It’s been a good while since we’ve gotten a live-action movie in the Star Wars Universe. Ever since the disastrous Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Disney decided to concentrate more on making television shows set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Like with a lot of things, some were well-received while others were utterly panned by fans. But it looks like Disney is going to try to start making feature-length Star Wars films again with the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu slated for release in May of this year.

This did get me thinking about the legacy of the Star Wars film franchise. A lot of longtime fans were turned off by the Sequel Trilogy and I get it. The latest movies definitely had a lot of flaws and issues. A lot of these problems could have been avoided if Disney got someone to oversee the series like what Kevin Feige did with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (in the early days at least). But what I don’t agree with is how fans are now saying the Prequel Trilogy are pure cinema and that George Lucas did everything right back then; we just didn’t realize his genius at the time.

Recently, I decided to put that to the test and go watch all of the Prequel Trilogy films. None of the other supplemental materials like The Clone Wars series or Rebels or anything like that. Just take them at face value and see if what some fans are saying is true. Is the Prequel Trilogy actually great movies? After watching them all, I have to say, no. They’re not as terrible as I remember but the majority of it isn’t good.

Before I do kind of rip into the series, I do have to mention the stuff I do think is good in them. First, there is one movie in the Prequel Trilogy that I can honestly say is good. That would be Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Unlike The Rise of Skywalker, Revenge of the Sith actually fixes a lot of the problems of the previous two films in its trilogy. It still had problems, like a reliance of having to have seen The Clone Wars as, if you didn’t, you would have no idea who the heck General Grievous is. Sure, he’s a cool looking baddie who can wield four lightsabers at the same time. But where did he come from? And how did he get those lightsabers in the first place? You won’t know that if you haven’t seen the television series.

Speaking of lightsabers, the second thing I really like about the Prequel Trilogy are the lightsaber duels. They’re much more frenetic and fast-paced, especially when compared to the other Star Wars movies. After all, these movies were set during the height of the Jedi Order where they were all trained to, well, be Jedi! There were dedicated training camps to do all of the things Jedi can do. And one of those things would be how to fight with a lightsaber. Of course they’re doing all these flips and dips in the Prequel Trilogy movies! They’ve been training for this exact thing for years. These aren’t just some younglings who just picked up a lightsaber and have trained how to use it by trying to deflect little lasers fired from a floating sphere like Luke Skywalker in Episode III: A New Hope. Also, Luke never did finish his Jedi training. So, would you think a youngling who only trained to deflect little lasers fired from a floating sphere would be able to train anyone on how to do flips and dips during a lightsaber battle? I think not!

Finally, probably the best thing I really liked about the Prequel Trilogy and what it has over the Sequel Trilogy in spades is the fact there was a plan. Then again, this was a plan that was pretty much laid out because of the Original Trilogy. George Lucas already knew what was going to happen in the Prequel Trilogy movies not because he meticulously planned it out. But mostly because he knew that it was supposed to show how the Galactic Empire and Palpatine took power, how Darth Vader became Darth Vader and how Luke and Leia came to be. It wasn’t a big deal because every fan who watched the Original Trilogy of Star Wars knew that this was how the Prequel Trilogy was going to be about!

Now, that I’ve talked about the good things about the Prequel Trilogy, it’s time to talk about the no-so good things about it. First, the first movie, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, is bad. Okay, it’s not terrible but it’s bad enough that there was a fan who re-edited the film to make The Phantom Edit. There’s also the Machete Order wherein you watch Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back first. This allows the reveal of Darth Vader being Luke’s father to still be a shock. You then totally skip Episode I: The Phantom Menace and go directly to Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as a flashback to how Darth Vader became Darth Vader. Then conclude with Episode VI: Return of the Jedi to complete the story. So, not only is The Phantom Menace bad, it’s also not really all that important to the overall story! The only reason why I think this would suck is because, if you don’t watch The Phantom Menace, you wouldn’t see probably one of the greatest lightsaber battles in history accompanied by one of the most badass background action tunes ever!

So what’s wrong with The Phantom Menace? Well, I’ve already mentioned how it comes off as so unimportant that you can just not watch it. It’s also pretty slow and boring. Besides the opening and the climax, the movie just isn’t exciting. The entire middle just feels like a big nothing burger. Some of you might say the pod racing scene is exciting but, to me, it’s not. I like the idea but the execution needs more oomph. It certainly doesn’t help that it lasts for so long! Maybe if they trimmed it a little, it would come off better.

I also have a gripe with Jake Lloyd‘s performance as Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader before he was Darth Vader. He’s terrible here! The weird thing is I don’t really think he was a terrible child actor as seen in the Christmas classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jingle All The Way. He wasn’t great but he was passable. Here, he’s just atrocious with everything! Oddly enough, I don’t have anything against him because I strongly believe this is what George Lucas wanted. So, I can’t blame him for not getting proper direction.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Jar Jar Binks, the supposed “comedic relief” of the Prequel Trilogy. Man, that was a dumpster fire, wasn’t it? I will say he isn’t as bad as I remembered him… but he’s still very bad! Totally not funny and doesn’t really add anything other than supposedly delivering the laughs. The only thing that’s funny is how George Lucas thought Jar Jar Binks was supposed to be funny. Also, never forget that he’s the reason why Palpatine rose to power and formed the Galactic Empire! At least George Lucas gave us an in-story reason to hate the Gungan.

But the biggest thing I hate about The Phantom Menace is how George Lucas added the concept of Midi-chlorian. Before this was introduced, The Force was a sense of wonderful magic if, you train hard enough, can use. And when I say “you,” I mean everyone! From the lowly street urchin to the most diabolical despot, anyone can harness The Force. Apparently not because your natural aptitude to using The Force is apparently determined by the genetic lottery. Oh, George Lucas did try to clarify that everyone, if they train hard enough, can use The Force. But that kind of betrays the beautiful simplicity of how Obi-Wan Kenobi explains to Luke that The Force is everywhere and is in everyone… but not in equal amounts as suggested by your Midi-chlorian count, apparently. George Lucas essentially reduced something magical and unquantifiable to something scientific and quantifiable.

Then there’s Episode II: Attack of the Clones. While not as bad or inconsequential as The Phantom Menace, this does seem like George Lucas was just phoning it in. Attack of the Clones just feels devoid of the imagination we saw in the Original Trilogy as there are a lot of sets here that look a little too… earthly. Star Wars is supposed to be set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, right? So, why are a lot of the locations things like a posh nightclub, a suspiciously Roman looking colosseum and… a ’60s themed diner. No, really. There’s a scene in Attack of the Clones where Obi-Wan Kenobi goes to Dex’s Diner to get information on a clue he obtained. Why the heck would there be a ’60s diner in Star Wars? I guess nothing is impossible and that there is a culture that developed just like Earth and they also cultivated coffee or “joe” on that planet. Still, this look stupid and unimaginative as all heck!

Attack of the Clones is also the Star Wars movie where it does seem George Lucas tried to write a clever script. Sorry, I forgot to put “tried” in quotes because the plot is pretty convoluted and doesn’t make a lot of sense. So, here’s the plot of Attack of the Clones: Someone puts a hit on Padme Amidala. Obi-Wan and Anakin catch the would-be assassin but the assassin is killed my a mercenary in a helmet. Obi-Wan finds a clue on the assassin, leading him to go to Dex’s Diner for information. Dex informs him that the clue is from “cloners” on the planet Kamino. Obi-Wan goes to Kamino and finds a clone factory. It turns out a Jedi had hired the clone factory to create an army using the mercenary, Jango Fett, as a template. Jango Fett escapes but Obi-Wan managed to track him to the planet Geonosis. Obi-Wan is captured by the Separatist Army, a group of star systems who want independence from the Galactic Republic. Following so far?

While this is happening, Anakin and Padme Amidala fall in love. But their love is forbidden because the Jedi Code states Jedis can’t get married or something. Anyway, Anakin gets a vision where his mother is dying. So, he flies to his homeworld, finds out his mother his mother had been captured by Tuskan Raiders. He finds her just before she expires and he slaughters the Tuskan Raiders. Both Anakin and Padme then goes to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan but are captured themselves.

Meanwhile, Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatist Army, reveals to Obi-Wan that one of the leaders of the Galactic Republic is a Sith Lord. As this is occurring, Jar Jar Binks rallies the Senate to give Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers to use the new Clone Army, which they were apparently aware of all this time and it wasn’t some clandestine secret, and mobilize them against the Separatist Army. Count Dooku orders Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme to be executed by siccing feral beasts on them but the Jedi and the Clone Army attack the colosseum at this exact moment.

A lot of fighting happens, Jango Fett is unceremoniously decapitated, Count Dooku slices off one of Anakin’s arms, Dooku and Yoda fight, Dooku escapes and delivers schematics of the Death Star (yes, it’s here which does call the events of Rogue One into question) and Anakin and Padme get married.

What the heck was all this about? Attack of the Clones is needlessly complicated. I get George Lucas was trying to be cute with this script by making the blink and you’ll miss it comment by Luke about his father fighting in the Clone Wars at thing. But this was very sloppy. It’s also really weird how the Clone Army, who are supposed to be cloned from a “great” warrior like Jango Fett, became the incompetent Stormtroopers of the Empire in the future.

But what’s really bad about Attack of the Clones is the lack of creativity in the script. I already mentioned the earth looking diner but there are also character names like, get this, Elan Sleazebaggano, the literal sleazebag who tried to peddle “death sticks” to Obi-Wan in the posh bar. The dialog also deserve more than just special mention because, well, we all know the “I don’t like sand” speech and how cringe and creepy that is, right?

Now, I’m not saying the Prequel Trilogy is utter trash and you should avoid it. I don’t hate it that much. But I’m also not saying it’s better or worse than the Sequel Trilogy. The Sequel Trilogy isn’t all that hot, especially the last movie. What I’m saying is, taking these movies as their own thing, the Prequel Trilogy films are not that great. The movies have a lot of major flaws, which is why there were more than just a few hardcore fans who were ready to disown George Lucas and wanted someone else helming the Star Wars franchise. Heck, they made an entire documentary about how fans were upset with him with The People vs. George Lucas!

So, I don’t really get how fans can gloss over the problems and say, just because they utterly hate the Sequel Trilogy (probably to the same degree some fans hated the Prequel Trilogy), the Prequel Trilogy is now good. That just doesn’t compute. Sure, when something is not good, it can look better when compared to something terrible. But you still have to judge it on its own merits. And, honestly, I still don’t think the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy isn’t all that good.

What are your thoughts on the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy? Has your opinion changed over the years? Let me know in the comments section below!