Back in December, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS set the world on fire. Not only was it a follow-up to the much beloved original STAR WARS trilogy that ended back in the 1980s, but it was also considered by many to be a worthy successor to it. It successfully captured the flavor and style of that series, all the while pushing the story forward in a new direction.

Audiences responded to this by heading to the theaters in droves, and by the time the film left theaters it had broken $2 billion worldwide, putting it in third place in the overall ranking of box office records. The only other movies that outperformed STAR WARS were TITANIC and AVATAR, and interestingly enough, they are both films from world renowned director James Cameron.

While plenty of filmmakers have given their opinion on the film, James Cameron has largely stayed quiet on the subject. But in a recent interview with Hannah Litchfield, Cameron opened up about his opinion on the flick:

“Well George Lucas is a friend of mine and he and I were having a good conversation the other day about it. I don’t want to say too much about the film cause I also have a lot of respect for J.J. Abrams, and I want to see where they’re taking it next, to see what they’re doing with it. I have to say that I felt that George’s group of six films had more innovative visual imagination, and this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before and characters you had seen before, and it took a few baby steps forward with new characters. So for me the jury’s out, I wanna see where they go with it.”

It’s very clear from this comment that Cameron has a great respect for Abrams, but it’s also clear that he isn’t quite sold on the film series just yet. Given that James Cameron is all about innovation in the realm of visuals, it makes sense that he isn’t too impressed by the “visual imagination” of THE FORCE AWAKENS. More than anything, that film worked to recapture the aesthetic the original trilogy created more than it worked to make bold innovations.

Cameron also makes a good point in stating that the film is more of a “retrenchment” of what we’ve seen before. That was the entire point of the film, but at the same, it’s been a consistent criticism for fans who were looking for a new experience. But hearing that from the director of AVATAR, a film that was the hardest of hardcore retrenchment of a well-worn story, it felt a bit oblivious to me. But in all fairness, the director doesn’t flat-out disrespect the film. Instead, he essentially stated he’s waiting to see the direction the franchise eventually takes, which is understandable.

What are your thoughts on James Cameron’s comments? Let us know in the comments down below.

And if you want to check out Cameron’s opinion for yourself, take a look at the video!

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SOURCE: Keely Stinner (via Jar Jar Abrams)