Warning: This article contains The Rise Of Skywalker spoilers. But you've already seen it, so no worries, right?

Right off the top, let's admit that millions of filmgoers are pretty much fine with the new Star Wars movies. It's among hardcore fans, cinephiles, and professional movie-watchers that the battle rages, with the most common positions being "It was pretty OK!" and "Prison would be too good for these bastards!" One way or the other, it seems clear that this new trilogy won't be remembered like the original, if it's remembered much at all. Maybe that was always too much to ask. Still, I think there's one basic, easily avoided story problem that kind of doomed the whole thing from the start.

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You Can See It In The Opening

From literally the very first two sentences of A New Hope's title crawl, we know the political situation in this massive new universe we're stepping into:

It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.

Bad guys rule the Galaxy, and they're opposed by a comparatively weak faction of rebels. It's simple, but that setup informs the entire plot of the original trilogy. Through heroism, the Force, and the ability to actually hit what they shoot at, the Rebels grow from a tiny band of desperate guerrilla fighters into a galaxy-spanning coalition sporting an entire armada commanded by fish-people.

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Even the often-mocked opening crawl for The Phantom Menace, while infinitely less interesting, at least paints a clear picture of a declining civilization falling into conflict. (It literally opens with "Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic.") Now compare those to the situation presented in The Force Awakens' opening crawl:

Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed. With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy.