I am fed up with all of the hate!!!

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2019)

In 1977, I waited more than a month to see Star Wars. It was playing only in theater where I lived and it was sold out constantly for weeks. When I finally saw it was incredible. I had never been as excited after seeing a movie. The Star Wars saga will always have a place in my heart. I truly love it. I am not a Star Wars geek per se. I dont obsess over the most minuscule details such as names of obscure characters in the universe but no other films mesmerized me as much as the original trilogy. To this day there is NOTHING that I love more than being in a packed theater and seeing "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" and Star Wars blast into the screen with the music by John Williams. I get chills.
I, like many people was disappointed when the prequels came out. The Phantom Menace just wasn't as good as I had hoped. But my love for the is universe never waned. I do agree with the criticism of how George Lucas had decided to focus too much on the political machinations of the senate and trade federation instead of focusing on what made us love Star Wars in the first place. But I never despised the prequels like others did. In fact, I think that Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith is a very worthy Star Wars film. Better than even Return of the Jedi in many ways. But, yes I agree that it misses greatness because of some of the choices that Lucas made. And definitely Attack of the Clones is the worst entry in the series. But again, are they really thst horrible? Or are Star Wars fans just obsessed with hating them because it makes them cool? I don't think that you don't have to love them, but the irrational hatred for these films is ridiculous in my opinion.
Then came the the new sequel trilogy. When The Force Awakens came out I was really excited but did not let myself get my expectations to high. It blew me away!!! It was the Star Wars film I was waiting for!!! It brought back the feeling of the original trilogy. And the new characters looked promising, especially Rey. But then came the haters. Complaining that is was too much like A New Hope blah blah blah. This from many of the same people that hated George Lucas for making the prequel trilogy so different!!! I agree that TFA takes no real chances, and was very heavy on nostalgia, but I loved it. Then Last Jedi came. I didnt love it as much as as TFA but it was great that Rian Johnson took chances and tried to take the series forward in new directions. Yes, I didnt like some of his choices but he tried something different and I admire that. But again came the utter hatred for this film. It is despised as much as any other Star Wars film. I don't get it? These people just can't be pleased. It's as if they just won't like anything no matter what is on the screen. In fact, every time I see The Last Jedi, I like it more, even with the things I don't like.
Sorry for the rant. But reading some of the reviews of theses films in the last 4 years and the blatant hate for them is just pathetic. I finally saw Rise of Skywalker. And I admit i am feeling mixed. I love alot of it, but was disappointed by some of it. It will take a couple more viewings, which I will certainly do to really decide how much I like it. One thing I can say is that JJ Abrams and Disney attempted to appease the haters of Last Jedi. Certain things that Rian Johnson established are pretty much ignored or diminished. JJ Abrams is more interested in respecting Star Wars than taking chances
And that's good and bad. But this film is as good as it could be considering that there was no real vision of what the 3 films were going to be. That is a problem that I have to say. The original plan was to have 3 different directors for each film and that seemed like a good idea. After Last Jedi was so reviled. JJ Abrams was brought back because The Force Awakens was better received. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Abrams seems to LOVE Star Wars and it shows. I believe that is the case with Rian Johnson, but he wanted to take chances that Abrams didn't. I don't talk about spoilers but this film has some really great moments. The new characters have good chemistry. Rey, Poe, and Finn are fun to see. They will never be as beloved as Luke, Han, and Leia but I think they are memorable. The best thing of the first 2 films was Adam Driver as Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. He is terriific here again, his character arc in the 3 films is very satisfying. He is a great villain, yes, but his inner struggles are very engrossing. I wish George Lucas would have payyed more attention to this with a better actor as Anakin. His turn do the dark side needed an actor that had more presence, Hayden Christiansen just didn't have it. It didn't help that Lucas himself admits that he's not an actor's director. Adam Driver nails Kylo Ren.
As in any 3rd part in a trilogy. Rise of Skywalker has alot to deal with because it is a conclusion. And it sometimes is unfocused. But ultimately is a good ending, if not great. I will say that the new sequel trilogy is at the same time better and worse that the prequels. The films are better acted even though yes the dialogue may still be kind of bad, but JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson did get better performances from their cast. The special effects are better and the film rely much less on CGI than Lucas did in the prequels. But they are worse in one sense, they are missing George Lucas. They are certainly Star Wars films with all of the good and the bad, but they lack the singular vision that George Lucas had. Love the prequels or not. Lucas had a vision that was pretty clear. The biggest mistake of the new films is that they didn't have a clear narrative vision. They are films made by good filmmakers that love Star Wars. But was not created by them. Also, Disney wanted this films to be all thing to all people.This is Star Wars, but not made by it's creator. This man created a universe that is so beloved, no other films in history have or will ever match the phenomenon. I love all 9 films. Yes on varying degrees and I do agree that the original trilogy is the one that will live on. But as a film lover there is no better feeling that I have had in these 42 years as a filmgoer than these films.
Grade: B-