“Attack of the Clones” is the second step in a trilogy that builds towards the original trilogy. It features a reunion of famous characters such as the Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, trapped on planets dominated by CGI. In between many dialogues with explanations and the very cringeworthy romance between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala with them rolling in the grass laughing as the absolute low point of the entire franchise. The film does have a cool arena battle.
Sixteen years after his last “Star Wars” film, George Lucas managed to attract a whole new generation of fans with a prequel. And he wanted it to be epic. He visualized a battle with thousands of robots, an underwater chase with monsters and an aerial car chase. This race is won by young Anakin, who will later become the dark leader Darth Vader, father of hero Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn discovers a lot of force in the boy and sees in him a long awaited leader. It’s not great, it leans mainly on the heavily use of CGI. The highlight of the film is Sith Lord Darth Maul, who only appears in this movie sadly enough.
Since Disney has been in charge of the “Star Wars” universe, every year a new film falls of the assembly line. This self-contained adventure revolves around the early years of smuggler Han Solo. Director Ron Howard turned it into a light-hearted action spectacle. Although the screenplay feels a bit rushed, it’s amusing to see how Han meets his pals Chewie and Lando and acquires the Millennium Falcon. “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is mainly enjoyable for nostalgic reasons.
In the third prequel of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” saga, Anakin Skywalker comes increasingly under the spell of the Dark Side of the Force. Still a bit of romance, but not as focused on like in “Attack of the Clones” thank goodness. It’s pretty cool to see Darth Vader being ‘born’, but it wasn't completely satisfactory.
The Skywalker saga comes to a definitive end in this ninth episode. And it’s good that way, since the Force hasn’t been strong in the story anymore. In terms of action and spectacle, “The Rise of Skywalker” is a good film and is very entertaining. But it lacks a lot. Since it’s predecessor was directed by a different director than “The Rise of Skywalker”, who made a critical choice of killing off the main villain, J.J. Abrams was left without a villain. He came up with an illogical twist by bringing back a well-known character. It’s understandable that he had to go all out, since this is the final film. But it just didn’t work and it angered a lot of fans.
The sequel to “The Force Awakens” was successful. And I liked it more after a second viewing. Characters that we met before, Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn and Po, get more depth. But it’s still Mark Hamill, from the original trilogy, who steals the show. The only thing I didn’t like about this film was the Finn and Rose storyline.
It’s the last film from the original “Star Wars” trilogy. After the empire has hit back hard in the second film, Luke Skywalker will have to confront Darth Vader. If it wasn’t for those damn ewoks, the film would be higher on this list. Otherwise, it’s a good finale to a trilogy.
By now we can all agree that the prequel trilogy unbalanced the “Star Wars” franchise. This was restored by “The Force Awakens”. It’s a great start to a new, long-awaited, trilogy. Officially it’s the seventh part in the saga and it makes you forget about the prequels all together. Thirty-something years after Darth Vader and his Empire were eliminated, a new realm of darkness has emerged The First Order. Meanwhile, Luke has mysteriously disappeared. “The Force Awakens” does nod to the originals films, but in terms of spectacle, humor and adventure it’s its own movie. In the words of Han Solo: ‘Chewie, we’re home’.
Little did director and screenwriter George Lucas know, when he kicked off the franchise in 1977 with “A New Hope”. He was about to create one of the most loved movie franchises ever. Fun fact is that there were many movie companies that expected such a film to flop. But it eventually yielded a good 460 million dollars in the US alone. The culture influences should not be underestimated. Almost everyone knows that The Force is, knows Darth Vader and knows what lightsabers sound like. Even if you didn’t see the films. “A New Hope” is a great first film in a much-loved franchise.
This fantastic sequel to the first ever “Star Wars” film succeeds in surpassing the original. The characters are further elaborated, the special effects are, especially before 1980, really dazzling and the film has an unstoppable speed and is full of adventure and excitement. In this part, Luke Skywalker is further trained by the Jedi Master Yoda, while Han Sola and his mates are engaged in a guerilla war with the Empire. The film has one of the most memorable twist in movie history (which somehow almost everyone quotes wrong).
