Mark Hamill Says ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Was Trying To Mimic The Original Trilogy

Sometimes, you just can’t win. There were those who found “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” too beholden to the original trilogy, while others think “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” strays too far from the core values of the series. Now, Mark Hamill is weighing in on the history of the franchise, and surprisingly, he has some kind words to say about the prequels. So if you secretly adore those most reviled pictures, you might have some ammunition in your corner.

“What I thought was great about the prequels was the different technology that I had never seen before. All that CGI. And the fact that [George Lucas] wasn’t trying to do the same experience all over again,” Hamill explained to Metro.

READ MORE: ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ The ‘Star Wars’ Universe Keeps Feeding On It’s Own Mythology

Yes, certainly Lucas was pushing forward all that technology he loves so much, but the stories weren’t there – and let’s just say that overall the execution left much to be desired. When it comes to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Hamill pretty much echoes what Abrams has said himself about the movie — that it was trying to recapture the spirit of the original trilogy, complete with a new Death Star and cantina sequence.

“Of course! He was trying to figure out what was it about the original movies that everybody loved. And that’s a different thought process than what George would have done. Because he would go, ‘I had a beginning, middle, and an end,’ ” the actor said.

Again, Abrams himself has admitted as much. “[‘The Force Awakens’] was a bridge and a kind of reminder; the audience needed to be reminded what ‘Star Wars’ is, but it also needed to be established with something familiar, with a sense of where we are going to new lands, which is very much what 8 and 9 do,” the director said this spring. “The weird thing about that movie is that it had been so long since the last one. Obviously the prequels had existed in between and we wanted to, sort of, reclaim the story. So we very consciously — and I know it is derided for this — we very consciously tried to borrow familiar beats so the rest of the movie could hang on something that we knew was ‘Star Wars.’ ”

Does Hamill think one approach was better than other? Not really, as much as he’s pointing out the pictures had different endgames.

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is in cinemas now.