The Last Jedi How do folks feel about Rian Johnson as a Star Wars storyteller?

[writer0327]

Lets get away just for a moment from whatever anyone has to say about how the second part of this trilogy was handled. Let's look directly at the storytelling skills of the director, because this guy will soon have his own trilogy with a completely new cast of his own cast of characters that he creates, possibly that has nothing to do with the Skywalkers and perhaps even disconnected from the Rebels/Empire/First Order/Resistance storyline entirely.

This is Rian Johnson's 4th feature film and all well received films, although not without flaws. Is Rian Johnson a storyteller you think can add something different to the SW universe? I think so. He definitely has proven he has a mind that thinks outside of the box, he has a distinctive voice that combines sci-fi, action, and comedy extremely well. He can go gritty as well as romantic. Is this someone who will do well with his own Star Wars trilogy?

 

[TheVileOne]

I think he needed a proofreader or a story editor.

IMHO, it's bad writing that they said Luke is going to teach Rey three lessons. They filmed the third lesson and completely cut it from the film without a trace. There's no reference or anything to it at all. Like are we supposed to forget about that?

 

[DerekLake]

Lets get away just for a moment from whatever anyone has to say about how the second part of this trilogy was handled. Let's look directly at the storytelling skills of the director, because this guy will soon have his own trilogy with a completely new cast of his own cast of characters that he creates, possibly that has nothing to do with the Skywalkers and perhaps even disconnected from the Rebels/Empire/First Order/Resistance storyline entirely.

This is Rian Johnson's 4th feature film and all well received films, although not without flaws. Is Rian Johnson a storyteller you think can add something different to the SW universe? I think so. He definitely has proven he has a mind that thinks outside of the box, he has a distinctive voice that combines sci-fi, action, and comedy extremely well. He can go gritty as well as romantic. Is this someone who will do well with his own Star Wars trilogy?

I think one of the most important traits a Star Wars storyteller needs to have is creativity, especially when it comes to visually imagining the various settings. He has a strong eye for character, but can Rian Johnson tell a Star Wars story in a way that also captures the beauty and quirkiness of alien worlds the way Lucas did? And can he imagine an entirely new Star Wars story with the same grandeur and mystery and simplicity and maturity as the OT?

I’m not entirely convinced by TLJ. Yes, it had maturity and quirky characters, but it did not feel like a Star Wars story to me. So, I’ll have to wait and see.

 

[Fist of Khonshu]

He stinks, TLJ is a mess, and he doesn't deserve an entire trilogy. If I even bother rewatching this, I'll have to fast forward and mute many parts, just like I do with TPM and AotC.

 

[Iceman]

Edit: quoted my post by accident instead of editing (the one above).

And Rian could have done with some director friend helping tidy a few things up.

 

[flickchick85]

Love him, can’t wait for his trilogy.

 

[Greens]

I think a collaboration between him and another writer would be better.

 

[C. Lee]

I was looking at his IMDB page....and this is his only movie I've seen (I did watch the episodes of BREAKING BAD he directed, but don't off hand remember the specific episodes)....and since I really liked TLJ....I'll have to say I like his work.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Watch Looper. Great sci fi flick.

 

[writer0327]

Watch Looper. Great sci fi flick.

But Johnson's storytelling style work for a film like Star Wars?

 

[Mjölnir]

Given the amount of nonsensical things and large plot conveniences he used in TLJ I've come to think that he has bigger flaws than I expected after only having seen Looper. That's what I'm now worried about regarding the new trilogy.

There's of course plenty of ways to fill those holes up so I'm still looking forward to seeing a trilogy that's not connected to the Saga. Just a bit less than I was before I saw TLJ.

 

[C. Lee]

Watch Looper. Great sci fi flick.

I've heard that. I bought a used DVD of it a while back but haven't got around to watching it. It's now moved up on my to watch list.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I think if he was able to plot out a full story he would be fine. While I did think that he put to much over the top comedy in TLJ, for the most part I enjoyed his work so I think he's fine. But working off of someone elses work and filling in the blanks is a bit different.

 

[DKDetective]

I think he needed a proofreader or a story editor.

IMHO, it's bad writing that they said Luke is going to teach Rey three lessons. They filmed the third lesson and completely cut it from the film without a trace. There's no reference or anything to it at all. Like are we supposed to forget about that?

Just another example, I always had a large problem with the theatrical cut with Return of the King. Gothmog just disappears during the a battle. There's no payoff to the Witch King saying he will break Gandalf. Don't set up major stuff where's no payoff. Bad writing and editing. That is why I think Return of the King has the worst theatrical cut of any of the Lord of the Rings movies.

I don't think it is a writing issue. It's clear that Luke and Rey's relationship break up early due to the Kylo connection issue and their confrontation. I just assumed that they couldn't get to the final lesson.

 

[titansupes]

Not feeling very good about him at the moment. I think he tried way too hard to seem clever, and we ended up with a very unsatisfying version of the Luke/Rey story, an extremely dull Finn/Rose story, an outright dumb Resistance (Poe/Holdo) story, and an overall rambling, contrived movie.

I'm seeing it for the second time within the next week or two, am I'm desperately hoping it magically clicks into place for me, but at the moment... bleh.

Of his past work, I couldn't stand Brick, really loved Looper, saw maybe two scenes of The Brothers Bloom and couldn't be bothered with the rest, and loved his Breaking Bad episodes.

 

[2kt09]

he has a distinctive voice that combines sci-fi, action, and comedy extremely well. He can go gritty as well as romantic. Is this someone who will do well with his own Star Wars trilogy?

Depends on the relative perception of "wow, he's actually doing this" and if the amount of times that phrase has come to mind warrants more of said approach. Does he have more in the tank or has he exhausted all he can? TLJ is the kind of story a teller would have to be aware of as working because of what came before, be it in its "immediate" or distant past.

 

[jmart]

I really like JJ Abrams and The Force Awakens, but I'm really looking forward to see what Johnson can do without being tied to the events or mystery boxes of the previous film. Let him loose in his own little part of the galaxy and I think he'll (continue to) be great.

 

[TheVileOne]

I don't think it is a writing issue. It's clear that Luke and Rey's relationship break up early due to the Kylo connection issue and their confrontation. I just assumed that they couldn't get to the final lesson.

Whether they got to it or not, I thought it was strange that we have no idea what it was. And now we know they filmed it and cut it. IMHO, that's bad editing. They didn't think about story enough in the editing room.

 

[Orba]

I don't think it is a writing issue. It's clear that Luke and Rey's relationship break up early due to the Kylo connection issue and their confrontation. I just assumed that they couldn't get to the final lesson.

Since deleted scenes are usually non-canon they can always have Force Ghost Luke appear in the next film because he still owes Rey that third lesson.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I liked him, though I do think it's obvious which characters he enjoys writing for and which ones he doesn't as much.

 

[Consona]

SJW/Luke/etc. controversies aside, the script/story itself was so disjointed, irresolute, anticlimactic and badly paced he should take like 5 years off and start learning storytelling from the ground up.

 

[Raiden]

I found the plots for TLJ to be severely lacking, the direction was mediocre, and the actors didn’t seemed to be giving their best. I’m not sure why Johnson is now given a whole trilogy to screw it up after this.

 

[BatLobster]

I've been a fan of Johnson for a while now, so I'm still optimistic about him playing in this sandbox some more.

I'm taking into consideration that TLJ was his first major studio film, and while not perfect, I think its successes far outshine its failures. I also think that while TLJ was given some great stuff to work off of from TFA (mainly Rey and Kylo), it also had to pay for some of TFA's shortcomings.

The Battle of Crait felt more visually inspired and striking than anything in TFA too, so I'm encouraged by his ability to dream up ideas that are fresh but still feel Star Wars-y.

Seeing how much he was willing to shake up the actual saga (while still honoring it), it makes me very curious as to how he'd approach a brand new story set in GFFA with no hard ties to all the characters we know.

As fan of the Star Wars saga as a whole, I very much appreciated the ways in which TLJ acknowledged aspects of the prequels and let them reverberate loudly in this leg of the saga (IE Luke being disillusioned with the Jedi and focused on their failures). It gave me the sense that he's willing to mine all of the material for thematic richness and not simply mining it for OT nostalgia. To me, he gets it. His Star Wars sensibilities clicked with my own much closer than Abrams' did in TFA.

But, I suppose when all the dust settles Kennedy will have to weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision about whether his further contributions will risk further dividing the fanbase or not, and whether or not that's something they're willing to live with.

Either way, I think he's a talented cat and I'm interested to see what he does next.

 

[Tony Stark]

The problem is not with Rian, the problem is with the production team. There obviously was no overall plan with this new trilogy. Like or hate the prequels but there was an overall story arc there.

I was reading an article about how J.J. likes to introduce elements of mystery in his stories, as part of an artistic way of drawing in the audiences, and not answer those questions. The problem with Rian's story is that he pretty much trashed everything J.J. built up in the mythos and said "**** it" and wrote his own story and ignored everything else. He should not have been allowed to do this.

This is somewhat what happened with Iron Man 3, only the vast majority of audience goers could give a hoot about the mandarin. It's another story when you are dealing with a saga that is so entrenched in our culture.

 

[DerekLake]

The problem is not with Rian, the problem is with the production team. There obviously was no overall plan with this new trilogy. Like or hate the prequels but there was an overall story arc there.

I was reading an article about how J.J. likes to introduce elements of mystery in his stories, as part of an artistic way of drawing in the audiences, and not answer those questions. The problem with Rian's story is that he pretty much trashed everything J.J. built up in the mythos and said "**** it" and wrote his own story and ignored everything else. He should not have been allowed to do this.

This is somewhat what happened with Iron Man 3, only the vast majority of audience goers could give a hoot about the mandarin. It's another story when you are dealing with a saga that is so entrenched in our culture.

It's hard to fault Rian Johnson with TLJ's larger narrative issues. I don't think trying to adapt Vader's pursuit of the Millenium Falcon was the best idea, but as I see it, the actual issue of which Rian's Luke arc is the solution is that TFA was essentially a soft reboot of the franchise. That was the "original sin" that resulted in what we got. I obviously have my own ideas about what they could have done differently, so I am not at all surprised that Rian Johnson prefers to tell his own stories within the Star Wars universe.