Let's start tackling these, we have Episode IX on the way, after all. I put quite a lot of thought into which films and other properties to include, and whether (and how) to group them. I've decided to just stick to the numbered films, so no Rogue One, Solo or Ewok Adventures just yet.
So, let's get started with the first three. By which I of course mean I, IV and VII.
My History / Every story starts somewhere...
It feels silly to do this section for a subset of Star Wars when I've talked about it at length in my very first triangle review. Star Wars is a big deal to me, though the specifics of that development are lost to time.
I can tell you that I was excited about Phantom Menace, that the early promotional images of the trade federation battle droids were examined in great detail (and that I somehow thought these were jedi-hunting super droids? No clue if that was an actual rumour or just something I had come up with by myself).
But was that in anticipation of its theatrical release? Did I go see it? ...I think so? I can't remember, which is a shame because I really liked Phantom Menace.
The Force Awakens is more recent, and I definitely recall going to see this one in theaters.
I remember being scared. I didn't have the "prequel disappointment" that so many fans around my age had, I thought they were just fine.
But with Disney and the guy that did the underwhelming new Star Trek films at the helm, I was worried. What if this would be my prequels moment? The trailers looked good, but good trailers don't automatically mean good films...
Plot summary / Let's blow up the huge evil orb-shaped threat!
A young, naive human leaves a desert world in an insignificant corner of the galaxy and gets swept up in the larger narrative of light versus dark. They have their role to play, and have what it takes to become the hero. Their contribution to the victory won by the light side is critical, but they would never have gotten there without the support of the friends they made on their journey.
People hate on The Force Awakens for being too close to A New Hope in terms of structure, but the humble beginnings leading to being a hero story line is just as applicable to Phantom Menace.
Does it matter that the human is an orphaned farmhand, a slave boy or a lonely scavenger? Well, yes. They help define their character, but the journey they go on is more than a little similar regardless.
Corner 1: Adventure / "These are your first steps..."
Ah yes, the Adventure corner, the one I made with Star Wars in mind. There is no doubt in my mind that all three will do well in this one. It's going to be hard not to gush... so I'll just gush?
The Phantom Menace: 10/10
- π A dramatic opening with efficiently introduced heroes and villains clashing.
- π There's an invasion on, a race of amphibian aliens, a perilous underwater journey.
- π An escape, an unplanned stop, a high speed and high stakes race.
- π A siege, a space battle, a palace infiltration and an epic lightsaber duel.
- π If there's anything to nitpick at (not that it's going to take away from the perfect score) it's that the character motivations aren't always entirely clear. Liam Neeson has the quiet charisma to pull off Qui-Gon's "trust my judgement" shtick, but a bit more clarity in character motivation could have worked wonders.
A New Hope: 10/10
- π A dramatic opening with efficiently introduced heroes and villains clashing.
- π The narrative structure of the Hero's Journey is brought up a lot in the context of A New Hope and how well it adheres to it. I'd agree and say that's a good thing, at least for the adventure side of things.
- π A (presumed) nobody that rescues a princess and saves the galaxy!
- π Which means a daring rescue, a last-ditch assault on a huge enemy and all sorts of adventury goodness.
- π And all the adventury goodness slots well into the main plot, keeping it all neat and focused.
- π A dramatic opening with efficiently introduced heroes and villains clashing.
- π There's an invasion on, a race of amphibian aliens, a perilous underwater journey.
- π An escape, an unplanned stop, a high speed and high stakes race.
- π A siege, a space battle, a palace infiltration and an epic lightsaber duel.
- π If there's anything to nitpick at (not that it's going to take away from the perfect score) it's that the character motivations aren't always entirely clear. Liam Neeson has the quiet charisma to pull off Qui-Gon's "trust my judgement" shtick, but a bit more clarity in character motivation could have worked wonders.
A New Hope: 10/10
- π A dramatic opening with efficiently introduced heroes and villains clashing.
- π The narrative structure of the Hero's Journey is brought up a lot in the context of A New Hope and how well it adheres to it. I'd agree and say that's a good thing, at least for the adventure side of things.
- π A (presumed) nobody that rescues a princess and saves the galaxy!
- π Which means a daring rescue, a last-ditch assault on a huge enemy and all sorts of adventury goodness.
- π And all the adventury goodness slots well into the main plot, keeping it all neat and focused.
The Force Awakens: 9.5/10
- π A dramatic opening with efficiently introduced heroes and villains clashing.
- π The opening does so much, it humanises a stormtrooper-equivalent for the first time, introduces all the new core characters except Rey and sets up the power dynamic.
- π We then follow the hesitant trooper instead of the plucky pilot or now alone robot, in a clever subversion of next steps.
- π Flee the Star Destroyer, flee Jakku, flee the two gangs that are after Han. Actually, that one's not all good...
- π The sequence aboard the Eravana is lacklustre and just feels like an excuse to give Han Solo a dramatic entrance. Technically adventurous, but it feels out of place and superfluous.
- π Don't remember the Eravana? It's the large spaceship Han and Chewy are on when they catch up with the Falcon, it's so ugly and boring that it didn't even get a LEGO set beyond a small piece of hallway (75180) so you could play with the Rathtars.
- π After that we're back to a series of strengths though. Going to meet an oracle, that turning into our first ever look at in-atmo X-Wings and an absolutely glorious action scene.
- π And then it's time for the small regrouping and the attack on the big enemy base. It's lean, it's to the point, and it's an explosive finale that works.
- π And Finn doesn't even care about saving the galaxy, he just wants to rescue Rey.
- π The epilogue where Rey finds Luke sets up that/how the story will continue (even if it feels a bit separate).
The Force Awakens: 9.5/10
- π A dramatic opening with efficiently introduced heroes and villains clashing.
- π The opening does so much, it humanises a stormtrooper-equivalent for the first time, introduces all the new core characters except Rey and sets up the power dynamic.
- π We then follow the hesitant trooper instead of the plucky pilot or now alone robot, in a clever subversion of next steps.
- π Flee the Star Destroyer, flee Jakku, flee the two gangs that are after Han. Actually, that one's not all good...
- π The sequence aboard the Eravana is lacklustre and just feels like an excuse to give Han Solo a dramatic entrance. Technically adventurous, but it feels out of place and superfluous.
- π Don't remember the Eravana? It's the large spaceship Han and Chewy are on when they catch up with the Falcon, it's so ugly and boring that it didn't even get a LEGO set beyond a small piece of hallway (75180) so you could play with the Rathtars.
- π After that we're back to a series of strengths though. Going to meet an oracle, that turning into our first ever look at in-atmo X-Wings and an absolutely glorious action scene.
- π And then it's time for the small regrouping and the attack on the big enemy base. It's lean, it's to the point, and it's an explosive finale that works.
- π And Finn doesn't even care about saving the galaxy, he just wants to rescue Rey.
- π The epilogue where Rey finds Luke sets up that/how the story will continue (even if it feels a bit separate).
Corner 2: Smart / "Here's where the fun begins."
Not everything has to be clever. And it's definitely not the primary thing that Star Wars sets out to do. Or at least the plot isn't, there's plenty of cleverness to be found here.
The Phantom Menace: 8/10
- π‘ The invasion feels like overkill because it is, the Neimoidians are just cowards.
- π‘ The functional mechanical design of the trade federation droids and vehicles paint a gorgeous contrast to the gleaming ceremonial Naboo tech.
- π‘ Having two sentient races coexist on a planet is a Star Wars first at this point, and it helps counter the (legitimate) criticism that every Star Wars planet consists of a single biome.
- π‘ The pod races barely having any human racers because humans suck at it is a delightful detail full of implied world building.
- π€ The forcefields that are so critical to the showdown between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi Wan make zero apparent sense.
- π‘ The difference in the way they deal with Jar Jar informs the audience about the master-apprentice relationship between Qui-Gon and Obi Wan. One sees the opportunity and musters the patience, the other can't yet.
- π€ Considering that the film starts and ends on Naboo it could have been more narratively clear what was achieved by risking the trip to Coruscant. Amidala's plea to the senate falling on ~deaf ~ears could have been presented as more frustrating to her, and the return to Naboo as an act of desperation, even if only in private. Though her realisation that the Gungans' army are an opportunity is well telegraphed.
- π‘ There is active mirroring of New Hope going on here. Captain Tanaka blowing out the palace window to escape the shootout mirrors Leia blasting open the garbage chute on the Death Star is one of the more subtle ones that I missed the first few times.
- π‘ There is a LOT going on at the same time in that final action sequence, but it somehow doesn't get muddled and confusing. It's very well cut, and the musical themes switching with every scene transition really helps. The main thing it does though, is to have the highs and lows match up between locations. They're all in trouble at the same time, all make a recovery at roughly the same time, etc.
- π‘ The invasion feels like overkill because it is, the Neimoidians are just cowards.
- π‘ The functional mechanical design of the trade federation droids and vehicles paint a gorgeous contrast to the gleaming ceremonial Naboo tech.
- π‘ Having two sentient races coexist on a planet is a Star Wars first at this point, and it helps counter the (legitimate) criticism that every Star Wars planet consists of a single biome.
- π‘ The pod races barely having any human racers because humans suck at it is a delightful detail full of implied world building.
- π€ The forcefields that are so critical to the showdown between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi Wan make zero apparent sense.
- π‘ The difference in the way they deal with Jar Jar informs the audience about the master-apprentice relationship between Qui-Gon and Obi Wan. One sees the opportunity and musters the patience, the other can't yet.
- π€ Considering that the film starts and ends on Naboo it could have been more narratively clear what was achieved by risking the trip to Coruscant. Amidala's plea to the senate falling on ~deaf ~ears could have been presented as more frustrating to her, and the return to Naboo as an act of desperation, even if only in private. Though her realisation that the Gungans' army are an opportunity is well telegraphed.
- π‘ There is active mirroring of New Hope going on here. Captain Tanaka blowing out the palace window to escape the shootout mirrors Leia blasting open the garbage chute on the Death Star is one of the more subtle ones that I missed the first few times.
- π‘ There is a LOT going on at the same time in that final action sequence, but it somehow doesn't get muddled and confusing. It's very well cut, and the musical themes switching with every scene transition really helps. The main thing it does though, is to have the highs and lows match up between locations. They're all in trouble at the same time, all make a recovery at roughly the same time, etc.
A New Hope: 7/10
- π‘ Imperial environments, armour, droids and ships are clean, sleek and sterile, with Vader himself being the epitome of this.
- π‘ On the other hand the Rebels are scruffy, haphazard, mismatched, multiform. It is exactly the contrast to strike in visual storytelling.
- π€ And the Tantive IV's crisp white hallways from the opening sequence completely clash with this principle. The point could be made that it's not a rebel ship, and rather an Alderaanian ambassadorial vessel, but the implication that they are rebels is clear enough within the first lines of Vader's dialogue.
- π‘ Having Luke as the primary point of view character allows the film to just handwave world details. If Luke doesn't care enough to ask follow up questions, or already knows what the Clone Wars are, we as the audience won't get to hear about them.
- π€ What was praise for the adherence to the Hero's Journey over in the Adventure corner costs it in the Smart corner. It's a satisfying structure, but part of the reason it is so satisfying is because it is quite predictable.
- π€ "I used to bull's-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home." is a good line to handwave Luke being able to fly an X-Wing, and Luke is actually seen playing with a model of one before going after R2. However, it would have been cleaner to actually have it acknowledged that he owns an actual T-16. He sells his Landspeeder to cover the cost of Han's upfront price, but not his (presumably more expensive) Airspeeder?
The Force Awakens: 7/10
- π€ Including the entirely unexplained Lor San Tekka in the opening village assault is confusing, and might make people wonder if they missed something.
- π‘ But it is an excellent way to convey that time has passed since Return of the Jedi, that the universe has changed and that not everybody in the films is going to be somebody you know.
- π‘ Having the new heroes escape in a First Order Tie Fighter is an excellent way to communicate that First Order tech is only similar to the Empire. It also helps establish Poe's and Finn's roles and the relationship between the two. That's a lot of heavy lifting for an action scene.
- π€ I'm not sure all the Force Vision stuff that Rey has when she receives Luke's lightsaber is necessary. Or rather, I'd argue that it's really just not necessary. It feels gratuitously teasing, and has J.J. Abrams stylistic fingerprints all over it.
- π‘ Rey rejecting the saber (and with it the call to adventure) is a good moment that really speaks to the theme of the new trilogy. Maz turning that into a joke and offering the same saber to Finn a scene later is a delight.
- π‘ I really like Maz Kanata in general, she's fulfilling a Yoda-like role without ever trying to mimic him, showing that there are different paths of living with knowledge of the Force for centuries.
- π€ Targeting a planet that is in a different star system feels improbable. Firing a laser to strike that remote planet even more so. Having that laser split up after arrival in the correct star system to strike multiple planets is ludicrous. And consuming a sun to fire the weapon too! The mechanical concept behind the superweapon would easily be my least favourite element of The Force Awakens if the Eravana stuff mentioned earlier hadn't also been sketchy. I get that they can't just have another, even bigger, Death Star. But they could have at least just have a giant laser that caused the Sun in the target system to go supernova, taking out the batch of planets that way or something that makes a bit of sense.
- π‘ Rey living inside of a defunct AT-AT walker is a delightful visual and the entirety of her life on Jakku is particularly well shot and imagined. Not to mention being a solid implied reason why she is so generally capable (mechanic, pilot, combat) and it isn't all just the Force guiding her.
Corner 3: Heart / "Now, be brave and don't look back."
It's hard to separate nostalgia from all of these corners, but in this one it's the hardest, especially for the older two. Judging something based on how it makes you feel, but discarding how it used to make you feel? Probably impossible.
The Phantom Menace: 7/10
- π Jar Jar Binks turned out to be a controversial character, but he worked, was important to the tone of the film and does not deserve the hate and ridicule he received from a portion of the audience. He annoys you because he is annoying, that doesn't mean he's a bad character.
- π I love Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, but Padme/Amidala is the only relevant female role in this. She's not quite as pigeonholed as "royalty to be rescued" as Princess Leia in New Hope, but imagine if Obi Wan's Jedi Master had been female. Zero further alterations to the script or character, maybe snatching up Sigourney Weaver (although that would have made her unavailable for Galaxy Quest which would have been a shame) or some other well known actress in the right age bracket to be Obi Wan's mentor.
- π There are weird sequences in the movie that basically have no music. It's weirdly distracting once you start focusing on it. The first 2.5 laps of the pod race are especially glaring (sorry if this tarnishes the pod race for you).
- π When it does hit those musical notes though, it absolutely soars. Star Wars has always had an amazing score, and Phantom Menace is no exception. Duel of the Fates especially is considered an absolute highlight for a reason (I love how the choir comes in at exactly the right visual queue).
- π Jar Jar Binks turned out to be a controversial character, but he worked, was important to the tone of the film and does not deserve the hate and ridicule he received from a portion of the audience. He annoys you because he is annoying, that doesn't mean he's a bad character.
- π I love Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, but Padme/Amidala is the only relevant female role in this. She's not quite as pigeonholed as "royalty to be rescued" as Princess Leia in New Hope, but imagine if Obi Wan's Jedi Master had been female. Zero further alterations to the script or character, maybe snatching up Sigourney Weaver (although that would have made her unavailable for Galaxy Quest which would have been a shame) or some other well known actress in the right age bracket to be Obi Wan's mentor.
- π There are weird sequences in the movie that basically have no music. It's weirdly distracting once you start focusing on it. The first 2.5 laps of the pod race are especially glaring (sorry if this tarnishes the pod race for you).
- π When it does hit those musical notes though, it absolutely soars. Star Wars has always had an amazing score, and Phantom Menace is no exception. Duel of the Fates especially is considered an absolute highlight for a reason (I love how the choir comes in at exactly the right visual queue).
A New Hope: 7/10
- π Han coming back genuinely excited me when I first saw it, and it still makes me cheer just as much.
- π Other than the brief scenes with Princess Leia on the Tantive IV we don't see our next hero (Luke) until 17 minutes into the film. The droids wandering the desert sequence is well executed and doesn't get the worldbuilding credit it deserves.
- π Luke sure can whine though, especially in those first scenes where we do meet him.
- π The Death Star run is a delight. It's meticulously set up and well executed, even if I'm not sure why the base at Yavin IV wasn't evacuating while their attack run was happening.
- π The only relevant female character is a princess who needs rescuing and she doesn't get a spaceship? That's so unfair! Hell, even the entire Rebel Alliance is very human, very white and very male at this point. I thought this was supposed to be the scrappy resistance, pulled together from all walks of life. Looking back, the primary source of aliens is Tatooine / the cantina scene. I'm so glad the universe got fleshed out a bit more after this.
The Force Awakens: 9/10
- π The final duel, Finn versus Kylo Ren, on the surface of the soon-to-be-destroyed Starkiller Base. Hell yes. Oh no, he's not doing well, oh no he loses his lightsaber, oh no he's hurt real bad, oh no Kylo is using the Force to pull the saber towards him... it's tumbling weirdly though, as if two forces ar-
- π I also have to mention representation here. Our trio of new heroes is portrayed by an African-American, a Guatemalan-American and an English-Girl-American. An absolute win for real-world diversity.
- π That does mean they're all human though, and I don't go see Star Wars for the humans. Chewbacca is always a delight, but he is a known quantity. I'm not saying I want a movie about a Rodian, a Trandoshan and a Twi'lek and their marvellous space adventures, but I do.
- π Oh hey, we even have a female stormtrooper that doesn't matter! Just a regular grunt trooper with some expository comms chatter that happens to be female.
- π Speaking of female stormtroopers that don't really matter... Phasma was conceptually excellent, but hardly utilised. I'd really have liked a bit more characteristics for her, what she's about.
- π Oh great, Rey needs rescuing from Starkiller Base... but wait, she escapes by herself! Even without considering the subverted sexism and inversion of what happens in New Hope that is a fun development. She even gets to climb around in the same type of architecture as the Star Destroyer wrecks back on Jakku.
- π "I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy", followed by Han's look. It's heartbreaking.
Whew, that took some getting back into, and it was tricky to not just keep going with every list of bullet points. I have a lot to say about Star Wars (and there's two asides incoming below), and I'll probably just keep saying stuff about Star Wars forever. Let's just hope it stays this positive.
All in all I'm really glad that I went with these three films first, it really allowed me to highlight the importance of starting a trilogy right, even (or especially) if they are part of a larger whole still.
Now, for that triangle!
Was anybody surprised about these results? Because I sure wasn't.
Although there might be some moaning about their relative total scores... which come down to:
- π The final duel, Finn versus Kylo Ren, on the surface of the soon-to-be-destroyed Starkiller Base. Hell yes. Oh no, he's not doing well, oh no he loses his lightsaber, oh no he's hurt real bad, oh no Kylo is using the Force to pull the saber towards him... it's tumbling weirdly though, as if two forces ar-
- π I also have to mention representation here. Our trio of new heroes is portrayed by an African-American, a Guatemalan-American and an English-Girl-American. An absolute win for real-world diversity.
- π That does mean they're all human though, and I don't go see Star Wars for the humans. Chewbacca is always a delight, but he is a known quantity. I'm not saying I want a movie about a Rodian, a Trandoshan and a Twi'lek and their marvellous space adventures, but I do.
- π Oh hey, we even have a female stormtrooper that doesn't matter! Just a regular grunt trooper with some expository comms chatter that happens to be female.
- π Speaking of female stormtroopers that don't really matter... Phasma was conceptually excellent, but hardly utilised. I'd really have liked a bit more characteristics for her, what she's about.
- π Oh great, Rey needs rescuing from Starkiller Base... but wait, she escapes by herself! Even without considering the subverted sexism and inversion of what happens in New Hope that is a fun development. She even gets to climb around in the same type of architecture as the Star Destroyer wrecks back on Jakku.
- π "I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy", followed by Han's look. It's heartbreaking.
Whew, that took some getting back into, and it was tricky to not just keep going with every list of bullet points. I have a lot to say about Star Wars (and there's two asides incoming below), and I'll probably just keep saying stuff about Star Wars forever. Let's just hope it stays this positive.
All in all I'm really glad that I went with these three films first, it really allowed me to highlight the importance of starting a trilogy right, even (or especially) if they are part of a larger whole still.
Now, for that triangle!
Was anybody surprised about these results? Because I sure wasn't.
All in all I'm really glad that I went with these three films first, it really allowed me to highlight the importance of starting a trilogy right, even (or especially) if they are part of a larger whole still.
Now, for that triangle!
Although there might be some moaning about their relative total scores... which come down to:
The Phantom Menace: 89.20
A New Hope: 81.84
The Force Awakens: 93.10
Stellar scores all round! And a surprisingly large gap between New Hope and the other two, though I guess it did have more time to age. I wonder if this distribution/ranking between trilogies will keep up, because a lot of people didn't like Attack of the Clones very much and The Empire Strikes Back is an absolute classic.
Now, for those two asides.
An aside about mechanical design
I don't actually care that much about spaceships and mechanical designs, except in Star Wars. There's just something evocative about the design philosophy they're working with. Or rather, philosophies, because it really does feel like the various factions are exemplified by their ships, their droids, even their guns.
It's the highest grade of visual storytelling, and not having new vocabulary to work with (like in The Force Awakens where there are practically no new ships and not even that many different old ones) I'm disappointed that there isn't more to inform us of what people are about. Especially the original trilogy excels at this, with an implied arms race between the two factions. X-Wings and Y-Wings vs. Tie Fighters in New Hope is a lot of fun, but then Tie Bombers are introduced in Empire and finally we see A-Wings and B-Wings joining the rebels and Tie Interceptors for the imperials to deal with the increased threat. And that's just going into the fighters, the frigates and capital ships have their own stories to tell. From the bulbous mon calamari cruisers to the sleekest star destroyers.
Actually, one more detail about the capital ships for the two factions, large open areas in the two are designed directionally opposite. A Star Destroyer's bridge has a central walkway for the captain so he (or theoretically she, but let's not kid ourselves) can approach the front, with indentations for the inferior bridge staff to sit at their stations. Rebel ship areas are laid out more like amphitheatres, where a group can crowd around a central figure and look down at what is explained.
An aside about villain motivations and backstories
I know I complained about Phasma in my The Force Awakened corner, but all three films don't really bother to explain who the villains are and what their deal is.
- Darth Sidious is trying to defeat the Jedi, Maul is his apprentice, and they're Sith perhaps? That's it.
- Darth Vader is presented as an anomalous part of the Empire hierarchy, but we don't know why he is associated with the Force or even what species he is.
- Kylo Ren gets the Ben Solo part of his backstory explained, but not how he fell or how he found Snoke and the First Order, Snoke is just Snoke.
And I'd argue that this is a good thing. Do I want to know more about these characters? Sure! But I'd probably want to know more about everything in this universe. We learn about these characters and their backstories when it is narratively functional to do so. We aren't owed an explanation of them unless it is important for us to know details about them that are in service to the points the film is trying to make.
Whew, that was fun. I had been meaning to write about these three films for a while.
I'm not saying we're "formally" starting the triangle reviews back up, but let's see if I can get through the other 5 films before The Rise of Skywalker comes out, shall we?
Now, for those two asides.
An aside about mechanical design
I don't actually care that much about spaceships and mechanical designs, except in Star Wars. There's just something evocative about the design philosophy they're working with. Or rather, philosophies, because it really does feel like the various factions are exemplified by their ships, their droids, even their guns.
It's the highest grade of visual storytelling, and not having new vocabulary to work with (like in The Force Awakens where there are practically no new ships and not even that many different old ones) I'm disappointed that there isn't more to inform us of what people are about. Especially the original trilogy excels at this, with an implied arms race between the two factions. X-Wings and Y-Wings vs. Tie Fighters in New Hope is a lot of fun, but then Tie Bombers are introduced in Empire and finally we see A-Wings and B-Wings joining the rebels and Tie Interceptors for the imperials to deal with the increased threat. And that's just going into the fighters, the frigates and capital ships have their own stories to tell. From the bulbous mon calamari cruisers to the sleekest star destroyers.
Actually, one more detail about the capital ships for the two factions, large open areas in the two are designed directionally opposite. A Star Destroyer's bridge has a central walkway for the captain so he (or theoretically she, but let's not kid ourselves) can approach the front, with indentations for the inferior bridge staff to sit at their stations. Rebel ship areas are laid out more like amphitheatres, where a group can crowd around a central figure and look down at what is explained.
An aside about villain motivations and backstories
I know I complained about Phasma in my The Force Awakened corner, but all three films don't really bother to explain who the villains are and what their deal is.
- Darth Sidious is trying to defeat the Jedi, Maul is his apprentice, and they're Sith perhaps? That's it.
- Darth Vader is presented as an anomalous part of the Empire hierarchy, but we don't know why he is associated with the Force or even what species he is.
- Kylo Ren gets the Ben Solo part of his backstory explained, but not how he fell or how he found Snoke and the First Order, Snoke is just Snoke.
And I'd argue that this is a good thing. Do I want to know more about these characters? Sure! But I'd probably want to know more about everything in this universe. We learn about these characters and their backstories when it is narratively functional to do so. We aren't owed an explanation of them unless it is important for us to know details about them that are in service to the points the film is trying to make.
Whew, that was fun. I had been meaning to write about these three films for a while.
I'm not saying we're "formally" starting the triangle reviews back up, but let's see if I can get through the other 5 films before The Rise of Skywalker comes out, shall we?
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