Why the Star Wars prequels aren’t as bad as we thought

A few years ago to think about prequels star Wars It didn’t bring very good memories to the fans. The forced jokes of Jar Jar Binks, the fall of Padmé on Geonosis, or the death of Mace Windu are worthy of Razzie. However, George Lucas’ latest trilogy has a lot of interesting things and Ewan McGregor thinks she’s underestimated.

In the segment Agree disagreeMain characters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen have reunited to bring back the old days. Both recalled moments from the Star Wars trilogy “new millennium”, such as fights with lightsabers or why Darth Vader is the best villain of all time.

When asked if the prequels were underrated, the cast agreed. “At the time, he was underestimated by critics and others,” said Ewan McGregor. actor Obi-Wan Kenobi were assured that in the absence of social networks – the prequels came out in 1999, 2002 and 2005 – the reaction was warmed up by film criticswho decided they weren’t as good as the original trilogy.

Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen believe that the prequels were well received by fans star Wars. “You know, they just needed a little time to infiltrate our popular culture,” Christensen said. “I think at the time they were appreciated by the generation we created them for,” McGregor said, highlighting the power of social media.

Social media could help (or destroy) prequels star Wars

One of the highlights of the conversation is the role of social media to increase fan opinion about a series or movie. “There was no social media, we didn’t hear his voice like in the movies now,” McGregor says. The voice of the public is now stronger, no doubt, although this too had negative consequences.

Yes Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in the era of Twitter, it is possible that this will lead to similar harassment Episode 8: The Last Jedi. Almost 20 years ago, Ahmed Best, Actor who played Jar Jar Binks in prequels commits suicide due to heavy media and fan criticism of his character.

Actor received death threats from fans who accused him of “ruining his childhood” and at one point considered jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge to end his pain. In recent years, bullying has returned star Wars when Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico) has deleted her Instagram account due to racist comments.. Daisy Ridley, the protagonist of the new trilogy, has also left her social media due to bullying from some fans.

It only took a trilogy in the Disney era to know that George Lucas’ work wasn’t so bad.

While Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen think the prequels were well received, the reality is different. Social networks did not exist at the beginning of the new millennium, but if blogs or forums to read essays from angry fans. Jar Jar Binks jokes, bad acting by Christensen or Natalie Portman and too much green screen some of hundreds or thousands of criticisms of George Lucas..

The reality is that yes, Episode I this is badand if we analyze in detail not far from the current Disney formula and his forced comedy, which brings in billions of dollars at the box office. Return star Wars It also left us with nice moments in theaters like the battle with the droideks, the pod race, or the moment when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon face off against Darth Maul in the background of Duel of the Fates.

It is worth mentioning that George Lucas always had the idea to do something different from the original trilogy.. “He wasn’t going to redo what he did in the ’70s,” Ewan McGregor said, referring to the criticism the prequels received at the time. In contrast, J.J. Abrams tried to win back fans with The Force Awakensa movie that looks like a decaffeinated clone Episode 4.

Maybe Hayden Christensen was right and we just had to wait a bit for the prequels to permeate popular culture. Forgive us, George.