Having finally seen Star Wars, The Last Jedi, I have a few thoughts about the entire franchise.
- I’m grateful that I only paid the RedBox fee. Had I paid movie theater prices for that movie, I would have walked out and demanded a full refund.
- I saw enough entertainment in Rogue One to like it as a B-Side Star Wars movie. I wasn’t a fan of the discontinuity of the technology and had a flashback to SpaceBalls while watching it, but as a one off, I was OK with it.
- I thought The Force Awakens was formulaic, and served only the purpose of passing the baton with a copy/paste of the major Episode IV themes. I maintained an optimistic thumbs up, but wasn’t completely sold on the movie.
- The Prequels aren’t as bad as many will say. I watched them all eagerly because it had been so long since there was anything Star Wars, but ultimately they consist of great moments surrounded by mediocre cinema.
- New Hope and Empire Strikes Back are classics that have stood the test of time. Han shot first.
- Return of the Jedi is really good. I would say great, but the ewoks were pretty stupid and watching them win in combat against Imperial Stormtroopers left a sour taste in my mouth. I imagine they were the idea of Kenner toys.
Star Wars is a great trilogy, followed by poor movies. Which actually brings it down to the cultural level of Rocky, which is also a great movie trilogy, followed by movies that may not be up to par, but at least they are better than all Star Wars movies after Return of the Jedi.
If I even bother to see Solo, it will be via RedBox.
