Some directors are not meant for certain things & Rian Johnson is not meant for Star Wars. Just like I would say Christopher Nolan is not meant for Star Wars, You just dont do what Rian Johnson did in the middle of a trilogy. But hey the Disney trilogy merchandise are not selling so he got that part down based on the video linked by BatLobster. The comments Rian made alone about the merchandise stuff says how bad of a hire he was. Disney has gotta hate Rian Johnson lol
I would disagree...
Johnson’s approach and vision is perfect in my opinion for
a Star Wars film, or
a series of Star Wars films, with
his characters. As a director of actors and cinematographic eye behind a film, he’s unimpeachable, and as a writer, I trust him with
his stuff...
...Though no, I don’t think he was made for a follow up to either Lucas's work or to a story that featured Rey, Finn, or Kylo after TFA.
When given someone else’s characters, he showed where, even as a great and usually analytical artist, he has certain weaknesses - he mislabeled the angsty white boy as sympathetic and deep without actually examining him, absolutely fumbled a female character who was supposed to be *both* heroic *and* assertively street smart (since those types don’t appear as much in film noir, where femme fatales and Ingenues tend to rule), and had
no idea at all what to do with a heroic black guy with a past as an escaped slave soldier.
Give him his own familiar act heroes, or allow him to play with an have
himself twist them, and he’s good.
But no, he’s an abysmal writer for the young characters Abrams introduced in
every way.
As someone who enjoyed The Force Awakens on its own terms rather than as a continuation of the original trilogy, while I'd take Rey Kenobi over Rey Nobody, it suffers from Obi-Wan having nothing to do with these films. It's like, in The Last Jedi/Rise of Skywalker, someone says to Rey, "Hey you know that guy Luke Skywalker who trained you even though you were really awesome before you ever met him? Well, you're related to the guy who trained him." Uh, okay? What does her being related to Mr. Not Appearing In This Trilogy have to do with the story being told?
Execution aside, one thing I can say about Rey Palpatine is that he was actually in the trilogy and that it was part of their interaction. It's a better idea to me because it's less immediately obvious and it challenges Rey when Rey not being challenged enough is a common criticism. It should have been set up earlier, though, which is a product of them not knowing about it themselves until the third film. Plus I think the comedown of learning you're related to a maniacal tyrant works better if you're not previously thinking you're related to the galactic equivalent of methheads. If Rey thinks she's a Kenobi and then finds out she's a Palpatine...
I would say that is an advantage Rey Palpatine... but also an inherent example of Rey Skywalker’s superiority as an idea - it gives her a connection to more characters in the story, and especially a better relationship to the main villain than some sickening and Finn erasing romance with Kylo.
But the big thing for me is this: whether it was Abrams, Johnson, Kennedy, or even if we go back and see Lucas did a “Kylo is the only Skywalker” idea...
...the end result was always screwing over the Skywalker story.
Better
no new Skywalkers than have the only one be a Neo-Nazi again.
People say Rian was trying to deconstruct star wars, but by the end of TLJ Kylo's let the past die philosophy is shown to be folly, the Rebellion is reborn, the Jedi are returning, Rey chooses the Light, Finn chooses to live for the Rebellion instead of dying, Luke has become one with the Force at peace and a great example of a Jedi Master, and a slave is dreaming of being a Jedi...Rian starts the film in a place of hopelessness and plays with tropes but by the time the credits roll it doesnt get much more star warsy and it ends with a message of hope.
I wholeheartedly disagree with many of the plot points your praising being of value after TFA covered most of them in a deeper fashion...
...But if we can move past that debate, I do think it’s interesting to note that a lot of TLJ’s “strengths” for positive people are more in the ethereal “heart” - the themes, messages, the “spiritual” messages - and not nearly so much in the substantial “Practical” dramatic elements a continuing story usually depends on, which in contrast TFA was chock full of.
(Though for the record, I consider Finn’s story spitefully cynical at the end regardless simply because of the hypocrisy and blatant double standard his story is held to, and because I’m not going to forget TFA making him a
better male lead than Luke or Kylo.)
For instance, I would argue the “hopeful” ending of TLJ arguably works against
any future film, since it’s accompanied by the First Order being a
far less intimidating threat than they were at the start, Kylo no longer seeming that dangerous a personal antagonist for Rey, no real “hook” of doubt or tribulation for Rey going into the next film (she even comes off as more likely to win at the end of TLJ than Luke was at the end of TFA), and a Galaxy that simply isn’t that dramatically invested in its own war.
Ending things with Broom Biy is far more of a denouement than a “Oh God, I have to see where this goes!” Which is what TFA had.
And stuff like that is why the film doesn’t just seem badly written to people who don’t by into Rey, Finn, or Kylo’s story, but also
wasteful.
If you’re putting more weight on having the film “speak to the heart”, you can’t afford to miss it.
And TLJ, I think, didn’t hit nearly that much, which can leave it feeling like a better directed but still shallow Michael Bay movie - still successful to mainstream audiences who aren’t going to deep dive, but not enduring with them either, while the hard core base devours itself.
