Here we go!
The Phantom Menace
likes:
-Ewan McGregor
-Liam Neeson
-Ray Park
-Best lightsaber battle in all of Star Wars (edge of my SEAT!)
-The adventure going from location to location
-Podracing
-Duel of the Fates (and the rest of the soundtrack)
dislikes:
-Bad directing
-Way too silly
-While I didn't despise Jar Jar, many of his lines are cringe-worthy and his entire character is a failed attempt at comic relief
-The lightsaber sound effects. They're all horrible compared to ESB and ROTJ. Juts these quiet little squeals of electricity with no impact to them. Unlike Ep5/EP6's hard clashing sounds
-Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Apparently Ewan was given a choice and he chose that one because it was "like Alec Guiness's". Get out of here, it's nothing like it. What an awful design to choose. Horrible. Big bulky boring tube with a spike ball pommel on the end of it for some reason. Most of the lightsaber designs in the prequels are all garbage actually.
Attack of the Clones
likes:
-Ewan McGregor's one-liners
-ummm.....
dislikes:
-The whole movie feels rushed
-Hayden's terrible acting
-Hayden's terrible lines
-Natalie's terrible acting
-Natalie's terrible lines
-The fact that the previous 4 points are all because of George's bad directing and micro-managing
-The whole love story that tried to recapture Han and Leia's from ESB and failed miserably
-Anakin is a whiny kid...even more whiny than in Phantom Menace
-The mega-Jedi battle at the end....couldn't care less
-Lightsaber battle was underwhelming
-Pinball Yoda
-R2D2 rocket legs
Revenge of the Sith
likes:
-The last half of the movie (the dark mood)
-The soundtrack
-Every line in between the awful final battle duel.
dislikes:
-The first half of the movie (bad prequel humour/pun central. even Ewan's lines are starting to suffer)
-The Battle of Heroes duel. *yaaaaaaaawn* It's a good thing the lines in breaks in between are delivered well for the most part. That's where I start to feel real emotion between the characters.
-The flower flourish lightsaber spinning move. "Let's fling our lightsabers around for a whole 4 seconds without hitting eachother because it'll look cool and impressive!" Yeah, no.
-Force Push-ing eachother at the same time
-Seriously, the entire first half of the movie is as trash as AOTC
Solo
likes:
-Glover's Lando performance was good
-Ray Park reprising as Darth Maul (and Sam Witwer as the voice from The Clone Wars and Rebels)
-The storyline tie-in with The Clone Wars and Rebels
-Nothing else really...
dislikes:
-Eckhart's Han performance was bad
-The origin of "Solo" as his last name was remarkably stupid
-Darth Maul ignites his lightsaber in a hologram communication....stupid
-Nothing else really...it's not a good or bad film, it's just painfully average and unnecessary
Rogue One
likes:
-Seeing the OT-era again
-Darth Vader FINALLY shown in his prime
-James Earl Jones
-Tarkin CGI face. Even though it's obviously fake and has issues, I enjoyed his character being in the movie
-I liked that everybody died. That was a bold move. It's nice to see some darker aspects of Star Wars here in this way
-Krenic was a great character
-"Are you kidding me? I am blind!"
-The movie ending RIGHT before Ep4 starts
-I enjoyed watching the Death Star plans get stolen and delivered, the action throughout was great cinema.
dislikes:
-There wasn't enough time to really get to know the characters so it wasn't THAT emotional when they all met their fate
-Half the shots from the trailer were cut out due to the reshoots (where's the Tie Fighter showdown closeup at the tower??)
-I liked the idea for the movie, but it wasn't THAT well done. The overall story is forgettable, honestly, which is a shame because it could have been an exceptional film. I didn't care about the lead character at all.
-This story effectively nullifies any chance of Kyle Katarn existing in canon at all, which is a tremendous loss
A New Hope
likes:
-Great world building
-Changed the face of cinema forever
-incredible effects for the time
-Han shot first
dislikes:
-Can feel really drawn out and boring on subsequent viewings
-Lightsaber duel (it hasn't aged well...
check out this fan-recreation when it comes out!)
-The Special Edition (giant creatures moving in front of the camera, Greedo shooting first, the monster changes in the cantina)
Empire Strikes Back
likes:
-Dark atmosphere
-Yoda
-Boba Fett
-I didn't mind the changes in THIS Special Edition so much...
-This is basically a great story and a great film, need I go on?
dislikes:
-ummm.....it's not Return of the Jedi? Something about the atmosphere in ROTJ appeals to me more than ESB
Return of the Jedi
likes:
-Luke is basically a full Jedi (he has the most character development between all 3 films and is notably different in each one, being in a different phase of his progress each)
-The opening scene to rescue Han. Felt like the opening act of a James Bond film. The heroes in their prime in action before the main plot ensues. Just great action. Luke is a JEDI!!
-Luke's green lightsaber (and sounds. Everything about it is awesome)
-The idea of the primitive forest-dwelling, technology-free creatures taking down the Empire's best soldiers. A lot of people have a problem with this but I don't. I think it's thematically perfect.
-The whole secret mission going undercover on Endor was tense and fun
-The Emperor
-The final duel between Luke and Vader. Most emotional and hard-hitting duel in the saga.
-The colour scheme of the final duel. A stark contrast with the blacks and subdued blues with the bright red and green. Just a great aesthetic.
-I don't get why people hate this movie. The Ewoks? They don't bother me.
dislikes:
-Boba Fett "dies" by accident (he doesn't actually in the EU, I don't know if the same is true for canon or not at this point)
-The Special Edition (the Sarlac monster adding the giant beak mouth thing was stupid)
The Force Awakens
likes:
-Brought back the classic Star Wars feel
-Lightsaber duels aren't overly-technical like the prequels and are definitely not boring. You feel the weight of every clash and the emotion behind it.
-The flashback visions when Rey touches the lightsaber
-Effects are all practical and fantastic
-Better than the prequels
-Finn is afraid of the First Order and is just trying to run away. Great start to a character arc. Finds his courage and joins the fight.
dislikes:
-It's not
that great. I actually think Star Trek 2009 was a better film by Abrams.
-It's basically a retelling of A New Hope and not a terribly clever one
-It was advertised everywhere with Finn holding the lightsaber and wielding it and not Rey. I still don't get the point of that. It's not like it was a twist.
-Phasma is a useless character who gets disposed of off-screen (and was only shoe-horned in because Kathleen Kennedy saw the concept art and said "that has to be in the movie!")
-No scenes with Han, Luke, and Leia all together again. What a missed opportunity. Biggest tragedy of the sequels by far. And now it's impossible due to Carrie's passing.
-Rey can basically do anything without even trying somehow
The Last Jedi
likes:
-Good effects
-Anyone COULD be a Jedi and it's not simply tied to family lines
-Rey's parents are nobody we know
-Snoke is a nobody
-It at first looks like a retelling of ESB and ROTJ but then turned it on its head and now we don't know what to expect going forward
-Luke's lightsaber is in this movie
-Luke's death was handled beautifully
-Leia is acknowledged as having Force powers (Don't like the way they acknowledge it, sadly)
dislikes:
-Luke's death was waaaaay too premature. Especially after giving away that he couldn't die on Crait and saying "See you around, kid" to Kylo. (also, what happened to his mechanical hand when he vanished?)
-Luke Skywalker doesn't actually duel. And when it looks like he does, he's using the blue lightsaber. :'(
-Luke Skywalker is not actually in this movie anywhere
-Green alien cow milk
-Anyone CAN be a Jedi if they just take the time to learn and has nothing to do with whether you're randomly selected by the Force or not
-The incredibly silly throne room battle (complete with swords disappearing and people stabbing into mid-air)
-Yoda destroys the Jedi Texts saying that they're unimportant and that Rey has everything she needs, but he's lying to Luke because she actually has the books with her (POINTLESS PLOT DEVELOPMENT. It would have been a stronger point to make if she had everything she needed WITHOUT the books)
-Admiral Holdo (I know she was designed to be hated and cheer for the heroes, but I still dislike her after we're supposed to like her)
-Admiral Ackbar's abrupt and unceremonious death (he should have been the one to light-speed into the ship)
-Rey is the same character who can basically do anything without trying.
-Carrie Poppins
-Phasma is a useless character who gets shoehorned into the plot and dies rather quickly and abruptly. Would have been better if she was a nemesis for Finn throughout the whole trilogy. That duel could have been better. In fact, in the original script she gets her arm cut off which would have been great and in keeping with Star Wars traditions (lol)
-Rey's parents are actual nobodies
-Snoke gets killed off way to quickly. I thought his character was dumb, but
-This whole film has a terrible plot and equally terrible writing. "See you around, kid" That's not something Luke would ever have said. Subverting expectations doesn't automatically mean it's good storytelling. What you subvert expectations with has to actually be better than what you expected. And it's just not. It's all so silly and stupid.
-Finn is afraid of the First Order and is just trying to run away. What happened to the courage he found?? No character development at all
-Canto B(l)ight is 30 minutes of prequel nonsense and I'm surprised people who like this film don't mind this section when they hate the prequels so badly. And the thing is, this film was the longest Star Wars film ever made so far by 30 minutes. 30 extra minutes of bland prequel trash plot development that goes absolutely no where
-The anti-capitalist undertone in the Canto Bight section was really heavy-handed
-Rose is an annoying character with terrible lines. "NOW it's worth it" Oh really?? So you couldn't help the Rebellion and as far as you know they're all going to die, but now that you've rescued the space horses that makes it all worth it? Especially when they're likely going to just recapture them? Why didn't you rescue the slave kids?? That probably would have been a little more worth it. (Kelly Marie Tran is most likely a lovely human being, however, and is not at fault for any of this)
-Rose somehow out of nowhere falls in love with Finn after accusing him of being a coward the whole movie. What, is it because he helped you rescue the space horses?
-Rose ruins Finn's suicide run. Honestly, that would have been a great end to his character arc. "We're not going to win by destroying what we hate, but by saving what we love" sounds as dumb as Trudeau saying "If we kill our enemies, they win."
-Rey can still do basically anything without even trying and has had zero development. Also, why is she so angry when she fights? That doesn't seem very light-side of her. Emotion is the path to the dark side. Or are we retconning that out now?
-Poe's character was ruined in this movie
-This movie fractured the Star Wars fandom irreparably, which seemed to be Rian's very goal judging from his various comments on his approach to writing this and other stories. He thinks that because people are talking about it, it's a success. Wrong. Anakin's lightsaber being split in half is the perfect metaphor for this. A perfect image of Rian crapping all over George's legacy (he wasn't a great director, but he did create an amazing world and have amazing ideas, he just needs other people to work with him and reign him in a bit)
-I hate this movie. Yes, this is an item in my dislike list. I hate that I hate this movie. I wanted to love it. I'm so disappointed.
