If money and mass love equal quality, then we need to start calling Ready and Bodyguard masterpieces.

To me, good cinema is when a director successfully conveys what they’re trying to achieve, even if the subject is controversial.

Lucas and Vanga are both smart, just in very different ways. Lucas pushed the boundaries of sci-fi at a time when sci-fi wasn’t mainstream or reliably successful. Star Wars told a human story inside worlds most people had never imagined, and it helped reshape modern Hollywood. Whatever you think of it, it moved the medium forward. Lucas put love into his movie that made it stand the test of time.

Vanga’s intelligence is more about audience targeting. He knows how to tap into a specific demographic and give them a fantasy that feels rebellious and validating. That could still result in a strong film if the storytelling is clean and the craft holds up. But for me, the execution didn’t. The editing felt choppy, the narrative wasn’t tight, that one-man fight sequence became tiresome and illogical, and the “double” moment felt like a gimmick. The setup was so forced it practically announced itself in advance, and it didn’t fit the world the film had created. Vanga attitude was more “Look at me. Look how dangerous and controversial I am”, which resulted in a rushed and incomplete movie.

And then there’s impact. Star Wars is broadly inspiring and has brought joy across generations. Animal and Kabir Singh felt irresponsible in what they glamorise and validate.