Fortunately, a lot of people have been re-evaluating the PT in light of the bad fan fiction that is 'Di$ney Star Wars,' and, with the exception of the most emotionally blind Lucas haters, many of them can now at least see more clearly that the story/narrative, attention to detail, design, world-building, lore, mythos, etc. (i.e. all the sh*t that actually makes Star Wars **STAR WARS** to many fans) were all there, even if the execution was not. The ST, meanwhile, has been built on OT nostalgia (even while negating everything our heroes accomplished in it >:(), totally uncompelling new characters, and complete disregard for the universe's word-building, lore, mythos, etc. (And, yeah, I'll still take Jar Jar any day over MaRey Sue, Emo Ren, or KevFinn Hart. :P)
I must admit, I agree.
I feel the new films have/had potential. When I watched Force Awakens, I saw glimmers of good stuff and of solid writing. Rey's introduction scene - showing us her character and struggles - was well-done, and there were other good things strewn throughout. What wound up bothering me a lot was the fact that the potential was basically shot out of the airlock relatively quickly for every character, and by the time the movie was over, and I had time to digest it and think it over, I was left saddened and a bit disappointed.
I'm not one of those idiotic manchildren who got all up in arms that a woman was being groomed to be the Hero. I have zero problem with a badass female Jedi. The problem, for me, is that the way she was written after that introduction was very, very poor. She became the epitome of a Mary Sue, a term I hate to throw around normally, but it really is the case. She's too perfect, too good at things she shouldn't be good at it, and for her to basically be the 'best' at nearly everything is just depressingly poor writing. She could've been so much more interesting with some flaws and some actual struggle, a reason for her to develop into her own person. Hell, I would have taken the whole "Darth Rey" thing that I know for a fact isn't going to be anything good (because I have no faith in the films at this point) had they built up to it from the first film. And I feel similarly for the potential for Finn, Poe, Kylo... and that isn't even getting into the utter waste they did with the original trilogy characters. You can tell that the JJ had his ideas and he had some decent ones, but then Rian Johnson came in and just no ruined it. I feel Johnson had very little respect for the original stuff, and he has proven to be an egotistical jerk with his lame excuses of "subverting expectations." It's a disgrace, and Disney ought to be ashamed of themselves for their stupidity.
I've honestly started writing my own "rewrite" of the movie. Not a full, fleshed out one, but a summary-style one on a Google Doc. I've shown it to one person who feels similarly, that the films were poorly done, and he seems to like where I'm going. So, if anyone's ever interested, I'm open to sharing and getting feedback.
I understand where Mike is coming from in preferring the new ones, however. I do. I get that the prequels have their problems, and I certainly agree they do. But even if I remove the Nostalgia Goggles, even if I remove the "two hot women with bare bellies fanservice, lol" goggles, and even if I were to look at them from the perspective of actual films and how well they stand on their own, I still feel that they have a better overall balance than the new films. The prequels have characters with their own personality traits and their own arcs. They grow, they develop, they show they're not perfect. Darth Maul wasn't the greatest villain of them all, but, he came off menacing, his fight with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was well-choreographed (in my opinion), and he managed to KILL a full-trained Jedi, establishing himself as credible enough despite getting cut in half right after.
And yes, I know Hayden wasn't a great actor when it came to dialogue and delivery (although it isn't always on the actor's head with dialogue, since the screenwriter and director also take part to blame for any cheesy or corny dialogue), but I will say I feel he had moments where he COULD act. I hate that I have to use this as an example given the backlash, but... the Nostalgia Critic made a video on this and I kind of agree: the moments where Hayden is allowed to act via expression and emotion, especially in the third film, are really good in my opinion. His death glare and the malice in his face as he's staring down Obi-Wan during that final battle between them is well-executed and does what needs to be done without crappy dialogue, and even that moment where Obi-Wan is expressing pain as Anakin is screaming at him after is well-done (again, to me). So, yeah. I can see why someone would dislike them, and I get it, that's just my two cents.
