By: Luke Wright
Ever since I can remember, I have been a fan of Star Wars. I grew up watching the Prequels, and I really did like them. The flashy colors, the bombastic action; it was a whole lot of fun when I was young. When I was a kid, the Original Trilogy was a lot slower, and I did not understand them as much. Slower lightsaber fights, more talking than action; almost the opposite of what the Prequels turned out to be (other than all of the fun trade-dispute discussions, of course). Regardless, watching the Original Trilogy and the Prequel trilogy was a big part of my childhood. As I got older, more recently, I started to look at these trilogies from a more critical perspective.
As I matured, so did my love of Star Wars. My feelings toward these trilogies kind of reversed (I thought of the card game ‘Uno’ when I typed the word ‘reversed’. Is, is that still relevant? The family-oriented card game Uno?) I started to enjoy the Original Trilogy because of the depth of the characters and the story, while I came to realize the Prequel Trilogy was flashier with less substance. However, regardless of ranking and quality of every second of every Episode, I have enjoyed every Star Wars film released, and I always wondered as a kid what a sequel to Return of the Jedi would be. As a matter of fact, when I was a kid, I wrote a little comic book called ‘Episode 7 – The Return of Darth Vader.’ It was about Darth Vader coming back and being evil again and it was this whole thing (thankfully that’s not the route that Disney took with their sequels).
Since the start of the Sequel Trilogy, I have enjoyed these films. The Force Awakens is one of my favorite Star Wars Episodes, even though it’s not a perfect movie. Regardless of some of its critiques, one thing I always notice after watching it is how much fun I had. This is one thing that I think is a theme throughout all of the films: they are fun. Sure, they all have problems, and they all aren’t perfect movies, but I have fun every time I watch a ‘Star War.’ We also know how much some people dislike The Last Jedi, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t grinning ear-to-ear when Yoda and Luke where back together, or when that ship went light-speed through the bigger ship (“There’s always a bigger fish” – Liam Neeson from Taken).
Now, not every film is without problems, and the Sequel Trilogy has had its fair share. From the start, there has clearly not been a singular vision. Too many cooks in the kitchen, the new trilogy does not feel all that cohesive. The ideas brought to us in The Force Awakens seemed to go in a totally different direction in The Last Jedi. This makes it rather hard for The Rise of Skywalker to stick the landing; especially since it is being referred to as the ‘Finale in the Skywalker Saga.’
Having said this, I often think about what I mentioned earlier, how fun the movies are. The Prequel Trilogy does not feel that cohesive either, but I still have fun every time I watch them. I think that is all that I am hoping for from The Rise of Skywalker. Hoping for one movie to wrap up over 40 years of storytelling might be asking quite a lot. I remember when I first saw The Force Awakens how happy and excited everyone was. I remember waiting in line outside my local theater with some of my best friends. I remember how pumped we all were when the opening crawl appeared, and how everyone cheered when the Millennium Falcon was revealed on screen. An experience like this is one I’ll never forget, and is one of the main reasons I am so excited to see The Rise of Skywalker tonight. I’ll get to see a movie event with some of my family and a bunch of excited fans to celebrate something we love: Star Wars.
Let’s have fun.
Shedroom Entertainment 