Generally speaking, Star Wars was and is more than just movies to us. Growing up, the original trilogy felt like magic. Epic space battles, iconic characters and a sense of enchantment that made the far-off galaxy feel, well, not quite real but not impossible either. Even the prequels, despite their cringeworthy dialogue and Jar Jar annoyance, bore the hallmark of Lucas’s unbridled ambitions on a similarly epic scale. But since Disney ramped up the sequel series in 2012 and started bringing out the new Star Wars franchise on the big screen, it seems to have lost its magic.

“The Force Awakens” certainly made an impact in the best way. It was nostalgic. There were new faces in the cast: Rey, Finn, Poe and others. And there were amazing lightsaber battles. It made over $2 billion globally. Critics adored it. Fans couldn’t wait to see what follows next. It seemed Disney got its pace going again. Then “The Last Jedi” came. It surely split the fan base like no other installment before. Johnson indeed went for bold choices: shaking things up, eliminating Luke and exploring the concept of being unable to let go of things in the past. Some praise it as genius and innovative; others felt it disrespected everything that led to the movie. Despite the split, it made over $1.3 billion.

“The Rise of Skywalker” attempted to fix it all in one fell swoop. It yanked Palpatine out from nowhere, filled the storyline with twists, and raced to tie everything together. The result was a fan-service-laden mess that got mixed responses, about 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, that still managed to pull in roughly $1 billion, but a clear dip. Meanwhile, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” mustered a tepid response in 2018, with a take barely clearing $393 million-a sure sign audience fatigue had already kicked in.

So here are the core problems: there was no steady, long-term plan for the sequels. Different directors brought different visions; mid-trilogy rewrites left the saga feeling fractured. The films leaned hard on nostalgia-familiar planets, iconic ships and callbacks to the originals without building enough new mythology or emotional resonance. Rather than bold storytelling with coherence, they read like corporate products aimed at pleasing everyone and, at the end of it all, pleasing fewer.

As 11th-graders who have loved Star Wars our whole lives, it pains us to see the theatrical side stumble. It’s watered down the sense of wonder that once felt timeless. That said, shows like “Andor” prove the universe can still deliver gripping, mature storytelling. The movies deserve a true reset: a clear vision, fewer compromises and the guts to take risks again. Until then, a galaxy far, far away feels closer, smaller and a lot less thrilling.