Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Ranking the Star Wars Movies

#12: Attack of the Clones: This one is probably the worst written in terms of a dialogue. This is easily the worst structured of the prequels. Count Dooku as the main threat doesn't really show up and impact the plot until about the last twenty minutes. Perhaps this movie's biggest fail is in its depiction of Anakin Skywalker. The last thing I would have expected was a whiny, bratty emo teen. That's not exactly the best to showcase a character the original trilogy built up as a legend.

#11: The Phantom Menace: Yes, Jar-Jar is annoying. But, I will be a little more forgiving of him because he was always intended to be a side character where Anakin Skywalker was meant to be the main focus of the prequel trilogy. This movie isn't dead last because Darth Maul is awesome, and the lightsaber battles are pretty cool. What sinks it so low for me is the political dialogue. It's just so boring that I can't really bring myself to care about trade federations and taxes in a Star Wars movie.

#10: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: This was probably the most difficult movie for me to rank. It was originally intended to be the first couple of episodes of the Clone Wars television series. Instead they were edited together into a feature film. If I judge it based on the original intent, I think it's decent enough. If I judge based on what it actually is, I would have to be little harsher. Balancing the two out, I think number 10 out of 12 is probably the best placement for me to give it.

#9: Revenge of the Sith: As much as I honestly do enjoy Revenge of the Sith, I still can't quite call it a good movie. The writing and dialogue is still pretty cheesy. Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman still have no chemistry together. That said, Hayden Christiansen's acting is better in this one. I'm not so much talking about when he speaks. I am more talking when he has to do a lot of facial acting.

#8: The Rise of Skywalker: Personally, I wrestled with the placements of numbers 8 and 9 in my ranking. I gave Rise of Skywalker the slight edge because I think it's a little bit better quality of a movie. For my money, What I liked in this movie, I really. What I didn't like in this movie I had a very meh reaction too. It isn't anything mind blowing, but it was a decent enough adventure.

#7: Solo: A Star Wars Story: I think number 7 is a perfect placement for this movie. I don't see this as anything grand or epic. At the same time, I don't think that was necessarily the point. This was just a fun heist adventure following a young Han Solo.

#6: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: What I appreciate the most about Rogue One is the movie's willingness to take risks. On top that, this movie has the absolute best Darth Vader scene in all of Star Wars, and I really do mean that. The characters are serviceable enough, and they are kind of what hold this movie back from the top five for me.

#5: The Force Awakens: I love the new characters that were introduced here, and was interested to see where things were going to go from here. The reason I can't quite place it any higher this is because is does borrow a lot of the same story beats as A New Hope. 

#4: The Last Jedi: Welp, here goes my most controversial opinion. Yes, I loved The Last Jedi. I appreciated some of the chances it took. That said, the social commentary message and the casino sub plot are the one element you won't hear me argue with this movie's haters about. Where I honestly think this movie excels is in the stuff with Rey and Kylo Ren, and Luke.

#3: Return of the Jedi: I'm kind of lukewarm on the Ewoks. I don't love them. I don't hate them. I kind of understand what Lucas was trying to do, and I'm glad this movie was made during that point in time when people actually could rein him. It also helps that he didn't direct this movie either. It has a few more noticeable flaws for me, but I still think it serves a perfect cap-off for one of the all-time great movie trilogies.

#2: A New Hope: Even after forty years, the very first movie still ranks near the top of the list. I will say the lightsaber action isn't particularly refined in this one. There is also a sense of just getting to know the characters in this movie. It kind of feels standard from a character standpoint. Don't get me wrong, they are amazing. A lot of that comes down to the charisma of the actors.

#1: The Empire Strikes Back: Empire took what was good about A New Hope and amped it up. This movie changed the trajectory of the original trilogy. What started out in something as a standard black and white, good vs. evil story suddenly enters a bit of gray area.

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