I think this trilogy would have been much better if they hadn't killed Luke. I was so disappointed when he died in The Last Jedi.
i was disappointed we saw nothing of the Jedi academy, nothing of the other students, not even a single shot, i guess that is all backstory. it's like the sequel trilogy we wanted to see was the backstory for the end of what that actually cool stuff could have been. the comics have them travelling around w other Jedi, fighting the Knights of Ren, exploring cool force stuff. all of that could have been in
TLJ rather than the stuck-in-one-place miserable anti lore dump we got.
killing Luke was an ok choice, if totally unnecessary. the ST purportedly was to be about the new characters primarily and Rian fucked that up by wasting our time with a movie all about the anti myth of Luke Skywalker. it was the longest SW movie yet it brings so little to the table for Rey, the lead character. the middle entry should have at least 3 new planets, here we only have 2, and they are Crait and Canto Bight, so basically Ireland and Italy are the new planets. and Ach-Too is even a planet from the last movie, he just used what JJ had already done. they don't even explore the planet or go to jungles or anything, they just stay on the same cliffside all movie. is this fantasy? what a waste of fucking time.
you look at the other middle entries, they brought so much.
AOTC had the
Blade Runner chase of Coruscant, the futuristic clone planet Kamino, the Colosseum on classic sci fi pulp planet Geonosis inspired by 1961's
Mysterious Island, Jango Fett & Clone Army, Count Dooku (bringing film legend Christopher Lee into the series as new Sith Lord).
ESB had Dagobah, Yoda, Hoth, AT-ATs, force cave, force pull/telekenisis, Cloud City. the new locations are just backdrops, the characters rarely interact with the flat plains of Crait, where physical concerns like temperature or distance are irrelevant. it may as well be a studio floor. just a flat plain w an image of mountains in the background to look dramatic.
they are backdrops. Hoth was dangerous, it impacted the story. Dagobah swallowed Luke's X-Wing, it trapped him there, influenced his decisions. Cloud City is a many layered place where our heroes spend a lot of time, it had bright and cheery areas, it also has the hellishly lit industrial section where our heroes are tortured and mutilated. the new films, the locations have nothing to do with our characters. they are in the water, it doesn't matter. Kylo walks through a wave that should knock him over. Crait is just a blue screen CGI splash screen. one reason
TFA works so well is that Rey is actually interacting w her environment, sliding down the hills, spelunking and exploring the ruins. this is what fantasy sci fi is all about. not so much interpersonal politics. IMO main reason the new ones have failed. they lost the sense of fun and adventure.
ROS at least tries for that. in fact i like the desert planet stuff w the quicksand cos it is so old school pulp adventure, them getting trapped by the environment.