Mainly Johnson I've seen be very experimental by not going the natural route, but rather go a whole new direction which no one was expecting. Again that's just my opinion, and if you don't see any experimentation, that's fine.
You're not wrong on the two types of people, but I wouldn't go that far to say Abrams and Johnson don't have any skill. Abrams revived "Star Trek" for a whole new generation, and I know tons of people who liked "The Force
Awakens" especially children now getting into "Star Wars".
Johnson has skill as well, for one I thought the cinematography, and the overall production design of "The Last Jedi" was impressive.
Kennedy I think has done some good but you're not wrong about her sucking up to George Lucas. She though does have a right to be upset at the fan base, because if I'm being honest, I think the fan base has been extremely harsh. Now growing up with "Star Wars" and is now the reason I Act, write, and Direct, I can see why the fan base would get upset, but I think theirs definitely a line the fan base has crossed. Again just my opinion.
"Only a suck-up would listen to someone they know is a fool. Hamill and Treverrow fought."
Very true, and so did Lord, and Miller. However, despite "Solo" doing okay at the box office, Kennedy, and Disney are now hopefully realizing their lessons. I want Disney to make good films, and I want Kennedy to be a good producer, and run Lucasfilms well. I'm gonna hope they take a few more chances and let the Lords, and Millers of the world make Star Wars good in this day and age.
Again just my opinion, so take it with a pinch of Salt.
Side note: I feel bad for Ron Howard since he had to completely clean up the mess Kennedy and Kasdan made.
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Keelai (34864)
6 years ago
I see experimentation that you're talking about, unfortunately Johnson's new direction equaled bad storytelling since most of it made no sense and was repetitive. For instance, the repeated gotcha scenarios throughout the film. It felt like a gimmick. And the repeated characters' failures which made it seem like he was trolling the audience.
I enjoy creative experimentation, but it has to be done well. Any hint of an emotional moment, Johnson would turn it into a joke or cut from the scene. As a writer, can you imagine a scene in which Luke finds out that Kylo killed Han? Johnson didn't think that was important.
Abrams is good at copying from someone else's work and revising it to appeal to fans, but his own originality and creativity is limited. I liked both Trek and Force Awakens, but both are reboots.
I agree the movie looked great. I'm not sure if it was cinematographer Yedlin or Johnson though. Another problem is Johnson based his story around the cinematography instead of the other way around. Bomb drop scene "looked great", but there is no gravity in space and the bombers were so vulnerable that it made no sense for the rebels to use them instead of their B-wings.
Kennedy is in over her head. She's just rehashing the OT.
Agreed. Some SW fans are very hostile. They chased poor Lucas away.
I like Howard, but Solo is not a good film according to word of mouth and reviews. I wasn't impressed with the trailer.
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MichaelPacino (179)
6 years ago
I personally liked "The Last Jedi", but i can see why you didn't like it, and true their were scenes i wish would have been more emotion. One thing i genuinely loved in the opening was how Johnson made us feel for Rose's sister, without a word of dialogue, and just through her acting, and editing, but imagine if he had done that for the scene with Luke mourning over Han? Again though, Johnson is a newcomer who should have probably directed Solo, or Rouge one, since his style could've worked better for those movies.
I'd say "Solo" is okay, not good or bad, just ok. Wait till you can rent it is what I'd say.
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Keelai (34864)
6 years ago
The problem with Johnson was too much style over substance. Johnson showed a stranger die and another stranger mourning her. I felt nothing for either character. I don't know Rose's sister's name either. Even Rey mourning Han who she knew for 2 days(?) was dumb. The audience would have felt something if longtime characters like Leia or Luke were shown grieving Han. Someone suggested Leia should've held the dice and upon Luke's death they disappear allowing her to know he's dead and she cries. That's more powerful.
He knew about all the fan theories so instead of coming up with clever original answers, he decided not to address anything. His whole new direction was based more on a copout and laziness. Why did Luke leave a map if he didn't want to be found? Why does the Force work differently from the previous 7 movies? Why would Rey want to change stranger Kylo?
Originally I enjoyed most of the movie too, but upon repeated viewings, the flaws start popping out.
Most people say Solo is mediocre. I plan to borow Solo from the library out of curiosity.
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MichaelPacino (179)
6 years ago
You're not wrong, I feel Johnson did what George Lucas did with the prequel trilogy.
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Keelai (34864)
6 years ago
I have to defend Lucas from comparison to hack Johnson. I'll agree that some of the PT execution wasn't done well especially in Phantom Menace: Jarjar, bad acting, CGI, C3PO's origins.
But, Lucas story was consistent. Characters were well-developed. Jedi Knights and society were fleshed out. Lucas knows SW (obviously) unlike Johnson who made up stuff like the nonsense about what the balance in the Force is which contradicts SW lore. Lucas didn't copy whole scenes from the OT. There was new artwork, better costume design and music.
Johnson also was disrespectful of SW lore which is why there's such a heavy fan backlash.
Still, I understand why people have a problem with the PT which is OK.
I have no issue with anyone enjoying Last Jedi. It looks good. I'm just saying it's not written well. Personally, I enjoy bad movies and this one has begun to make me laugh. Holdo yelling at Poe when he asks what's the plan, flying Leia, Luke drinking milk and the look that the animal gives to Rey, crazy Rose saying she loves Finn out of the blue.
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MichaelPacino (179)
6 years ago
Yeah i think Johnson had a good idea, but you can tell he's such a first time director, and honestly needed more time to hone his craft before he took on this large of a production. i think what Episode 9 will do is give the fans what they want, while giving out hopefully a satisfying conclusion
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Keelai (34864)
6 years ago
He may be a good director, but he's a horrible writer. Some of the blame goes to Kennedy and Lucasfilms story consultants who are equally bad.
Most fans I know don't care about Episode 9 since the story was ruined.
No Han, Luke or Leia. More OT rehash. Mary Rey Sue and Emo Kylo. Finn and Rose. Boring artwork and SFX. Any loser can use the Force with no Jedi training. No thanks. I'll borrow it from the library out of curiosity.
I don't believe Episode 9 is the conclusion since Disney may use 9 as a springboard for more movies re: an unending civil war. I'll stick with Lucas EU novels for the real ST.
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MichaelPacino (179)
6 years ago
Well all i'll say is thanks for having a civilized conversation on this. I feel like I've actually had a better discussion with someone
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Arghhhh (804)
6 years ago
Abrams didn't revive Star Trek. He killed it.
I actually half-enjoyed Star Trek 2009 but it's nothing like Star Trek. As a generic action film set in space it's fine but nobody would have paid to see it if it was a generic action film set in space... the only thing JJ knows how to do is to create an empty husk, he then lets his audiences good will and nostalgia do the rest.
Take a look at the life cycle of nu trek and see if it seems familiar:
First film - Explosion filled roller-coaster that makes no sense. Huge success though some fans of the original hate it.
Second film - Rips off the original sequel only rearranging some bits so as to be seen to be less of a rip-off. Still a big success though most of the fans now seem to hate the new series.
Third film - At this point the fans don't bother turning up and the casuals never really cared so you find out you have no audience. The film is apparently closer in spirit to the originals but as nobody saw it it doesn't really matter. Too little too late.
Remove R1 from Nu Star Wars and we see the exact same pattern. And yes I know RJ made TLJ but don't think for a minute JJ (who was an executive producer) wasn't fully on board with it.
The guy is now instrumental in the destruction of the two greatest sci fi sagas in history.
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