Nope, Never Seen It: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
At the end of my original trilogy review, I wrote that I considered myself more of a Trekkie because I claimed to not be into these “war movies”. It’s been almost a year and I have yet to watch Star Trek.
Over the past several months, I gained an unexpected appreciation for Star Wars. It reignited my love for Carrie Fisher, who I already adored since I saw her roast George Lucas at his AFI tribute for her unabashed sense of grace. I finally understood the appeal of Mark Hamill outside of him being The Joker on Batman The Animated Series, as he plays his on- and off-screen roles with his trademark sense of earnestness.
Not only was I happy that I finally understood the iconography of the franchise, but I was fascinated by its themes- from the idea of the Force symbolizing the intuitive connection between others to Luke’s journey to becoming a hero.
When the sequel trilogy came out, I remember everyone around me freaking out over one big event after the other. For years, the fans were joyous, outraged, and eventually exhausted by whatever happened in those films and how it affected their love for the original trilogy. During that time, I went along my business as usual, as none of this carried much meaning for me. Eventually I was thrown into the mix when the discourse was particularly mixed, but I’ll get to that later. In the end, I had to see what the fuss was all about.
THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
To me, watching this film was like seeing a guy put on someone else’s skin and walk around like nothing happened. That’s the only way I can explain it. Seeing the iconic features of the Star Wars franchise being dangled in the audiences’ faces like keys to a baby, from the Millennium Falcon to TIE fighters, I felt condescended to.
Despite that, I was surprised by how much I liked the new characters. I adored Daisy Ridley as Rey, as she was perhaps more stoic and poised than Luke but she still had a sense of inherent goodness. I found her discovery of the force with Anakin’s lightsaber to be particularly fascinating, as the way director J.J Abrams chose to visualise her newfound connection with the force and pairing it with her painful childhood memories helped me understand why Rey is both fascinated by and resistant to it.
I don’t understand why people say that Rey was simply too overpowered to exist. The film clearly establishes that she was a drifter since childhood, and she had to gain skills to survive in such a harsh landscape completely on her own. I do think misogyny and the overall lack of lead female characters like Rey contributes to this confusion. She didn’t exist to cater to the male gaze, she just literally does her thing and doesn’t pay much mind to it because it’s just how she lived her life.
Even when the trailer came out, I was intrigued by the concept of Finn’s character- a former child soldier who now had to find a new identity after being indoctrinated into the fascist Stormtroopers. John Boyega played this role with a strong yet boyish flair, and I think this is the best depiction of the character for reasons I’ll get to later.
I heard a lot about the shared chemistry between Poe (the charming Oscar Issac) and Finn. I didn’t think much of it before, but now I completely understand why people think that they should have developed a romantic arc. The chemistry between Boyega and Issac was undeniable.
I think Kylo Ren is the perfect villain for a Star Wars sequel film. A Darth Vader wannabe who can’t control his temper tantrums- that’s a good chunk of the Star Wars fandom in a nutshell! It’s clear to see why Adam Driver is the standout of the sequel trilogy as far as acting goes. He masterfully combines Kylos’s intimidating presence and his pathetic sense of entitlement.
THE LAST JEDI (2017)
This is the one I really wanted to talk about.
When this Rian Johnson-directed film came out, I was a fan of particularly infamous Youtube film reviewers who were, to put it nicely, not fans of the movie. At a time when I was less confident in my own thoughts, I wholly believed that The Last Jedi was a failure solely because they said so. How could I not believe them? They’ve actually seen Star Wars! Even if they didn’t, they clearly were better at noticing flaws in it than I ever could. As a result, I committed the sin of calling a film trash before even watching it.
Boy, was I proven wrong.
I was captivated by the very first scene. It focused not just on the main characters we met on The Force Awakens but on a previously unknown pilot who narrowly gives the Resistance a win at the price of her own life. That amount of pathos portrayed in the sacrifices of not just that pilot but also the countless lives in these wars was something I felt was missing from this franchise — the fruitless endeavor of achieving victory in a war. That’s pretty bold for an escapist fantasy franchise literally called Star Wars.
I never felt as validated as I did when I realized that the people who would not shut up about how irredeemably awful The Last Jedi was were simply incorrect. At the very least, I strongly disagreed with their opinion and I failed to see why they were so convinced that they were right.
Of course people have the right to dislike a film from a franchise they loved since childhood, but with that love carries an unshakeable bias based in nostalgia.
I completely disagree with the idea that Luke Skywalker’s character wasn’t the same person as he was in the original movies. While he was a noble hero who fought to preserve the goodness of his seemingly irredeemable father, he was also a stubborn, angry, and traumatized young man. I thought it was totally natural for that young man to grow up into a recluse who lost faith, especially with what he went through during the wars and what was revealed about his actions in the events before the film.
Also there’s nothing wrong with Rose Tico. The amount of hate that character got and the harassment Kelly Marie Chan received for playing her is extremely shameful. Sure her line “We’re not fighting for what we hate, but saving what we love” sounds goofy on the surface, but wasn’t that literally what Luke was doing at the end of Return of the Jedi? I will never understand the hate.
With all this, along with the gorgeous cinematography, The Last Jedi is my favorite Star Wars film so far. My only flaw is that it put John Boyega’s Finn in the backburner for the sake of the admittedly compelling subplot with Rey, Kylo Ren, and Luke. That really is a shame and I wish he was prioritized more in these movies.
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019)
One word: yikes.
For me, seeing the characters I adored in the previous two films sidelined to make room for the two main characters was disappointing. Particularly for Finn, whose story I felt never reached the conclusion it was meant to. Boyega opened up about his perspective in a GQ article, particularly with the harsh truth behind what went wrong and how he was treated as a Black man by Disney. One thing is for certain, he and Tran definitely deserved better. Star Wars fans of color deserved better.
I gotta be honest I don’t have a lot to say about this one except it was a cowardly move to revert back to the unapologetic optimism of The Force Awakens. Watching Luke basically reject his justified lack of hope in this film was saddening. It was cool to see certain characters from the past come back, but ultimately the film looked pretty but left me feeling hollow.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about the sequel trilogy as a whole. While it was lovely seeing Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and the late Carrie Fisher play these characters again, it didn’t properly serve the new characters it introduced. While there are definitely aspects of it to admire, it is ultimately too fragmented for me to fully appreciate.
