Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Ranked
Back in 2012, Disney acquired the rights to Star Wars. And in 2015 Disney produced their first Star Wars movie The Force Awakens, and in 2019 we saw the end to the trilogy with The Rise of Skywalker. And I want to do my first Star Wars ranking with the sequel trilogy.
3. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: For me this is easily the weakest of the trilogy. I enjoy this movie, I don’t hate the movie the way some people do. But...I do think this is a deeply flawed movie. The movie doesn’t feel as epic as I think the movie should, it tries to have a lot of these big epic moments in the movie, but doesn’t land with most of it. There are a bunch of moments in the third act that if I described them to you they sound awesome, but in the actually movie they just come off as generic moments. Also, since J.J. Abrams didn’t get to direct The Last Jedi, this is flawed because of that. Rian Johnson took everything that was set-up in the The Force Awakens and threw it out to make the Last Jedi, and the Abrams decided that all of the stuff that Johnson threw out is important stuff in this movie. The movie has so much going on but since it has to do so much none of the plot lines are developed enough. I thought the plot line with Finn learning that there are other like him is the best example of that. Like I said, I enjoy this movie, I still like the characters, there is some cool action, and it can have some nice humor in the movie. And, this is easily the weakest of the trilogy, and a big disappointment.
2. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi: One of the most divisive movies of all time, and I’m on the positive side of it. This I think is the best looking Star Wars movie with the visual effects that no other Star Wars movie has been able to look as good as this one. Even with the colors in the throne room sequence with Rey and Kylo Ren, one of the best scenes in any Star Wars movie. The themes about fallen heroes and legacy work in this movie. I think the movie moves pretty quickly it doesn’t take to long in between action scenes and when there isn’t action it is funny. So a lot of things about this movie that I actually enjoy. But the movie has big issues with the Finn and Rose casino plot line feels weird and they didn’t need to go on this big long journey to find this person, it could have been much shorter. And the sequence doesn't fit with Star Wars or with this movie. Also, plot line with Poe and Admeral Haldo doesn’t work because Haldo is written to be very unlikeable for this movie, I like Laura Dern but she was wasted in this movie. And, in the third act you have Luke tricking Kylo Ren with Luke not really being there, cool moment. But that means that we never got to see full old man Luke dueling with lightsaber. I enjoy a lot of things about this movie but it also has a number of things that could be improved upon.
1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens: Easily the best movie in this trilogy for me. This is one of the most fun movies in the Star Wars franchise where it just moves so quickly from a action scene to chase to action scene and it’s movie that I’m never bored with. This might also be the funniest Star Wars movie where every 2ish minutes there is a joke that happens and it makes me laugh. J.J. Abrams is really good at making these fun action adventure movies and this is a perfect example of that. I enjoy all of the characters that are in this movie, they are different and have a nice chemistry amongst them. I liked what they did with Finn, where he’s a good guy that left the First Order and being a Stormtooper. That is something that we haven’t really seen in a Star Wars movie of T.V. show. Rey is a fun character because she’s the first female Jedi that is a main character and her unknown backstory is something that adds some mystery in this movie. It’s a lot of fun to see Han Solo, Leia, and Chewie back on the big screen in a new adventure. I enjoy the twist involving Kylo Ren and Han Solo, I didn’t see it coming and worked for Kylo Ren’s character arc through-out this trilogy. I’ve seen a lot of people on the internet say that this movie copies the structure of A New Hope, and I have never noticed that, and it certainly isn’t an issue with this movie. This movie is fun, has great characters, and nice twists and turns, and that is what I want in a Star Wars movie.
That is my ranking of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. In 2021, I do plan on ranking all 12 of the theatrical released Star Wars movies.
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