For a lot of Star Wars fans, the Prequel Trilogy was their first experience with the property. While it was derided for years by many fans, the Prequel Trilogy has gone through a renaissance in recent years, with its nuanced take on heroes and the focus on it puts on the villains and their machinations earning it high praise. In fact, in many fan circles, the Prequels are much more fondly looked on than the Sequel Trilogy and in some extreme cases the Original Trilogy.
LucasFilm can learn lots of lessons from the Prequel Trilogy, both in things it should do in the future and things that it should stay away from.
10 Secondary Villains Should Matter
Each of the Prequels introduced a new secondary villain and each one made an impact. Darth Maul chased the Jedi through the galaxy and was able to kill Qui-Gon Jinn. Count Dooku was the face of Separatists and was able to defeat the heroes in Attack Of The Clones before being killed by Anakin in the next movie, a step towards darkness for the young hero. General Grievous’s battle against Obi-Wan showed just how great of a fighter the Jedi Master was and it was exciting.
Compare that to Captain Phasma- Phasma looked cool but didn’t do anything except get stuffed in a garbage tub and then die in an okay fight in The Last Jedi. Secondary villains have to matter. They can’t just be a cool visual but need to be an integral part of the plot.
9 Letting The Villains Get Some Wins Is Important
One of the great things about the Prequel Trilogy is that from the get-go, the heroes are pretty much doomed. The entire premise of the movies is the end of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire, so the villains are going to win. On top of that, even when the villains don’t win, they should get some sort of victories in so people can believe they are dangerous.
Letting the villains get some victories is very important. Villains have to be believable threats and in order for that to happen, they have to get some wins against the heroes. It shows just how powerful and dangerous they can be and makes the audience believe the heroes are in jeopardy.
8 Big Action Set Pieces Are Integral To The Success Of Star Wars
Each of the Prequels has a massive action highlight- The Phantom Menace has both the podrace and the battle on Naboo and against the Trade Federation Droid Control Ship, Attack of The Clones had the Battle of Geonosis, and the Battles of Coruscant and Utapau, as well as the lightsaber fights between Palpatine, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, were all in Revenge Of The Sith.
Compare these dynamic action scenes to the Sequels and nothing in them compares. The closest are the action scenes in The Last Jedi and even they leave something to be desired. Lucasfilm needs to watch those parts of the Prequels before they make another action sequence to see how it’s done.
7 Nuance Is Important
There are a lot of things about the Prequels that aren’t up to snuff but one place that it beats everything that Lucasfilm has put out since the Disney acquisition is in its nuanced storytelling. The themes of the Prequels- the corrupting influence of power, heroes failing the tests of their times, trading freedom for security, and so much more- are some of the things that make them so powerful.
This is another place where the Sequels failed miserably. Even when it was trying, like in The Last Jedi, there was no nuance to it, with the theme of a scene being laid out in plain dialogue by a character onscreen. Big adventure is important to Star Wars but the best part is nuanced storytelling that informs the action.
6 Good Dialogue Is Very Important
One of the worst parts of the Prequels is the dialogue. George Lucas is a great writer for nuanced themes but he doesn’t do so hot with the dialogue. There is some truly cringeworthy dialogue in the Prequels, with most of the worst being in every interaction between Anakin and Padme.
While Star Wars has done a better job with dialogue since, Lucasfilm needs to remember this lesson- good dialogue is key. The Prequels may not have been as panned if it didn’t have some of the painful dialogue that it’s famous for.
5 People Love The Jedi
The Jedi are a huge part of Star Wars and the Prequels gave fans their first glimpse of a fully functioning Jedi Order and they loved it. Up until the Prequels, the Jedi were just a few old men and one barely trained kid but the Prequels really focused on them, showing them in all of their glory and exposing their foibles.
Up until the High Republic stuff, which the jury is still out on, Lucasfilm kind of strayed from the Jedi, which is kind of mystifying. Fans wanted to see a new Jedi Order in the Sequels and it was weird that a company so built on merch sales completely destroyed any hopes of that.
4 People Like Practical Effects A Lot
One of the things a lot of fans had against the Prequels is the dearth of practical effects. While this is patently untrue- there were loads of practical effects shots in all three movies- the movies did rely a lot on digital effects. George Lucas always enjoyed pioneering cinema techniques, so it makes sense, but it turned a lot of fans off.
Star Wars fans love practical effects and they should be used as much as possible. It gives things a tangible presence, a weight that even the best CG doesn’t have.
3 Make The Love Stories Better
The love story between Anakin and Padme is interesting, to say the least. Love stories are another place where George Lucas’s writing isn’t up to snuff and the Prequels bear this out. From the bad dialogue to the wooden acting, the central love story of the Prequels wasn’t always believable and feels more convenient than anything else.
It’s better to have no love story at all than a bad one and that’s something Lucasfilm needs to remember. They tried it in the Sequel Trilogy and it failed as well, with only a vocal minority of Reylos thinking that the love story between Rey and Kylo was worthwhile.
2 Heroes Should Be Fallible
The Prequels presented heroes who were ultimately more defined by their failures than their successes. Yoda’s blind faith in the Jedi and the Republic caused him to overlook Palpatine’s evil, Obi-Wan’s mistake with Anakin caused the birth of Darth Vader, and Anakin’s entire character arc was all about him falling from grace.
Compare the heroes of the Prequels to Rey- Rey is pretty much a perfect paragon of virtue. She overcomes every obstacle, always makes the right decision and never loses. Heroes need to be fallible otherwise they’re just caricatures.
1 World-Building Is Important
Watching the Sequels, it seems like Lucasfilm thought that one of the things that people didn’t like about the Prequels was the world-building. The world-building in the Sequel Trilogy was weak at best and mostly left out of the movies and put into supplemental material. This actually turned a lot of people off to the Sequels as many of them didn’t care enough to hunt down those sources outside of the movies.
The Prequels did a lot of world-building onscreen and it makes them more rewarding in the long run. Viewers got a look at how the world runs and understand it, instead of the little glimpses that make no sense on their own that the Sequels gave them. Lucasfilm needs to remember this.
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