Star Wars - Skywalker Saga Ranking Part 1 - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 38) 🌠
(**disclaimer: the
following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them -
film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there
are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some
thoughts....**)
The framing
of this list is deliberate. I’m not out here trying to say that the order in
which I have ranked these films is somehow right or objectively the best. This
is my list, so I make the rules. Taking things like construction, plot and direction
into consideration, much of the criteria that went into this ranking also related
to investment and visceral instinct of what was more enjoyable to watch.
#9. The Phantom Menace – Episode I (1999)
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| Source: IMDB |
This film had
a lot of issues, the most significant of which was how baggy and awkward it was.
The story of two Jedi escaping a hostile blockade by the Trade Federation and
discover a young boy who could be the ‘Chosen One’ to bring balance to the Force.
But the ancient Sith have resurfaced to restore the dark side to its former
glory. That plot description made this first prequel chapter sound way more exciting
than it actually was. Not much really happened beyond Naboo’s liberation from the
awful, power-hungry Trade Federation, and everything lacked a lot of energy. Jar
Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) would have been fine as a periphery, but he talked way
too much and caused way too much trouble to the point where he was largely cringey
and annoying. Little Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) was adorable, young Queen Padme
Amidala (Natalie Portman) was great and Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla August) was a
loveable mother figure. Unfortunately it was all weighed down with boring
writing and pacing. Not even a cool lightsaber fight between Jedi’s Qui-Gon Jinn
(Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and the underused Sith villain
Darth Maul (Ray Park) could save the majority of this film from being plain
forgettable.
#8. Attack of the Clones – Episode II (2002)
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| Source: IMDB |
Ten years
after their first meeting, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Padme have
a secret romance whilst Obi-Wan investigates an assassination attempt on the now
senator of Naboo and discovers a secret clone army ordered for the Jedi. The second
prequel chapter was still baggy and very slow, but had more of a complete and
even compelling storyline than its predecessor. There were more good ideas that
were inconsistently executed, and the finished cut was simply too long. The
contentious and confusing characterisation of teenage Anakin was hard to get
past; his stubborn petulance was somewhat adorable when he was nine, but now that
he’s more grown up it was more annoying than anything else. Padme’s wardrobe
was brilliant throughout, but her storyline was slightly underwhelming. The
birth of ‘Anidala’ was cringey but sort of cute, and Padme’s headstrong nature especially
in the final fight sequence was really cool to watch; but her arc could have been
improved. New villain Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) had a formidable and
complex storyline, and his fight against Yoda (Frank Oz) was really cool to
watch. The most interesting parts were Obi-Wan’s arc and the mysterious discovery
of the Clone Army in terms of catapulting the plot along, as well as the
colourful and dynamic final battle sequence on Geonosis. But Lucas’ writing
issues once again created another largely forgettable installment.
#7. The Rise of Skywalker – Episode IX (2019)
 |
| Source: IMDB |
It’s frustrating
how low this film ended up in the ranks because that’s a reflection of how much
wasted potential director/co-writer J. J. Abrams and his creative team encased in
their final installment of the Skywalker Saga. Its plot was a
colossal disappointment; not only a frustrating conclusion to forty years of stories
but also underwhelming for all the characters involved. The main frustration
was figuring out why Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) needed to return at all;
there was literally no reason for it. The potential for a wild, intense, dark, non-Force
using villain was there with General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) looking like a
mafia lord with basically nothing to do, and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) was also still
kicking around for two thirds of the film back on his mask-wearing rage. Adding in the Palpatine storyline and
General Pryde (Richard E Grant) stacked the plot with too many villain figures
and threw the balance right off.
Following her impact in Episode VIII, Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) were criminally underused; and Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) didn’t get the complex and compelling storylines both of them deserved. Even the stuff they put effort into was mismanaged! The clumsy development of what was supposed to be the climax of this tension between ‘Force dyad’ Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo/Ben Solo made everything feel surface-level and there was no room for emotional resonance despite Ridley and Driver's great performances. It doesn’t make sense that Ben had no dialogue in the last twenty minutes, and there was nowhere near enough emotional buildup for that kiss to be properly meaningful. The final reveal of Rey Skywalker was also very peculiar and didn’t really make sense. Organa or Solo would have made more sense if denying her misguided Palpatine birth was Plan A, but ending the series with Rey from Nowhere would have been so much more powerful, inspiring and fulfilling. TROS had plenty of good ideas in isolation and was entertaining enough to be more compelling than both Episodes I and II, but a safe and convoluted plot despite standard visual spectacle served to create a majorly disappointing letdown.
〰〰〰
The fact that
these three films are the bottom of the barrel does not mean that the cast did
a poor job. Everyone did a great job with the lemons they were given; whether that was in the
late 90’s or 2019. Much of the issues that pushed these ones down were in relation to these are to
do with pacing, story or frustrating character issues. However, it was after
this point that the ranking process got harder….
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