In a recent interview director Rian Johnson reflects on his part in the Star Wars sequels and how they are viewed now. Chatting with Rolling Stone about his working career and promoting Season 2 of Poker Face, talk turned to the GFFA.
First off he talked about the oft-maligned, but at least spectacular looking Holdo Manoeuvre from his The Last Jedi film.
“It was always in my head, when Han tells Luke that without the right calculations they could fly into a star, ‘and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it?’ I thought, ‘Well, if that’s physically possible, what would that look like?’ It seemed like something that was low-hanging fruit to me in a way. But I knew that if we were going to use it, we have to use it in a very big way; this can’t be a casual thing that happens this week. We should build the whole Return of the Jedi-esque three plotlines converging thing around this moment.”
The Rise of Skywalker
The interviewer felt that The Rise of Skywalker undermined Johnson’s movie. Johnson’s response to me felt like, let’s stay professional and not P anyone off.
“When I saw the movie, I had a great time watching it. Again, this is all about point of view. I never approach this as, like, a territory I’m carving out for my thing. In my perspective, J.J. did the same thing with the third that I did with the second, which is not digging it up and undoing — just telling the story the way that was most compelling going forward.”
“That means not just validating what came before, but recontextualizing it and evolving and changing as the story moves forward. I didn’t feel resentful in some way. But you’re talking about a movie made by my friends, with my friends in it. I sit down to watch a movie, and it’s a Star Wars movie. It’s all stuff I love. I’m not the one to come to for a hard-hitting critique. You can go to YouTube for that.”
It was awful Rian, TLJ wasn’t that much better but it wasn’t TROS levels of franchise destroying idiocy.
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“It never feels good to have anybody coming after you on the Internet, and especially coming after you saying things that I think I very much do not agree with about a thing I made and put a lot of heart and soul into. But at the same time, having grown up a Star Wars fan ultimately let me contextualize it and feel at peace with it in many different ways. Just remembering, going back on one level to arguing on the playground about Star Wars as a kid.”
“And I was in college when the prequels came out. My friends and I were Prequel Hate Central. Everyone was ruthless at the time. And of course now the prequels are embraced. I’m not saying that as a facile, ‘Oh, things will flip around in 20 years, you’ll see!’ It’s more that this push and pull, and this hatred to stuff that seems new, this is all part of being a Star Wars fan. Culture-war garbage aside, I think that essential part of it is a healthy part.”
No, it means Disney hired a terrible choice in J.J Abrams. Abrams took the franchise down several pegs in esteem across the world and Johnson’s middle movie didn’t do much to help. Slow chases, kids with brooms and Leia Poppins, However, I’ve been there and done criticising TLJ and TROS to death already.
Rian Johnson Trilogy?
As for that trilogy from Johnson that we all know is now never happening?
“Nothing really happened with [the other trilogy]. We had a great time working together, and they said, ‘Let’s keep doing it.’ I said, ‘Great!’ I would kick ideas around with Kathy [Kennedy]. The short version is Knives Out happened. I went off and made Knives Out, and was off to the races, busy making murder mysteries.”
“It’s the sort of thing if, down the line, there’s an opportunity to do it, or do something else in Star Wars, I would be thrilled. But right now I’m just doing my own stuff, and pretty happy.”
Not happening folks!
What do you think of his comments as director Rian Johnson reflects on his part in the Star Wars sequels and how they are viewed now? Thoughts below.
