Today of course marks the Star Wars-geek holiday of May 4th, with the subtle pun on the well known Star Wars phrase. Being a die-hard Star Wars fan since a young age, I do enjoy all things Star Wars. However, I have over the last year or two rapidly developed a bit of ambivalence to the story, suffering from more than a little overload. Originally, Star Wars and the original trilogy was a simple collection of 3 very good and connected movies – something to share and experience, and expand with your imagination. Then the prequels came out, to fill in the pre-story. Whether you liked them or not, they did provide a useful foundation for some of the characters and storylines.
Now with the acquisition of Star Wars by Disney, Star Wars has had the money-machine turned to high-gear, and we are now getting a new Star Wars movie every 6 months. That is simply too much, too soon – and the quality is starting to suffer.
The Force Awakens was a good movie, taken alone, as was The Last Jedi. However, taken as a series, they have serious flaws resulting from different directors and different views of the story. There are numerous websites and videos talking about the detailed flaws that were made, but the biggest issue to me is the re-write and direction change from the first to the second, and now with talk of undoing those changes back to the original in the 3rd movie. Like them or not, the prequels at least had a consistent story to follow, and are re-watchable from that standpoint. These latest ones cause much more whiplash.
The standalone movies fare a bit better – they are written and intended to be a one shot, self-contained story, rather than an ongoing series. As such, you have a singular vision, which holds it together. And thus far, they are willing to take some more risks. [Spoilers] In the case of Rogue One, all the heroes died at the end. That was surprising, and faithful to the original concept, and a strong statement for the movie. Some of the earlier parts are a bit rough and illogical, and the Star Wars formula is a bit too intact (a strong force-wielder, blind or otherwise, is still a jedi), but overall I consider it a good entry into the greater story. The upcoming Solo movie hopefully will be the same, a consistent story that adds to the content, rather than changes facts for the sake of a new director’s vision.
Maybe I am getting old, or maybe the magic has worn off, but I would like to see Disney slow down, spend the time necessary to do the story and movies right, and produce a quality and consistent product perhaps every 2 years, rather than flood the market with all Star Wars, all the time. In the long run, that would be a much better approach for Star Wars, and would give the movies a much stronger “event” feel.
