A Star Wars article for Metro. I have something of a complicated relationship with the prequels, I guess. Obviously, they are not necessarily brilliant movies – in many ways, they range from dull and turgid to just straightforwardly bad. At the same time, though, they’re the Star Wars movies of my youth, and the ones I have a (slightly) more personal connection to, I suppose.
I’d argue, though, that there is a lot about them that’s very good – they’re genuinely creative in a way that sets them apart from the majority of the other Star Wars films, and I think the story they struggle to tell is a more interesting and engaging one than the story the original trilogy tells successfully. And the sequel trilogy, arguably, though I don’t think the sequel trilogy has an obvious overarching story yet.
Anyway, so, yeah. Here’s a bit of an attempt at defending the prequel trilogy, with a few thoughts as to why they’re a bit better than the reputation they have (which is more often than not a repeated meme rather than genuine critical engagement).