Pressure mounts on Kathleen Kennedy to step down as head of Lucas Film?

Sad Professor wrote: »

He doesn't fix anything. He cuts out some stuff he personally didn't like. In the case of Luke and the lightsaber, in a very obvious and messy way.

Yeah, it's pretty awful - based on that, he's in a few swift edits robbed the film of much of its dramatic stakes, characterisation and made the whole thing a whole lot less interesting.

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The Last Jedi is to me, an excellent film in its own right.... but just an OK to decent Star Wars film.

This is interesting to me, because I feel The Last Jedi actually has a far deeper understanding of a lot of the ideas floating the series around then many give it credit for... indeed, it expands on them quite significantly.

Johnson is fascinated with many of themes and ideas that have defined the films thus far. Family and legacy has obviously been a key driver in almost all the films to date, particularly the original trilogy. TLJ takes that in a lot of new directions that very clearly reflect on what the series has had to say to date. He makes Rey's story one that mirrors but also departs the journey both Anakin and Luke went on when we followed them at a similar point in their development. Similarly, Kylo's journey shows a character actively trying to replicate his grandfather, but spiralling down a different path completely.

When it comes to lore, I also think Johnson sat down and properly fleshed out his thoughts on what a lot of the ideas floating around represent - even to the degree of critiquing some of them (he has little tolerance for some of the spiritual or - heaven forbid - pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo that has bogged down the series at the times). His montage 'explaining' the Force is probably the definitive cinematic explanation of it, with visual ideas backing up the exposition. Similarly, it allows Luke to become the perfect Jedi Yoda described in the Empire Strikes Back ("A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack"). The 'badass' projecting Luke we see in his final scenes here is a more fitting destination for the character than the lightsaber-wielding 'badass' some others have called for. Even if you look at something like The Holdo Maneuver (which I am well aware has become a sticking point for some) - that again takes a concept familiar from the series and takes it somewhere new. Same thing for lightsabers - that fight in the throne room is a very different take on lightsaber combat than we've seen in the main series to date (as emotionally and physically draining as past fights have been, don't get me wrong!).

Even stylistically, TLJ is probably the most thoughtful successor to the film George Lucas made in 1977. They're both cine-literate creations, loaded with deeply-rooted nods and allusions to cinema history. TLJ, of course, has several additional decades of cinema to draw from, not least the series it exists in (Luke's final sunset shot, for example, is a brilliant visual echo that completes his journey in a purely visual way).

The Force Awakens is obviously a Star Wars film, in that it militantly adheres to what a Star Wars films looks and feels like to the point it has been both criticised and praised as a glorified remake. The Last Jedi has a notably different feel, and in some ways definitely feels like a surprise departure from what we've seen to date. But what I appreciate about it - as someone who loved Star Wars as a kid but have naturally grown out of it over the years - is that it engages with the ideas at the centre of the series more robustly and thoughtfully than any of the films that have come before.

I fully understand and respect that others feel differently, I hasten to add - while I may be baffled by the sheer, sustained vitriol from some quarters, I can understand why many were disappointed or frustrated by the directions and interpretations chosen. But for me Johnson made the decisions that were necessary to push the series forward, while engaging in all manner of fascinating ways with the legacy he inherited. It is, IMO, a definitively Star Wars film in a deeper, more interesting way than TFA is.