[Max Cow Disease]

I don't agree at all that this movie was so well received simply because of the Star Wars branding and that people were anxious to like a Star Wars movie again. It was well received because it's a good movie genuinely worthy of widespread praise.

You don't end up with 93-96% on a site like Rotten Tomatoes - a vast conglomeration of critic and random reviews- being a crappy popcorn flick that's simply pulled the wool over everyone's eyes by yanking a few nostalgic heart strings. The prequels were generally of a poorer quality than this, and were thus more poorly received. The relationship makes sense.