Star Wars Anticipation

I just wanted to throw out some thoughts before I see “The Rise of Skywalker” this weekend.

I’m sure I’ve told this story before on this blog, but I’m using it to drive home a different point this time.  In 2005 I attended the “Star Wars Celebration III” convention in Indianapolis.  George Lucas was there for a special interview and Q&A session, but we weren’t planning to see it.  Not that we didn’t want to, it’s just that we didn’t want to try to compete with the more hardcore fans.  See, the line to see Lucas started the day before the convention.  Hundreds of fans stayed up overnight, standing outside in the freezing rain, just to make sure they got seats for the show.  We weren’t that crazy.

The morning of the convention, we got there early, and got in line.  If you’ve never been to the Indiana Convention Center, it’s connected to some of the surrounding buildings by skywalks.  Which means there are multiple ways to get into the building, and we picked the wrong one.  Or, as it turns out, the right one.  We were standing in a crowd of people in one of the skywalks, waiting for the gates to open, when the convention employees started shouting, “This way, people!”  Totally confused, we were herded like cattle through the skywalk, into the upper floor of the convention center, and into an auditorium. 

When we realized that this was the auditorium for the Lucas interview, we were just giddy.  We hadn’t even bought our tickets yet.  We could have walked in from the street, with no intention of going to the convention, and seen George Lucas for free.  It was amazing.

The interview with Lucas was interesting, but I don’t remember much about it.  I remember more about the Q&A afterward.  It was just a few weeks before “Revenge of the Sith” came out, so lots of people asked questions about it.  There was this one kid who rather boldly asked if Episode III was going to be exciting like Episode II, or if it was going to be boring like Episode I.  Actually, I think the phrase he used was “in depth”, but the rest of the audience let out a sort of gasp/groan that indicated they knew exactly what the kid was really trying to ask.  Basically, was Episode III going to be as bad as Episode I?

Lucas took it in stride, and he said something I’ll never forget.  He said that for years, he’d always imagined that it would take three movies to tell Darth Vader’s origin story.  But when he finally sat down and started planning out the prequels, he realized that the story would only take two movies.  So he decided to make Episode I more of a bonus story, a nice way to introduce audiences to Anakin as a child, and give some background to the universe.  So there you have it, straight from George’s mouth – Episode I is basically just filler. 

But here’s the thing… At least he did sit down to plan them in advance.  Because that’s how you do a trilogy.  Before you start writing the first script, you outline all the major events of the trilogy, so you don’t set anything up you can’t resolve later.  Say what you will about George Lucas, but at least he planned ahead.

I actually enjoyed The Last Jedi.  I loved the visuals, and it had some great moments.  But my biggest complaint was that it just didn’t feel epic.  It felt like a mid-season filler episode from a Star Wars TV series, rather than part of a movie trilogy.  I kept wondering how these events affected the trilogy as a whole.  It just didn’t feel like it moved the trilogy forward.  Even now when people ask me if I liked TLJ, it’s still hard to answer.  Because I’m not even sure how I feel until I see Episode IX.  As a stand-alone Star Wars movie, TLJ is a fun diversion.  As part of a trilogy?  I don’t know…  Surely there’s a point to it?  Surely it was setting up a lot of pins for Episode IX to knock down?

…Except it wasn’t.  So many articles and interviews have since revealed that this trilogy was written one piece at a time.  It’s like that campfire game where you pass the flashlight around, and whoever has the flashlight continues the story where the last person left off.  If you’re going to do that, fine, but don’t call it a trilogy.  That is not how you make a trilogy.  I repeat, THAT IS NOT HOW YOU MAKE A TRILOGY.  You don’t let one director set up challenges for another director to solve.  You don’t casually dismiss plot threads that were carefully set up in the previous movie.  Episodes 7 through 9 are a trilogy in the same way the first three Jurassic Park movies are a trilogy.  Even the Matrix trilogy tells a more cohesive story than the current Star Wars trilogy.

I’ve already read a spoiler-free advance review of The Rise of Skywalker, and it does sound like they managed to wrap things up neatly.  If true, good for them.  But whatever time Rise of Skywalker spends cleaning up TLJ’s messes is time that could have been spent on original content.  I’m going to go into this with an open mind, but I’m still furious that they didn’t plan out the trilogy in advance.

They’re already discussing the next Star Wars trilogy (though I’m sure that depends on how well Episode IX does).  Great.  Good or bad, I’ll take all the Star Wars they want to give me.  I honestly don’t see myself ever giving up on the series.  But please, please, please let them have learned from their mistakes.  Please let them outline this set in advance.  I don’t mind non-numbered Star Wars one-shots, and I hope Disney starts allowing them again.  But numbered Star Wars movies should feel epic.  If you call it a trilogy, please make it a trilogy.

I'm begging you.