It doesn’t really mean anything to anyone here because yeah, the movie is just not enjoyable to watch - but I at least respect AotC more than TROS. It’s fun and funny to call it straight garbage - I don’t really care - but George was trying to do something with it that is more admirable in concept than stroking nostalgia or cheap thrills. For as out of touch and misguided those prequels were - the cynical moneymaking aspect isn’t as pronounced, and the elements of it that are there was still encouraged with creativity.

Maybe my anti-establishment uncle just got to me early on, but AotC’s flavor of bad is preferable for being an earnestly missed shot - not a calculated attempt to please as many people as possible.

inb4 someone invalidates this opinion as nostalgia or irrelevant to how bad it is or whatever

TROS opinion: Joking about Sheev fucks aside, I did kind of like the implication that Palpatine was human and not just an evil warlock. Not like the film does anything about it, but I like the dark side as something rooted in our passion and humanity. Sure - Palps as corrupted by his own greed and ambition works fine for that, but it kind of helps his “Ultimate Sith” title if he was also guided by all the human sins, including possessive love or at the very least sexual vices. He can manipulate Anakin and Luke so effectively because he would have empathy for the same desires he might have had once.

I don’t think Rey should have been his granddaughter, but I really see no reason why they retroactively made Palps Jr. a clone. It turns an already stupid plot element even stupider.