THROWBACK THURSDAY: From A Certain Point of View - The Last Jedi Is Still A Steaming Pile of Bantha Poodoo

With the news of another possible Skywalker trilogy now in the works, I watched all the live-action Star Wars movies in chronological order (Prequels, Solo, Rogue One, Original Trilogy, and Sequels).

I have, of course, watched all of these - except for the most recent trilogy - multiple times, but never in narrative sequence, as one epic story.

Over the years my attitude to the Prequels has changed markedly. Let's be honest here, when I first saw The Phantom Menace - and was still reviewing films for the newspaper I worked for - I absolutely hated it. And I don't use that term lightly.

I slated it in my newspaper review - inspiring an angry letter from a young reader of the paper telling me I didn't "get it" (or words to that effect).

These days I've matured enough to be able to put the films in context and accept that they were George Lucas's vision for the backstory of the Original Trilogy.

Sure, I still have issues with midi-chlorians and Jar Jar Binks... but, honestly, who doesn't?

And the thing about life is that not everyone we meet is a Han Solo or Luke Skywalker. There are Jar Jars out there.

And midi-chlorians? At the time I wrote them off as just a Jedi conspiracy theory that was later disproved. However, I confess, thanks in large part to the elaboration on the concept in The Clone Wars animated series, I'm much more accepting of.

All this got me wondering if, one day, I might shift my position on The Last Jedi.

While The Phantom Menace made a younger me very angry (an emotion that eventually passes), Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi took away all the magic of the Saga and reduced it to just another generic sci-fi franchise.

With its smug, post-modern, subversion of the established mythology, The Last Jedi failed to follow the Star Wars Saga mythic template and tried too hard to deny expectations. 

It's long been my belief that the reason the core Saga has endured is its adherence to mythic tropes and a certain Joseph Campbell-inspired story structure, creating a new mythology for our age. 

Then along comes Rian "I know better" Johnson. Imagine if Tolkien had farmed out the middle third of Return of the King to someone who wrote all his characters as it was Discworld.  

Sure, it'd probably be funny and a quirky take on the proceedings, but it wouldn't be Lord of The Rings.

It's also worth remembering that, whatever you may think of them, the first six movies in the Saga were the product of a single man's vision - George Lucas - but the Sequels were cobbled together by a committee, which threw out George's plans for the final third of his nine-part Skywalker story.

Rogue One and Solo were able to take different approaches to their stories, while staying true to the Star Wars Universe, because they were outside the Saga - showing perfectly how to subvert the expectations created by the Saga. 

So, it's no one particular thing - although there are plenty - that pisses me off about The Last Jedi, it's the film's overall approach to its subject matter.

Oh, yes, Rey's a nobody, that's so clever. But it's not staying true to the established, cyclical mythology.

(I have to wonder, though, why anyone would believe a word Kylo Ren said?)

Sure, the older films can be a bit cheesy, but that's part of their charm and why they have survived in - and infiltrated so deeply - the psyche of the general public.

To many I know the enjoyment bar is set simply at the level of a film being entertaining - and that's how I judge all other films and why I'm quite happy to sit through Sharknado one day and Citizen Kane the next - but since I saw the first Star Wars as a youngling, the franchise has meant something more than a 'simple film' to me.

You read my "Star Wars story" here.

I'm not saying my attachment to Star Wars is any better, or more important, than anyone else's. I'm just explaining why it is so important to me, why Star Wars is the first big film I remember seeing at the cinema and why I chose Rise of Skywalker to probably be the last film I would ever see at the cinema (okay, so it wasn't, but I was making a point at the time).

This is all context as to why I continue to be annoyed by the deliberately contrary writing of The Last Jedi: it induced in me a ridiculous over-reaction, allowing me to buy into the apparent franchise fatigue at the time and question my passion for the goings-on in a galaxy far, far away.

I wasted years (and a lot of money) in the aftermath of The Last Jedi hunting for an alternate geeky franchise, or hobby, to fill that void, when, honestly, I should have stuck with it and realised that Star Wars is bigger than one movie.

It's a mythology. That's why it endures on a level that even other great sci-fi franchises (such as Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Alien) don't.

Where does that leave my feelings about the Sequels?

A major sticking point for the whole of this new trilogy was the disappointing revelation that, despite the major triumph of toppling the Empire at the end of Return of The Jedi, it's now 30 years later and the Empire (albeit renamed The First Order) are still the antagonists.

For me, that immediately undermined the Rebellion's victory in Episode VI.

The Rebellion had fought the Empire for 23 years before their victory over The Forest Moon of Endor, but now it's 30 years later and they're still fighting what is essentially The Empire.

I was really hoping that the Sequel trilogy would have found a different foe for the Rebellion-turned-New Republic to fight... not just carry on fighting the same people they'd fought for decades before.

I never understood why there was still a need for the Resistance/Rebellion in the time of the Sequels. Surely, the Rebellion won at the end of Return of The Jedi and became the New Republic, so the New Republic should be fighting the rise of the First Order (return of the Empire)?

Mixing in a new Resistance just confuses matters unnecessarily, especially as they are part of the ruling body now, so who precisely are they "resisting" or "rebelling against"?

And, on top of that, we had Luke as the last remaining Jedi. I know he had those issues with training Kylo Ren, but really? He really put all his eggs in one basket?

There was no Jedi academy established for all the new padawans who had appeared following the Return of The Jedi (the clue's in the title) and those knights who'd been in hiding since Order 66 (we know there were a number, just look at the epic - and canon - Rebels cartoon for starters)?

And this regressive attitude to the main characters is echoed in the arcs of Han and Leia - neither have progressed in the decades since the events of Return of The Jedi.

Han and Chewie are back as smugglers while Leia is, once again, the leader of an 'underground' rebellion/resistance.

Where has the hope spawned by the victory at the end of The Return of The Jedi gone?

Luke, the Jedi, Leia, Han, and we, the audience, deserve better.

Even though it felt right to bring The Emperor back in The Rise of Skywalker (he could easily have been behind any new foe that Lucasfilm conjured up to face The New Republic), as he had been the galactic-scale Big Bad for the first six episodes, he could have done with some foreshadowing in the two previous films. 

Returning to the point about the work of a "single man's vision", I think the Sequels may have hung together better if JJ Abrams had handled them all, instead of letting Rian Johnson derail the narrative so dramatically that JJ had to do some major course correcting in Rise of Skywalker.

I know he didn't want this task, after The Force Awakens, and other creatives were already working on Episode IX when he was brought in.

This, in part (and the sad passing of Carrie Fisher), explains the choppy nature of Saga's final chapter and why so many plot threads were left flapping in the wind, e.g. just what was Finn trying to tell Rey? I'm guessing that he was Force-sensitive... which, for instance, is why Kylo initially spotted him while he was still a stormtrooper.

And talking of stormtroopers, what was that exchange between ex-trooper Jannah (Naomie Ackie) and Lando at the end of the film? Not only was it a crashing example of clunky dialogue, but it didn't really mean anything without any further context.

And who were all those cloaked people in the amphitheatre on Exegol? Who was crewing all those starships the Emperor created for The Final Order?

As competent as he is as a filmmaker, I'm not convinced JJ ever really truly got Star Wars, while the corporate committee controlling the 'new vision' for the franchise was pulling it in a million different directions at once.

Don't get me wrong, the Sequels - like all the Star Wars films - are gorgeous to look at, and I expected the cyclical nature of the plot (that's the nature of myth), but I was just looking for something more... I don't know... more, Star Wars, I guess, for the stories.

With the publication of The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I - III, author Paul Duncan revealed, from conversations with George Lucas himself, the original plans for the Sequel Trilogy (pre-Disney buy-out):

"Darth Maul and Darth Talon as the villains; Luke rebuilding the Jedi Order from survivors of Order 66; Leia forming the New Republic, becoming the Chosen One.

Lucas said that in his initial sequel plans “Maul eventually becomes the godfather of crime in the universe because, as the Empire falls, he takes over”, adding that Darth Talon would have been the Darth Vader of the sequel trilogy. His trilogy also would have focused heavily on Leia Organa, who would have rebuilt the Republic and ultimately become the Supreme Chancellor and ‘chosen one’.

Luke Skywalker also would have been a big part of the trilogy as he rebuilt the Jedi Order, connecting with hidden survivors of Order 66."

I'm sorry, but that's the Sequels I want to see, but, sadly, know I never will.

Darth Talon, the Twi'lek Sith, first caught George Lucas's eye when she originally
appeared in the Star Wars Legacy comic book series in the mid-2000s

For my personal headcanon, I draw comfort from the comments of Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back:

“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”

I currently view Episodes VII through IX as a "possible" future; the current canon timeline 

moving forward from The Mandalorian.

Now, that's Star Wars created by people who understand Star Wars!