Star Wars Purist

The Prequels just got a whole lot better.

Before The Last Jedi existed the biggest argument among die-hard Star Wars fans was which Prequel movie sucked more.  Thanks to Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson attention and controversy has shifted to the latest installment of the Star Wars Saga, taking away a bulk of the flak the Prequels have endured over the last 19 years and giving them a sort of nostalgic resurgence.

Aside from Johnson and Disney having zero respect for the source material and basically throwing out 40 years of character lore, The Last Jedi just didn’t feel like a Star Wars movie.  The Prequel Trilogy with all its faults – and I know there are many – never felt like anything other than Star Wars.  Throughout The Last Jedi I found myself thinking, “What am I watching?”  During the Prequels, as bad as they were, I never asked that question.  I knew I was watching Star Wars.  There was never a doubt.

Here are a few reasons – some subtle, some not-so-subtle, and some over-the-top – why after The Last Jedi, the Prequels have become more appreciated and if you can believe it, better movies.

Lucas Delivered On The Promises Made Pre-Empire Strikes Back

Did we really need to see a Darth Vader origin story?  Probably not.  But it had been dangled in our faces since Episode IV came out back in 1977.  Rumors of an epic duel between Vader and Kenobi.  Darth Vader slaughtering Jedi.  The Emperor taking complete control of the Galactic Senate.  And prior to Empire Strikes Back, Vader betraying and murdering Luke’s father.

Initially George wanted Star Wars to be a 10 movie series similar to the Flash Gordon serials from the 60’s called The Adventures of Luke Skywalker.  That got shit-canned early on when he began writing the story for Empire and Darth Vader became Luke’s father.  Magically the original movie became Episode IV and a Prequel trilogy was born.

In an early interview Lucas even said Episodes 1 through 3 would be “more political and more expository”.  While most of Lucas’ statements over the years have been inconsistent regarding the history of Star Wars and where he wanted his franchise to go, that statement stuck.  For the next 20 years fans were softened up and prepped through fan speculation, media, the Expanded Universe, and random Lucas interviews for the history of the Skywalker bloodline.  Whatever can be said about George Lucas he delivered on what the fans expected.  Right or wrong this is what the fans wanted and were waiting for.

Lucas Did Not Care What Fans Thought

When critics and fans began the Prequel bashing Lucas didn’t retaliate and attack his fan-base.  He simply said time and time again this was the story he wanted to tell.  He basically said, you don’t like it?  That’s too bad – its my story and my world.

He never explained himself to anyone and not once did he lash out at a majority of his fans.  He didn’t accuse his fans of being racist because Jar-Jar was the most hated character to ever exist in the Star Wars universe and happened to have a Jamaican accent.  He didn’t claim fans were threatened by Queen Amidala’s position of power and strong personality.  He manned up and gave a big F.U. to the world.

George Lucas’ Style as a Director

Love his directorial style or hate it the Prequels were Star Wars.  Although not as obvious as familiar settings, characters, and theme music, Lucas’ movies are visually distinctive.

He used transitional wipes in the original trilogy like a madman and in the Prequels it was no different.  The Phantom Menace had 55 screen wipes (A New Hope, 31) compared to just 12 in The Last Jedi (the lowest of all the Saga films).

Lucas also loved locked-down cameras and wide shots.  Lazy directing?  Maybe, but fans didn’t seem to notice or mind.

After watching the original trilogy over and over for 20 years we were accustomed to see a Star Wars movie shot like this.  Certainly this seeps into the subconscious.

The Last Jedi was beautifully shot.  But it didn’t feel like a Star Wars movie.  Maybe less is more?

Bad Acting and Wooden Dialogue

Lucas had no interest or skill directing actual living and breathing actors.  He lives for story and plot.  Give him a state of the art computer and a design team and he is good to go.  The audience falling in love with the original characters was a testament to the almost perfect story.

The dialogue was campy and so was the acting in the originals (aside from Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing).  The Prequels had even worse acting.  I don’t care how many capable actors were in the Prequels – Portman, Jackson, Neeson, McGregor – it was clear they didn’t believe in what they were doing.  There was no heart behind those characters.  They phoned it in.

Sadly, we’ve become accustomed to expect that from a Star Wars film.

The Prequel Memes are Way Better

Take the green milk creature out of the equation and do we have any good memes from The Last Jedi?  Political and Social notwithstanding.

The Prequels have – The High Ground, Hello There, Sand, I am the Senate, anything Jar-Jar, and that’s just off the top of my head.

I am in a sense thankful for The Last Jedi.  If it wasn’t for The Last Jedi I would have never come to cherish the Prequels like I did the originals.  I can’t wait to watch them post-The Last Jedi.