I've never hated the sequels, and I used to love all three films, but I eventually had to acknowledge their flaws. Viewing them as part of the larger saga reinforced certain issues I already had and made me aware of problems I didn't notice before. This often made for a frustrating experience, spending so many hours invested in the story and then disappointed by how it ended. The sequel trilogy does have merit, and while this makes it worth watching, 10 key problems mean that I'll probably limit my next Skywalker Saga marathon to the first six Star Wars movies.

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10 The Worldbuilding Is Very Confusing In The Sequels

A result of jumping into the story too fast

The first problem I noticed with the sequel trilogy, especially after watching George Lucas' films, is how confusing the worldbuilding can be. This issue begins right at the opening crawl, the thing that's supposed to get me caught up quickly but ultimately raises more questions. "... the sinister First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire...", so does that imply they control the entire galaxy? The next paragraph mentions "the Republic," but this could be a small government, like Alderaan in the original trilogy, and the opening action shows that the First Order can essentially do whatever it wants.

Now, I know the answer to these questions because I've read the novels, comics, and reference guides explaining the state of the galaxy. Even so, I find myself confused while watching the movies because they constantly go back and forth about how much control the First Order has. Star Wars: The Last Jedi clarifies that they're invading the galaxy, but no one seems to be fighting back, which surprises me if the New Republic was in control. The sequels had several opportunities to explain what was happening but kept jumping into the action without context.

9 The Force Awakens Is The Biggest Mixed Bag Of The Franchise

It's a good movie but a bad sequel

As much as the sequel trilogy frustrated me on this rewatch, I it that I still enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens quite a bit despite its problems. This is the Star Wars movie I feel the most conflicted about because it excels in filmmaking, performances, and setting up engaging character arcs, but it also fails as a sequel. Return of the Jedi ends with the heroes defeating the Empire and celebrating on Endor, so I found it jarring when the next movie immediately established that the First Order replaced the Empire and Luke Skywalker vanished.

Watching The Force Awakens right after the original trilogy also reinforces that it has little to no originality, mostly recreating what I just watched in the previous films. George Lucas always said that Star Wars films should rhyme like poetry, and I noticed all the parallels and callbacks when watching his movies back to back. However, I think there's a difference between rhyming and using the same word again, and The Force Awakens really needed some new ideas to balance out the familiar elements. Still, I suppose this approach to making a sequel is better than the next film's strategy.

8 The Last Jedi's Entire Plot Feels Like A Waste Of Time

It ignores the main goal of the first movie

If The Force Awakens' story was too safe, The Last Jedi's plot tried too hard to be different. If the first movie establishes a clear goal and connects the stakes to that goal, then the next movie needs to follow through on that setup. The Force Awakens constantly reminded me that finding Luke Skywalker was crucial, with both sides believing that he would make a difference. When The Last Jedi ignores this and has Luke be the opposite of what everyone expected, it makes every second he spends not leaving the island feel like a waste of time to me.

The ending makes it worse by killing Luke and limiting his role in the next movie, reinforcing how both sides wasted their time searching for him. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker shows that Rey just needed the sacred Jedi texts, not Luke, and Leia was apparently a fully trained Jedi the whole time, so why couldn't she have been the symbol of hope that everyone rallied behind? The rest of The Last Jedi's plot is just as disappointing, with a slow chase that drags on and Finn repeating his arc from the first movie through an underwhelming side quest.

7 The Rise Of Skywalker Is So Messy It's Hilarious

Sometimes one has to laugh at the absurdity

I normally rank The Rise of Skywalker slightly above The Last Jedi, but after this marathon, it's back to being my least favorite Star Wars film. The Rise of Skywalker's editing is all over the place, its pacing is way too fast, the script tries to cram too much into one film, and some of the dialogue is worse than anything from the prequel trilogy. This is even more frustrating after watching the first eight movies and getting invested in the overarching story, only to be disappointed when The Rise of Skywalker completely fails as a finale.

The one redeeming aspect of such a messy film is that I could laugh at the absurdity, from Palpatine lifting thousands of Star Destroyers to Chewbacca being dead for about five minutes. There were honestly a few times when I felt like I was watching a parody of a Star Wars film, which stops being funny when you that this is the finale of the Skywalker Saga. I it that being exhausted from such a long marathon didn't help, but at least I could take breaks when I wanted, unlike those who did this marathon in theaters.

6 Every Sequel Trilogy Film Ignores The Last One As Much As Possible

A competition between two different visions

I've already mentioned a few ways that The Last Jedi fails to properly build on what The Force Awakens set up, and viewing them back-to-back highlights every single way they don't align with each other. One example is Poe Dameron being a competent leader in The Force Awakens and even wearing a new uniform at the end, but at the start of The Last Jedi, he's an incompetent leader who gets demoted for his actions. Snoke and Hux feel like different characters, R2-D2 suddenly waking up is never explained, and Finn's role feels drastically reduced, just to name a few.

While The Last Jedi disappointingly expands on The Force Awakens, The Rise of Skywalker feels like it's completely starting over with two movies worth of plot. I know The Last Jedi put the third movie in a tough position by wrapping up so many arcs, but after reading Colin Trevorrow's original script for Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker became more disappointing for me. It's not perfect, but Duel of the Fates shows that it was possible to make a finale that felt like a proper sequel to The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and the entire Skywalker Saga.

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5 The Sequels Keep Adding Unnecessary New Characters & Locations

It gives the main characters less time to bond

New characters are crucial to Star Wars movies, helping to advance the plot and giving the main cast someone else to work with. Unfortunately, this rewatch made me realize that many of the new characters in the sequel trilogy feel pointless because they detract from what has been established. This is especially prevalent with the main cast, who don't bond nearly as much as they could have because each movie adds new characters. Rey, Finn, and Poe don't fully bond as a trio until the third movie, and even then they get paired with new characters instead of each other:

• An existing character like iral Ackbar would work better than Vice iral Holdo.
• Finn teams up with Rose instead of Rey or Finn.
• Palpatine is the final villain instead of Snoke or Kylo Ren.
• General Hux is discarded in favor of Allegiant General Pryde.
• Poe has romantic chemistry with Zorii Bliss instead of Rey or Finn.
• Finn meets Jannah instead of working with Rose again.

This problem extends to some of the new locations, which felt redundant to me. Jakku already felt like a clone of Tatooine in The Force Awakens, so why did The Rise of Skywalker introduce another desert planet? The movie shows that Ochi of Bestoon was looking for Rey, her parents mentioned Jakku, and Pasaana has sinking fields like the ones in The Force Awakens. One of the biggest missed opportunities for me was the New Republic capital, Hosnian Prime, which could easily have been Coruscant. It would have connected to the prequels and automatically improved the worldbuilding in the sequels.

4 The Sequels Don't Advance The Plot In A Meaningful Way

The beginning and end are the same as the originals

Any good sequel should expand on the previous story, but watching the sequels after the first six movies, it's clear to me that they don't really advance the plot of the saga. I think it would have made more sense for The Force Awakens to continue from where Return of the Jedi left off, showing the New Republic and the New Jedi Order before everything went wrong. This would have been a better transition from Return of the Jedi's happy ending and shown what the characters have to lose if the villains are triumphant.

Instead, The Force Awakens resets the story to the beginning of A New Hope, which is more distracting after watching the originals immediately beforehand. By the end of The Rise of Skywalker, we're back where we were at the end of Return of the Jedi: the Empire is defeated, Palpatine is (supposedly) dead, and Rey is the last Jedi. After watching all nine movies, I was left wondering what the point of the sequels was. Why did I just watch an inferior version of the last trilogy? What was the overall message? What did it add to George Lucas' saga?

3 The Sequel Trilogy Doesn't Fit Into George Lucas' Saga

It feels like an unnatural continuation

Starting a marathon with all six of George Lucas' Star Wars movies makes it easy to see that the sequels aren't a proper continuation of his story. Lucas' films certainly have their ups and downs, particularly the prequels, but I really appreciated how they all came together to tell one big story. The prequels and originals each have a consistent tone and vision, and they collectively chronicle the rise, fall, and redemption of the Skywalker family. It makes sense that Lucas was disappointed by the overall direction of the sequels, and I sadly have to agree.

Lucas' original treatment for the sequel trilogy shows that he was interested in continuing the story in a way that made sense in-universe. The prequels were about the fall of the Jedi and the Republic, the originals were about a rebellion against the Empire, and the sequels could have been about Luke and Leia rebuilding the Jedi and the Republic during the chaos caused by the Empire's collapse. Watching the sequels right after Lucas' films makes it clear to me that Disney prioritized recreating the tone of the original trilogy first and telling a logical story second.

2 The Sequels Failed To Learn From The Mistakes Of Previous Movies

Many problems could have been avoided if they had

I've seen some fans try to defend the sequel trilogy's problems by pointing out similar issues in George Lucas' movies, but to me, that makes it even worse. I noticed all the problems with Lucas' films watching them back to back, so it was disappointing to then watch the sequels fall into the same traps. One notable example is how Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace begins with a confusing political crisis and unclear motivations, so The Force Awakens should have learned from the prequels by explaining the state of the galaxy.

Boba Fett and Darth Maul were killed off after a small amount of screen time in their respective movies. Instead of avoiding this problem, The Last Jedi brought back Captain Phasma only to quickly kill her off, while Snoke was cut in half before we learned anything about him (much like Darth Maul). Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith had to rush parts of its story because the first two films wasted so much time. However, this is nothing compared to The Rise of Skywalker's lightning-fast pace that tries to cover way too many plotlines.

1 Luke Skywalker's Treatment In The Sequels Is Unforgivable

"Nothing can make me change my mind."

One thing I want to make absolutely clear: I used to love Luke Skywalker's story in The Last Jedi. I defended this movie, debated with fans online, and thoroughly enjoyed the surprising change in direction. Sadly, my opinion has gradually changed over time, and watching all nine movies in one sitting made Luke's treatment in the sequels even more disappointing for me. Luke's hero's journey in the originals is so powerful, facing many of the same challenges as his father but making different choices. His transformation throughout the trilogy is inspiring and brings George Lucas's saga to a heartfelt conclusion.

Luke Skywalker

The son of Anakin Skywalker and Pé Amidala, Luke was brought up on the desert planet Tatooine. Initially mentored by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke fired the fateful shot that destroyed the Death Star, and he became a rebel hero. Despite the fears of Obi-Wan and Yoda, Luke's faith in his father was proved well-founded when Vader returned to the light. With the Emperor defeated, Luke dedicated himself to bringing back the Jedi; his first attempt ended in tragedy due to Palpatine's manipulations, but Luke's legacy lives on in Rey.

Created By

George Lucas

Cast

Mark Hamill, Grant Feely

First Appearance

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Died

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi

Alliance

Jedi

Movies

Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker

TV Shows

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Expand

To see the sequels immediately undo that development by fundamentally changing Luke's character is unforgivable. The first movie hypes up his return and stresses how important he is, only for the second movie to make him a grumpy nihilist waiting to die. It's not just that he became a different person, but rather that Luke's radical character change happened offscreen, and all we get is a bit of exposition and brief flashbacks. Instead of giving Luke a chance to fully redeem himself in the third movie, The Last Jedi kills him off and has the characters move on without him.

That is Luke Skywalker's contribution to the final act of the Skywalker Saga. Star Wars Expanded Universe where Luke led the New Jedi Order, started a family, and grew into a better man over time. Out of all my problems with the Star Wars sequel trilogy during my Skywalker Saga marathon, Luke's role in the story - or lack thereof - was by far the most frustrating.

THE STAR WARS SKYWALKER SAGA IS AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON DISNEY+.