Neil Calloway on why the second films in Star Wars trilogies are the best…
Unless you’ve been hiding out on Dagobah or in the Outer Rim Territories, you’ll be aware that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is released this week. It’s a Star Wars movie, so has a lot to live up to, but it’s also the second film in the trilogy, so it will probably be the best one.
It’s not only the fact that Rian Johnson has been given carte blanche on his own Star Wars trilogy to follow this one, and personally I’m looking forward to him telling the story of the Gungans in great detail, but precedent also says it has the most potential.
In the same way that people who know these things say the even numbered Star Trek films are better than the odd numbered ones (don’t ask me – I don’t think I’ve ever made it through an entire episode of a Star Trek TV show, let alone an entire film pushing an imperialist space utopia. Give me the Mos Eisley Cantina over the Holodeck any day) the second Star Wars film is largely held to be the best.
I’d slightly argue with this premise, claiming that Return of the Jedi is superior to The Empire Strikes Back, and A New Hope better than them both, received wisdom holds that the darker middle film in the original trilogy is the best – it certainly contains the best line – Han and Leia’s final exchange before he is frozen in carbonite.
Hoth, Cloud City, Yoda’s first appearance, the revelation about who Luke’s father is, Irvin Kershner’s direction – he’s certainly the best director to helm a Star Wars film – Luke being less whiny than before, all add up to a pretty great film, even if it doesn’t have an explosive moment like the destruction of the Death Star, or the battle outside Jabba’s palace – what Wookieepedia, a website where I’ve lost countless afternoons – calls the Skirmish at the Great Pit of Carkoon.
While it might be easy to make the case for The Empire Strikes Back, it’s harder to bang the drum for Attack of the Clones. We might not have the long awaited cut featuring *NSYNC as Jedi, it’s still probably the best of the prequels. The Phantom Menace is often laughable, and you went into Revenge of the Sith knowing how it would end. Attack of the Clones at least has some original, surprising moments. Throughout the films we’ve been told that the Jedi brought order to the galaxy, but we hadn’t really seen them at work in any great numbers. With the Battle at Geonosis, we see them doing what we’ve been told they do for the first time. We also get the introduction of the characters who will become Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru – a fun little surprise, as well as discovering what the Clone Wars were – what was once a throwaway line by Obi Wan Kenobi becomes something real.
The Last Jedi has a lot to live up to, and it certainly has more pressure on it being the second film in the series.
Neil Calloway is a pub quiz extraordinaire and Top Gun obsessive. Check back here every Sunday for future instalments.
Originally published December 10, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
