In the original trilogy and Legends, Luke Skywalker was an earnest and sincere (albeit flawed) hero whose greatest victories were won with sentiment rather than his lightsaber and Force powers. The Last Jedi, of course, subverted these expectations as well. Many viewers expected Luke to join the Resistance, fight the First Order, and, most importantly, naturally progress since he was last seen in Return of the Jedi. Instead, Snoke is killed by his apprentice via a sneak attack. While Palpatine was given almost no backstory in Return of the Jedi, many hoped that the successor to the saga’s greatest villain would at least have brief exposition. Most Jedi are ordinary beings with no special bloodlines, and when actual royalty, such as Count Dooku, became Jedi, they received no special treatment. Some applaud this choice for its message that anybody can be a Jedi, but the original and prequel trilogies already established this quite clearly. Most viewers assumed that Rey was related to an established character, so The Last Jedi made her related to nobody. While Legends and the prequels told their own stories and had their own identities, The Force Awakens often lacked originality. Unfortunately, this led to one of the film’s most common criticisms: The basic plot of The Force Awakens is so similar to Star Wars, that the film often feels like a remake. The film itself does away with any political dialogue or storylines, only briefly explaining who the First Order, New Republic, and Resistance are in the opening crawl, attempting to lean far more into the feeling of the original trilogy. The film’s marketing heavily emphasized practical effects such as props and puppetry, rather than CGI. Star Wars: The Force Awakens puts an extraordinary effort into being essentially the opposite of the prequels. Some of the biggest complaints involved the chemistry between Hayden Christenson’s Anakin Skywalker and Natalie Portman’s Padme Amidala, too strong of a focus on politics (and subsequently slow pacing), and an overabundance of computer-generated imagery instead of practical effects. The Star Wars prequel trilogy was reviewed quite harshly by critics and viewers alike at first, but over time has become far more appreciated. Unfortunately, the trilogy’s better aspects are often overshadowed by its mistakes, particularly its attempts at fixing things that weren’t problems in the first place.
The sequel trilogy also makes the Star Wars franchise far more diverse, featuring a plethora of women and POC in lead roles and as creators, helping the franchise become even more inclusive. The trilogy has a spectacular cast, with even the most fervent detractors finding themselves hard-pressed to criticize the performances of the trilogy’s new and returning talent. Related: Every Star Wars Movie, Ranked Worst To Bestįor all their problems, the sequel trilogy films did a lot of good for the franchise. While Star Wars has always been popular, and many fans had warmed up to the prequels in the years since their release, the general audience still wasn't immediately sold on the idea of more Star Wars movies in 2012.
Lucasfilm, and subsequently the Star Wars franchise, were purchased by Disney in October of 2012 and a sequel trilogy was announced simultaneously.