she's going to have some relevance to the overall narrative. Does she do anything in RoS that couldn't have been done by anyone else?

 

Mixed feelings for me. I think the characters introduced were pretty good and the acting was solid all round but the whole thing just has a feeling of 'been there, done that' to me. These films were just not fresh or creative enough in their stories, world building, visuals or set pieces for me (though TROS did try to remedy this to a degree).

TFA should have been a bold, fresh take on the franchise with groundbreaking visuals - it wasn't. Sure, it's entertaining enough but it showed very little imagination or creativity with it’s story. It made huge money though so it was a win for Disney.

TLJ I applaud for doing what it did and trying to subvert expectations but the film nearly collapses under the weight of all this subversion, almost forgetting it had a story to move forward at times and it ended up delivering a rather strange experience that had some good moments and some downright eye-rolling stupidity among other things. Overall a badly paced film that seemed very uneven in tone and seemingly left the franchise in a dead end.

TROS I think is the strongest of the three in terms of entertainment, visuals, and world building and was an attempt to right the perceived 'wrongs' of the previous instalment (which illustrates one of the problems with this trilogy), but this isn't without it's issues either, bringing back Palpatine because... reasons? It's a crowd pleasing film for sure and at least it pushed things visually more than the others did. It's a good SW film but not a great one in my opinion.

I enjoyed all three films to varying degrees, they were all entertaining, but they’ve definitely burnt me out on these ‘saga’ films, so I’m actually thankful it’s at an end. The storylines are becoming too repetitive, with planet killing weapons in two of the three movies, hidden identities of major players yet again (boring!) amongst other nostalgia that’s been mined. I think the force powers have gotten a little over the top into superhero territory also, which kinda takes the peril out of things if our heroes are immortal near-gods who can do pretty much anything, the Force in the OT (and to a slightly lesser extent the PT) had a bit more mystery about it, with the enhanced abilities, telekinesis etc, it almost made it more credible and believable than what’s been displayed here, with curing death and teleporting objects across distances (Hmmm. Where have I heard that criticism before I wonder Mr Abrams). Even the ship designs were just OT designs with a lick of paint in the main (X-Wings and Ties) - compare that to the varied designs from the PT that really looked like they came from another era.

Back to the original question, did this trilogy add anything meaningful to the saga? Yes and no. It introduced Finn, for example, who was played brilliantly by Boyega and they had this great concept of a character and yet they barely did anything with it. Rey - again, played very well by Ridley didn’t have anything like enough conflict for me and came across a bit too ‘safe’ yet her arc was dictated by the shoehorning in of Palpatine after her parents seemingly being no-one one minute then being the granddaughter of the biggest bad in the galaxy. Poe just seemed to be ‘Han Solo lite’ that just had some backstory rammed in at the last minute in TROS, yet was again, played well by Isaac. They didn’t know what to do with these characters and sometimes and it showed. This trilogy had some great characters that were ultimately let down (but by no means by a lot) by the material somewhat.

I know this sounds like I’m a ST hater - I’m really not, I’m just giving my honest critique of it now it’s over.

I think the Star Wars film franchise needs a few years off at least now, and whatever comes next needs to be something new, new cast, new villains, new everything, and it needs planning out with a clear creative vision.

 

A. There is absolutely nothing inconsistent about TRoS' revelations regarding Rey and what Rian did with her in TLJ because what Rian did with her was rooted in her perception of herself based on trauma and insecurity
B. The entirety of Star Wars has told us that anyone has the potential to be a Force-user, so Rey being a Palpatine doesn't change that fact in the slightest

Rian Johnson himself disproved the notion that Ben was going to be an antagonistic force in the Sequel Trilogy by openly and repeatedly identifying him as the co-protagonist of TLJ

Rose's role being reduced was only due to the production team being unhappy with the way that the footage they shot of Kelly Marie Tran meshed with the pre-existing footage of Carrie Fisher that they were trying to use for the film.

 

No.

 

Seven-and-a-half-hours of decent entertainment.

 

It's just the truth "from a certain point of view." I don't think it is a refutation as much as an exploration of what people chose to be.

Though, I will admit to annoyance at the broom boy not coming back.

But, that's what he always was. Even when in service to Snoke he was bowing and scrapping before a mask of Vader. Kylo Ren always lived in the shadow of a greater power. It's only in this film that he actually recognizes how to be himself.

Again, not a refutation. Just going a different direction with the character. I was sad not to see more of her, and from what I understand there will be more with deleted scenes. But, it's not a refutation of TLJ. Any more than I expected Boba Fett to do more in ROTJ and he amounted to nothing. It's my expectations, not necessarily a refutation.

 

I voted for a different sequel trilogy than the one we got. We needed a sequel trilogy after the dreadful prequels but what we got was a half-baked and trite series of films. I watched TFA and the first 15 minutes of TLJ. That was enough for me to jump ship. The new storylines and characters were simply ill-conceived, just like the prequels.

 

Agreed. It's not perfect (ahem TROS), but I've enjoyed the ride, and I loved what it added to the mythos.

Part of me wonders what Lucas would have done if he still owned Lucasfilm, but I'd always hope he'd learned lessons from the PT and hired people to help write and direct.

I would rather have a PT with better oversight than a different direction to take the ST in.

 

On this point, I completely agree.