One thing I’ve learned: when a new Star Wars movie drops the mega-fans say it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever seen. They said that about the Phantom Menace too. Give it a month after release and see what people who aren’t getting an adrenaline rush from seeing it think.
I liked both The Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens.
The Phantom Menace is certainly dry as toast, but it looked and felt like a Star Wars movie. I’m not ‘crazy’ about it and warned people that it was mediocre at best when it came out, but I wasn’t as repulsed by it as I was after sitting through Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (those were downright horrible).
The Force Awakens was done well. It was exactly as I expected ... a predictable nostalgia trip with new characters. I enjoyed it and continue to enjoy it when its on. I don’t think people understand how badly the prequels damaged the Star Wars brand ... That’s why they had to play it safe and use a known formula to win over the general public. It’s a great movie that helps to forget about life for two hours.
The new one had better take some risks though ... If it’s a rehash of The Empire Strikes Back, nothing is going to save it. This “middle” chapter is very critical this time around since they gave Rey all sorts of powers with no explanation in The Force Awakens.
I was quite hyped up at the time, but from the moment the credits rolled I was criticizing it to my fanboy heart's content.
Force Awakens was different. While (very) derivative of Ep. 4, it was still far better than any of the prequels. Here's hoping #VIII is great....