Sequel trilogy vs. prequel trilogy

[Yukaphile]

I've found the music in the sequels to be uninspiring, the few times I checked them out. And you can't blame Williams. His music always fit the mood, so it put a big, visible target on how they are humdrum, to be kind.

[Mecha82]

Why I doubt that you actually watched those movies instead of just some clips from those.

[Yukaphile]

I've said I watched clips. But even back in 2016, I wanted to see what amazing, new, memorable music Williams brought to the fore, figuring I could at least enjoy that. I couldn't even get past the introductory stuff, it felt too much like music from the Harry Potter movies. Even the prequels had a better musical score.

[Simplicius]

The prequels are great. On a subjective, emotional, level they're wonderful. I was exactly the right age for them and they were exactly the right thing for me; colourful laser swords, weird and wonderful aliens, interesting and varied settings and costume, big and bold theatricality and emotional depth (especially Revenge of the Sith).

Objectively, they're not plotted thoughtfully, some of the effects have aged poorly and Anakin's arc is, effectively, botched (to this end, a viewer is actually best off skipping Attack of the Clones and just watching the 2003 (?) Clone Wars mini series). They also create serious continuity problems for the Original Trilogy but that film series has its own continuity issues so, in a relative sense, the problem is that big of a deal.

The sequels suck, in a major way. They're a soft reboot (the worst of both worlds), a the result of a naked corporate cash grab (discontinuing the Legends continuity positively wreaks) and even their few interesting ideas are continuously diminished.

To develop that last point consider the following:

• The "Nazis in Argentina" First Order idea exists on paper. In execution, they're just a new skin for the Empire.
• Ex-Stormtrooper Finn is a child soldier who, according to The Last Jedi, needs to learn that war and child slavery are bad. The revelation that Stormtroopers might be three-dimensional human beings, pressed into service and deserving of sympathy ... is immediately binned. Finn, himself, is a comedy goofball (former janitor, for reasons that continue to elude me) whose arc was repeated across the first to films before morphing into a mystery box for the third.
• For all its obsession with and talking up of diversity, Finn and Poe are both sidelined in favour of our white principals. Rey essentially has no character and, yes, I am one of those people who looks at Kathleen Kennedy and the - now five - films she's produced that each revolve around a brunette woman, with suspicion.

Other than that, it's so blatantly obvious that the makers of these films don't even understand Star Wars. I am still deeply confused as to why the discourse is obsessed with a bold and interesting it was for The Last Jedi to make it so that everyone could be a Jedi ... like, what? A random kid at the end is Force-sensitive and Rey's parents are nobodies.

Watch the Original Trilogy. We've got nothing on Obi-Wan's parents. Nothing on Vader's parents. Nothing on Yoda's parents. Nothing on the Emperor's parents. Only one of the trilogy's five active force-users has inherited his powers.

As for the prequels, they spell out quite clearly that anyone could happen to be a Jedi.

Here's my interpretation of how the discourse played out:

TFA: "Ooh, who are Rey's parents? Where does she get for Force powers from? Why does Han bond with her so quickly? Why does Leia seem to know who she is?"
Fans: "Here's a bunch of theories on how those questions could be answered!"
TLJ: "Why do all you stupid fanboys think Rey's parents have to be someone special?! The answer to all those questions we posed was 'who fucking gives a shit, lol'."
Fans: "Um, but you encouraged us to speculate?"
TROS: "Ha ha, double fuck you! Her parents are nobodies but her grandfather ... woo boy! This was all totally planned from the beginning and is a satisfying answer to all the questions we posed and definitely justifies using the name 'Skywalker' in the title."

There's nothing like any of that in the prequels. Look at the points of comparison:

• The prequels gave us great new duels with various characters, the sequels gave us the same duel three times (more like two and a half) in a row.
• The prequels' answer to Boba Fett is Jango Fett, with three cool action set pieces (four if you include Zam's chase) and plot relevance. The sequels' answer was the useless go-nowhere character of Captain Phasma, wasting a great actress and an interesting antagonist for Finn (though that's par for the course, with Finn).
• The prequels gives us a look at the Jedi at the height of their power, two visually interesting factions and a coherent narrative. The sequels gives us new skins for the OT factions, retreads of the OT's characters and a narrative that is incoherent and literally at odds with itself.

I could go on but this is already stupidly long.

[Yukaphile]

I also find it entirely eyerolling what those working on the franchise now say about the fans. For businessmen, which is what they are, soulless businessmen selling to the masses, they are NOT very good at it. It's like Kennedy not really answering the question about the fans being upset about the EU issues, and she just kinda skims over all of it and gives a safe, political answer that's honestly open to interpretation, with a few lies thrown in. Same with Abrams blaming "the fans" for the bullying of Kelly Marie Tran, when honestly, of the Legends fandom which I belong to, Facebook, Discord, and YouTube channels, were calling it out... some more than others, admittedly, but at the same time, I myself was appalled by the insults hurled and also take pride that I never bullied the actors that way. Ever. Calling out said online haters is a good idea. Blaming it on such a far-reaching term like "the fans" encourages fan division. He said we should love a story simply because it has the Star Wars label slapped on it. Johnson calls anyone who doesn't like his work "man-babies." Hell, Pablo Hidalgo calls those who want Old Republic material Trump voters. They want to address the toxic elements of fandom, but are never articulate, so that it comes off as them attacking the whole group. I've seen the articles. I could go on and on and on and on. It's really sad. You're a representative of the company, so fucking act like it. That won't sit well with normies... and that's who they want to sell this stuff to. As I had said, they are VERY incompetent businessmen. Is it a thing with left-wingers? Really? Because as bad as they are, I can't see right-wing businessmen being this stupid in selling the product.

[McAvoy]

Both have their pros and cons over each other.

Prequels flow better as a trilogy than the Sequels.

Sequels have better dialogue. Better acting with the exception of Hux.

Outside Jar Jar and poor dialogue/acting for Anakin, thd Prequels did better with their characters.

SFX definitely sequels. It's not just the advantage of superior CGI tech, but unlike prequels where some of it looks dated, the Sequels will hold up better.

Character motivations in the prequels were more clear though how Anakin's motivations was bad.

Lightsaber battles were better in the prequels. Sequels seemed go off of the original trilogy, like they were welding heavy powerful weapons. Whereas the prequels seemed to fight like they weighed nothing.