It seems that in the forty-year history of the Star Wars franchise no one has been able to replicate the great story lines and energy of the original films. That the series only worked during the time of the original trilogy back in the seventies and early eighties is well known to serious fans. Since then the efforts to recapture the magic of the original trilogy have proven to be largely unsuccessful. George Lucas tried to recreate the magic of the originals with his prequels and failed greatly because of miscasts, poor acting, bad writing and poor creative decisions on Lucas's part. When Disney purchased Star Wars in 2012 there was great optimism that Disney would return the series to its glory days. With Episode 9 nearing release, the optimism that once existed for the series no longer exists. Many fear another Disney money grab is in the making. In its last try, Disney seemed more interested in doing something that would be incredibly derivative of one of the earlier movies, A New Hope. This would prove to be Disney's undoing in restarting the franchise. The need to pander to casual fans and movie-goers instead of maintaining some originality has proven discouraging to serious followers of the Star Wars universe. So at the end of the day no one has really recaptured what was accomplished forty years ago. Fans are constantly debating whether anything outside the original trilogy is worth watching, and as the latest film nears release it is becoming an intense topic of debate. Critics and fans alike hope Disney does not repeat its last mistake with the upcoming December release of The Rise of Skywalker.
Agreed. They need new writers on this series.