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Star Wars: The Meh of Skywalker
I can’t be that kid again, but what I don’t want to do is pretty clear to me nine films in: I don’t want to pick apart the movies anymore.
The nostalgia push is strong with this one. With the release of the final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker featuring a tag line of “The saga ends, the story lives forever” and lines of dialogue like “Taking one last look at my friends” from C3PO, it is clear what the marketing plan for this movie is: Nostalgia. It is smart marketing.
It is also a microcosm of what has both worked for and plagued the franchise in the Disney era.
To put my own background and biases about Star Wars upfront, I was one of the “in-between” generations; I kinda sorta remember when Return of the Jedi came out but mostly remember the original trilogy from cable reruns, VHS, and the toys and merchandising. I read the excellent Timothy Zahn “Thrawn” trilogy of books, and some of the other expanded universe that lead up to George Lucas making the prequels, which I did see in the theaters. When The Force Awakens came out, it was a really cool experience getting to take my own children to a brand new Star Wars movie with the original characters in a theater.
