I've been thinking that the real problem with Star Wars (both Prequel and High Estrogen) and the Ghostbusters Reboot is that they're expecting to tell complete story over three movies. Beginning in one, middle in two, and end in three. So each series delivers two movies with neither a satisfying climax nor a proper cliffhanger.
By contrast Ep4: A New Hope had a real ending. So did Ghostbusters (OG).
I blame lack of character development, storywriting in general and directors/studio ego's, mixed with the mentality "we'll blast the audience with the special effects to compensate" In the case of Star Wars; the latest two installments even elevated the prequels to a higher standard of decent movies.
Sadly Marvel seems to be the only one "doing it right" with long term story arc and character development, while the movies are enjoyable and "follow-able" standalone as well.