As is the case with most pop culture, even the most hated things in film eventually find fans over time. This is what the whole idea of a cult classic is based on, with a failed film eventually finding its audience after time. Well, we can’t call George Lucas’ “Star Wars” prequels “cult classics” in the strictest sense of the term, it’s true that ‘The Phantom Menace,’ ‘Attack of the Clones,’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’ have found a loyal fanbase in the decades since the release of the features. And apparently, one of those fans is Rian Johnson. But maybe not for the reasons you might think.
You see, Johnson is a fan of Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy, even though many die-hard “Star Wars” fans still hold a deep hatred of the films. Well, maybe we can’t say that he’s a “fan,” per se, but he does respect what Lucas crafted in those three films.
When urged by another Twitter user’s idea that people “say a genuinely nice thing” about the Prequel Trilogy, Johnson went ahead and said something nice. And in doing so, he might convince “Star Wars” fans to think about George Lucas’ films in a night light.
“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,” tweeted the filmmaker.
There are two parts to his compliment. First, there’s there obvious comment about how Lucas pushed the capabilities of CGI to the extreme over the course of those three prequels, creating characters like Jar Jar Binks completely with digital effects well before that was commonplace, for example.
But it’s the first part of the tweet that is interesting and actually might convince others to re-evaluate the three features. One of the main defenses of the Prequels is the fact that Lucas created films made for children and adults shouldn’t hold that against him, as most of the detractors are not the target audience. However, looking at the prequels as a story of entitlement and fear of loss turning good people bad is the most concise and interesting description of Anakin Skywalker’s fall from grace that exists.
Perhaps Johnson should have been on the marketing team for the prequels?
Either way, even viewing the Prequels through the rose-tinted glasses presented by Johnson doesn’t change some of the fundamental issues with the films, such as the acting, the scripts, and the overall story. But hey, he definitely said something nice about the films, so he succeeded in the original intent.
So, before we get on the “Prequels RULE!” bandwagon, let’s not forget this: