Rian Johnson Explains What He Likes About the Star Wars Prequels

Rian Johnson is no stranger to Star Wars controversy, and he took to Twitter to wade into a popular argument: the merits of the prequels. Johnson, who directed the polarizing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, came across a tweet from RPG designer Scott Malthouse challenging people to “Say a genuinely nice thing about the Star Wars prequels” and offered his own opinion on the merits of the financially successful but largely-derided prequel films.

Posting his reply, Johnson wrote:

“Lucas made a gorgeous 7 hour long movie for children about how entitlement and fear of loss turns good people into fascists, and did it while spearheading nearly every technical sea change in modern filmmaking of the past 30 years.”

The Star Wars prequels were all massive successes on a financial level, much like episodes VII through IX, but despite initial critical support to some degree (the lowest-rated on average is The Phantom Menace at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes) have become largely hated by the fanbase. The Last Jedi was actually critically loved and had a great initial audience reaction, but has since become perhaps the most divisive of the Saga films, with both strong supporters and critics.

Lucas made a gorgeous 7 hour long movie for children about how entitlement and fear of loss turns good people into fascists, and did it while spearheading nearly every technical sea change in modern filmmaking of the past 30 years.

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 29, 2020