Somewhere along the line the belief became that the Episodes 4-6 were great movies...well acted, well scrpited etc etc when in actual fact they were and always will be well loved and classic CHEESE! Episode I and II didn't change that except for using upgraded special effects. Very few complained about Episode 1 when it came out. Many critics loved it. People loved it (with the exception of Jar Jar...who the kids loved much like kids loved the Ewoks everyone else hated). People saw it again and again. I honestly didn't now anyone who weren't at a minimum entertained by the show. Then some sort of of backlash occurred due to the oversaturation of Star Wars in the media...all of a suden that it had poorly written scenes, there was a mix of bad, decent and good acting etc etc mattered. That was always present in the original ones as well.
It was a worthless movie. It was sooooo bad that Episode 2 was better according to many critics and they only gave Episode 2, 2 stars out of 5. yet looking back the same critics gave the phantom menace, a supposedly worse movie 4 or 5 stars. People went into Episodes 1 and 2 looking for a great movie and were delivered exactly what every other movie in the series has been...cheesy dialogue, some bad acting, some good acting, some annoying characters, some memorable lines and some good fight scenes. Lucas delivered pretty much the same quality of the original trilogy but peoples expectations were astronomical.
Kevin Smith I think understands that these aren't "masterpiece" movies in the classic sense and never have been. They are cheesy. They are fun. Nothing more.
I'll go into this installment with the same headspace I went into Episode 1 and 2: I'll be prepared for some good fight scenes, some cringe inducing lines/acting, and be prepared not to overthink anything and compare it to all things in the Star Wars universe picking up on inconsistencies etc etc etc and hopefully be entertained for a couple of hours as I have been on the other 5 movies. No it won't be a classic in my mind because quite simply I'm not a kid anymore. It takes more than some good fighting and lightsabres to be a classic movie to me now. It does take smart dialog (whether funny, crude, or dramatic) and great performances which Star Wars has never really had. It didn't take that as a kid....a lightsabre and blasters was all I needed and why those original 3 movies are classics in my mind and always will be. I know a lot of kids that absolutely love the Episode 1 and 2 and look at those movies as I did The Empire Strikes Back.
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