First off, let me begin by acknowledging that I am sure that I’m “late to the party” as it were in regards to leveling criticism at Star Wars (in truth, this practice started the day after certain fans got their first look at an Ewok). That said, the saga of the Star Wars franchise offers a glimpse into one of the most interesting series of behind-the-scenes decisions to have ever come about in my lifetime. This is a bold statement, no doubt, but one I feel is justified. Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises (film or otherwise) in the world – TV, movies, toys, books, shirts, collectibles, artwork… the list is nigh-limitless. Despite all of this, and the adoration of literal generations of fans, the pristine shimmer of the brand has become tarnished in recent years. Why now and for what reasons? Let’s discuss…
Star Wars History: The Original Trilogy
I’ll keep this section brief as the history of the Star Wars franchise is one of the most well-known and best documented in the film industry. In short, George Lucas wrote and directed this eventual classic based on a multitude of influences from his own childhood – serialized television programs, classic Japanese films, and the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces to name a few. After the industry-defining success of its special effects and storytelling techniques, he followed up on this original vision by releasing two sequels (The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) – neither of which he would direct himself. That said, the basic plotline and arc of the characters in these films were all (to hear him tell it) planned from the beginning. These films were just the second and third acts of Luke Skywalker’s journey, destined from the beginning though not guaranteed. While there has been some debate as to the strength of Jedi when compared to the proceeding films, no one denies that this trilogy constitutes a strong story, well-told.
What followed (cinematically, anyway) was a period of nearly two decades of enshrinement of these films within the public consciousness. They rose to the status of near-perfection as new generations were introduced to their magic. Then, after beginning the never-ceasing quest of continually tinkering with them via various ‘special editions’ (a topic itself full of enough contention as to warrant literal books on the subject), Lucas announced that he would finally be making new films within this universe. To much surprise, these films would not be sequels following up on the adventures of Han, Luke, and Leia, but rather ‘prequels’ (a term which, at the time, was still relatively uncommon) showcasing the downfall of Anakin Skywalker and his decent to becoming Darth Vader.
Star Wars History: The Prequel Trilogy
To even mention the name of the Prequel Trilogy is to invite debate. While divisive upon their initial release, time has only managed to make them more so. Some fans feel that they are the fulfillment of the promise made by Lucas by re-naming his original film “A New Hope,” others that they are a bastardization of all that came before. De-mystifying the force, sterile environments, overuse of CGI – these are but a few of the ocean of complains levied at this trio of films that were once destined to be ‘the chosen ones.’
Despite all of this, a very strong case can be made that these films did no real harm to the Star Wars brand. They introduced tons of new iconography, had some solid performances, inspired debate amongst the fans, and (most importantly) told a cohesive story. With George Lucas back not only in the writer’s chair but the director’s, he was able to tell the story he wanted to with nearly no restrictions – monetarily or otherwise. While many will (perhaps rightly) contend that this lack of creative oversight ended up doing a disservice to the eventual films (Lucas has proven himself much better as the ‘big picture guy’), there is no doubt that this singular voice gave the Prequel Trilogy a true sense of cohesion. Even if you didn’t like the story they were telling, or the way they went about telling it, it was always clear that they were all part of the greater whole – of a larger tale split into three distinctive parts (or six if you, like Lucas, see the entire six-part saga as the story of Anakin’s fall and redemption).
Star Wars History: The Buyout
The final bit of historical context needed before actually reaching the crux of this article is the decision of George Lucas to sell the rights to the Star Wars franchise to Disney. At a price of 4 billion dollars, it’s hard to blame Lucas for getting out of the Star Wars business and into the counting-my-money business – particularly as he had expressed little interest in continuing the film franchise (having felt, for the most part, that the story was completed).
Still, it should come as no surprise that the acquisition of such a famous brand by Disney would inevitably lead to them wanting to capitalize on that investment by creating new content – after all, one can hardly imagine that they paid such a handsome sum for the honor of merely being a custodian in the museum of successes past. The world, then, waited with bated breath to find out just what lied next for the dominant saga – new films? TV series? Books? A stage play? While most of these have eventually come to fruition, their first official act was to wipe from official canon almost the entire ‘expanded universe’ (basically all books, comics, video games, and media besides the Clone Wars television series and the films themselves). This was done, to hear Disney tell it, to open the doors of possibility regarding the future of the franchise. Surely this massive and divisive shift portended a master plan in vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – a cohesive strategy of not only bringing Star Wars back into the limelight, but of cementing it’s standing as THE preeminent entertainment franchise. Or so you would think…
The Blind Mouse
Now that we are though with the decades-long lead up to our current (and primary) story, we reach the point in time at which (at least in my estimation) one of the largest and most confounding decisions ever made regarding a multi-billion dollar media franchise occurred: Disney decided to announce a brand new trilogy of numbered films (a Sequel Trilogy) alongside a spate of stand-alone stories. In and of itself this was not necessarily a bad move – giving the world a heads-up on their upcoming plans. The strategy worked well for Marvel, after all. Unfortunately, in their haste to capitalize on their new acquisition, they managed to forget the first and most basic rule of storytelling: have one.
Yes, in all the wisdom of a dog lapping up antifreeze because it tastes good, Disney announced an entire slate of films following up on one of the most popular franchises of all time without having a single clue as to exactly what the story they were attempting to tell was going to be. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they should have held some company-wide meeting to craft the next stage of the saga by committee – just that someone (or some group of people) should have been given the creative reigns to drive the narrative forward. Someone to carve the path and give them a blueprint to follow over the next half-decade. Instead, they opted to jump headlong into a release date and give full control of the first Star Wars film in over a decade to JJ Abrams (not a knock, by the way – he is very talented). The issue in that last sentence, in case you couldn’t tell, was not that they gave him control, but that that they gave him full control over the FIRST Star Wars film in over a decade… and only the first.
JJ, through no fault of his own, was tasked with re-introducing this world to the public and setting up an entire trilogy that had no clear path forward. Instead of laying the groundwork for the eventual payoffs to come, he was merely setting up mystery boxes to be opened by future filmmakers. Dangling plot threads to whom the next writer could cling to and swing their way onward through the story. Unlike a math equation, these questions had no answers – at least none that were set in stone. Their resolution would depend entirely on whatever the next film did with them (or didn’t do).
Despite all of this, the first film in the Sequel Trilogy (The Force Awakens) managed to succeed in almost all areas: it was a financial, critical, and audience-pleasing success. While a bit of a re-tread of beats from the original film, the return to practical effects and the wonderful performances brought the galaxy far, far away to the forefront of public consciousness. Who were Rey’s parents? Who is Snoke? What about the Knights of Ren? What has Luke been up to? What is the history of the First Order? All of these questions and more bubbled below the surface of excitement that was the audience’s hunger for more Star Wars.
Second Verse, Same as the First
While they might have bumbled into success in spite of their lack of a plan, the gap between Episodes 7 and 8 would have been the perfect time to come up with concrete answers to all of those questions (and more). After all, many other now-famous trilogies didn’t find their overall narrative arc until after their first installment – Back to the Future and Disney’s own Pirates of the Caribbean (not counting 4 and 5) just to name a few. While this might have delayed their timeline for release (depending on how difficult finding satisfying answers was to achieve), I’m sure the public would have certainly welcomed a deviation from schedule if it resulted in a higher bar of quality for the finished films.
Unfortunately for Star Wars, this was not the plan – the plan was to have no plan and they were going to stick to it god damn it. As a result, Rian Johnson was hired to write and direct the follow-up: what became The Last Jedi. Now, aside from a few specific sequences (Canto Bight), I don’t personally mind how this film turned out – it managed to upend convention and left the franchise heading into uncharted territory. That said, to call this film contentious would be a massive understatement. Vitriol and outright hate sprang forth from all corners of the fan base and the public was split over whether this was a work of genius or insanity. That said, the reaction to this film in particular was irrelevant – not in the sense that people’s opinion’s don’t matter, but in the sense that art is always going to be subjective. No matter which artistic direction you choose to go in, there will always be those who take issue (particularly when dealing with such a beloved franchise). No, the real problem was that, yet again, the film ended by openly hurtling toward a finale (not just of this trilogy but of the entire “Skywalker Saga,” as Disney would later promote it) with no clue as to what it was going to be.
Much like JJ before him, Rian had no illusions about crafting the entire future of the franchise – he was hired to make a single film with his own vision and make it he did. The fact the Disney had no greater plan, and that the public was so split over this take, was something he had little control over. Making divisive art is, after all, not a bad thing if that is all part of the plan – part of a larger narrative arc, used as a stepping stone to the eventual conclusion of a well-crafted story. But there was no plan. Despite being two-thirds of the way through the Sequel Trilogy, no one knew where exactly it was they were going nor how they were going to get there.
It Worked Once…
While they could have leaned-in to the narrative threads created by Rian Johnson (polarizing as they might have been) and attempted to craft some semblance of cohesion out of their trilogy-capper, Disney instead decided to walk-back nearly everything that had just been created by bringing back JJ Abrams to finish out the trilogy. He was given the unenviable job of somehow undoing all of the things that The Last Jedi itself undid regarding all of the setups in The Force Awakens – explaining Snoke’s backstory, reneging on the given explanation of Rey’s parentage, and bringing back the all-but-forgotten Knights of Ren – while also managing to cap off a now nine-film Saga. All of this in under three hours.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the critical and audience response to The Rise of Skywalker was less than stellar. The plot felt rushed, events felt random or unearned, and many of the character beats seemed to lack the weight and depth they should have had – after all, they were attempting to cram all of the setup and payoff of two films into one. For whatever else it may have done, JJ’s second film in the franchise tried it’s hardest to undermine the one proceeding it and get the franchise ‘back on track’ to where he left it. This was, no doubt, a studio mandate reacting to the poor reception of The Last Jedi as opposed to a specific choice on the part of JJ to slam Rian Johnson.
This is not to say that The Rise of Skywalker is a bad film – it isn’t. What it is, however, is a film being asked to do far too much – re-write history, provide answers, layer set-up, cap a trilogy, and resolve a saga. All of this (and more) would have been a big ask for a film coming at the end of a well-planned trilogy, never mind a series of films with so little preplanning. It is therefore no wonder that many fans felt like one of their favorite franchises was going out with a muddled whisper rather than a bang. And, much like the previous film, this is not an indictment of the creative choices on display (the Emperor’s return, Rey’s parentage, potential love triangles) but rather one of the studio’s inability to plan any further ahead than their current project. All of these events could have been well-received and wonderfully executed had they been given the chance to do so naturally. But the dark side of the movie business is a pathway to many decisions that some would consider… unnatural.
What Went Wrong
JJ Abrams is a good filmmaker. If given the chance, I have no doubt that a complete trilogy written and helmed by him could have been a rousing success. I would also say the same thing about Rian Johnson. In fact, both of them working together to craft a narrative arc to span their directorial styles could have yielded results even grander than their individual accomplishments. But that’s not what we got. Instead, we were given the cinematic equivalent of merging screenwriting with a game of telephone and that team-building exercise where each participant makes up the subsequent word of a story. Rian Johnson’s film burned many of the narrative bridges set up by JJ’s original and JJ returned the favor by doing the same to Rian’s. It was a tennis match of ideas whose only loser was the spectators.
But none of this is on them. No, the blame falls squarely with Disney. Despite having a near-perfect in-house blueprint to follow for cinematic success (the MCU and the years of pre-planning that has become its hallmark), they decided to attempt to recoup their investment as quickly as possible by banking on the fact that they could slap the Star Wars name on quite literally any story and all but print money. And this strategy worked… at first. Unfortunately, this was only because the public was unaware of how little planning had gone into the ending of one of the greatest film franchises of all time. Posing questions without answers or beginning a story without an ending is not clever – it’s lazy. The fact that such mishandling occurred at a behemoth studio and with one of their newly-acquired crown jewels almost teeters on the edge of un-believability. And yet… this is the way.
But What About…
And yes, to head off complaints that this discussion doesn’t address the role of Rogue One, Solo, or The Mandalorian – you’re right. While there is much to be said about the poor decision to release a Star Wars movie each year (thereby flooding the market with something that was once rare), or the many backstage difficulties of Solo’s production, these were not the primary focus of this argument. Certainly they contributed to the problem, but I don’t believe that either (even combined) would have had near the same deleterious effect as that of the lack of franchise planning for the numbered Sequel Trilogy.
As for The Mandalorian, I do think it is a step in the right direction. While it’s really too early to tell, the creative minds behind it seem to have some idea of where they are wanting to take it – a plan for what is to come. It’s a shame that it has taken a streaming show to arrive at this seemingly very basic conclusion, but something is better than nothing I suppose. Here’s hoping that this isn’t the same illusion of future narrative architecture put forward by The Force Awakens.
Conclusion
Despite all of the criticism levied above, none of this is meant to be a damning critique of any of the hard work or creative energy that went in to any of these films. Clearly, a lot of talented people put a lot of love into what we saw on screen. But that also doesn’t excuse those in charge of making perhaps the most basic storytelling blunder – not knowing where you are going. That is not to say that plans cannot change along the way (Pray I do not alter it further.), but just that having some semblance of direction and outcome is required if you are to tell a compelling and fulfilling story.
After all, if such a mistake can happen to Star Wars (of all things), then it is truly possible at every level. As creators, we must look upon the examples not just of past successes but of past failures. We must be honest enough to admit that there are no shortcuts to success – that when the dust settles history will not remember (or care) why we made the decisions we did, but will only look upon the final work as a testament to our ability. An end unto itself.
Ultimately, the fall of Star Wars is not about a franchise out of ideas or a lack of talent. No, the fall of Star Wars was the same as the fall of Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar – overconfidence. Believing that pedigree alone can carry series of disconnected films into the halls of greatness or that standing on the shoulders of giants means not needing to reach higher for oneself – these are the sins of Star Wars. These are also the lessons of Star Wars – learned not just by example but by comparison to its own past: The Original Trilogy was a cohesive story. The Prequel Trilogy, for any faults it may have had, was a cohesive story. The Sequel Trilogy, however, was a series of disconnected good ideas all attempting to out-do each other and fight for space on the screen.
Hmm… a FIGHT for SPACE. Sounds like a good idea for a film saga.
Chris