Don't blame the negative reception on nostalgia

Rating: 5/10 (5 August 2014)

I have come across people who claim everyone just doesn't like the Star Wars prequels because it's cool to hate them or that the Red Letter Media reviews conditioned them to or that they're too blinded by their nostalgia of the original trilogy to give them a chance. Well, when I grew up in the 1990s/early 2000s, I never saw the original trilogy. In fact, my first Star Wars film was The Phantom Menace (1999), now the most infamous of the entire saga. My younger sister bought the DVD and we sat down to watch it.
Even at age nine, it was one of the most boring experiences of my movie-going existence and killed all of my interest in Star Wars until I saw the original trilogy in high school. Watching TPM once again at age twenty, it's even more painful than I remembered.
The accusations made against this film are 100 percent true. The actors never emote, the effects are over-the-top (and have dated worse than the models and matte paintings in the original trilogy, I may add), and the script is laughably bad. The whole thing is more spectacle than story. And while that's not a terrible thing in and of itself (the spectacle-heavy Metropolis (1927) wasn't exactly Shakespeare), the fact that the characters are so boring, the writing so uninspired- it's such a chore to sit through!
Most importantly, it's just no fun. I admit the original trilogy is not perfect, not at all. The acting could be hokey, some of the light sabers fights were poorly choreographed, the writing was sometimes weak, and Return of the Jedi (1983) was a lackluster conclusion. But you know what? At least the actors expressed emotions and felt like people. At least the light saber fights and X-wing battles didn't last three hours and wear out their welcome. At least there was heart in the stories, even if plot elements like Leia being Luke's sister were left undeveloped or characters like Boba Fett wasted. I can forgive all that, because I have an emotional attachment to the characters and the movies are ultimately a blast to watch.
If you like the prequels or TPM, then that's okay. I'm actually happy you were able to enjoy them, because I wish I could have too. But don't accuse the people who dislike them of doing so because of nostalgia or it's supposedly fashionable. I disliked this one before I ever watched the older films and fell in love with them, and I still don't care whether it's cool to like or dislike certain movies.