

I mean, if you’re willing to view TLJ as a standalone film, why wouldn’t you also grant the same reprieve to TFA? They were both cinematically beautiful and told internally consistent and compelling stories, but they looked like dogshit against the backdrop of the rest of the Skywalker storyline and the fundamentals of the SW universe. I just give TFA more leeway because it didn’t intentionally retcon its own set-up material.
I recently watched a video that went deeply into exactly that criticism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL4IfoQzSSE
The gist is that most of the current content forgets to focus on making characters feel human, and that’s because they’re so relentlessly focused on forcing exposition that needs to get the plot from point A to point B that they forget to focus on the organic way that a character might interact with and react to a situation. Every character turns into a cardboard cutout because they’re archetypes designed to fill a role in a plotline, as opposed to living, breathing individuals with their own priorities, intentions, and often times inner turmoil. Andor and Rogue One are the only two projects that allowed characters to be flawed and emotional, and therefore authentic and relatable. And that’s why we care so much more about those stories, because we can feel what the character is going through. The rest is just hitting us on the head with exposition so that we can follow along, as if we’re all thumb-sucking idiots who can’t think for ourselves.