The Force Awakens Is JJ Abrams overrated as a filmmaker and writer??

[hellified]

Looking at this dudes filmography..you make the call:

DIRECTOR
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Trek Into Darkness
Super 8
Undercovers (TV Series) (1 episode) - Pilot (2010)
Star Trek
Anatomy of Hope (TV Movie)
The Office (TV Series) (1 episode)
Cocktails (2007)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV Series) (guest director - 1 episode)
Mission: Impossible III
Alias (TV Series) (5 episodes)
The Telling (2003)
Almost Thirty Years (2002)
Truth Be Told (2001)
Lost (TV Series) (2 episodes)
Felicity (TV Series)

WRITER
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (written by)
Fringe (TV Series) (created by - 100 episodes, 2008 - 2013) (written by - 6 episodes, 2008 - 2009)
Undercovers (TV Series) (created by - 13 episodes, 2010 - 2012) (written by - 3 episodes, 2010)
Super 8 (written by)
Lost - Epilogue: The New Man in Charge (TV Movie) (creator)
Lost (TV Series) (created by - 117 episodes, 2004 - 2010) (teleplay by - 3 episodes, 2004 - 2006) (story by - 2
Lost: Missing Pieces (TV Mini-Series) (teleplay - 1 episode)
Mission: Impossible III (written by)
The Catch (TV Movie) (creator)
Felicity (TV Series) (created by - 84 episodes, 1998 - 2002) (written by - 17 episodes, 1998 - 2001)
Joy Ride (written by)
Armageddon (screenplay)
Gone Fishin' (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)
Forever Young (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)
Regarding Henry (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)
Taking Care of Business (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)

 

[NoLaNitE007]

Looking at this dudes filmography..you make the call:

DIRECTOR
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Trek Into Darkness
Super 8
Undercovers (TV Series) (1 episode) - Pilot (2010)
Star Trek
Anatomy of Hope (TV Movie)
The Office (TV Series) (1 episode)
Cocktails (2007)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV Series) (guest director - 1 episode)
Mission: Impossible III
Alias (TV Series) (5 episodes)
The Telling (2003)
Almost Thirty Years (2002)
Truth Be Told (2001)
Lost (TV Series) (2 episodes)
Felicity (TV Series)

WRITER
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (written by)
Fringe (TV Series) (created by - 100 episodes, 2008 - 2013) (written by - 6 episodes, 2008 - 2009)
Undercovers (TV Series) (created by - 13 episodes, 2010 - 2012) (written by - 3 episodes, 2010)
Super 8 (written by)
Lost - Epilogue: The New Man in Charge (TV Movie) (creator)
Lost (TV Series) (created by - 117 episodes, 2004 - 2010) (teleplay by - 3 episodes, 2004 - 2006) (story by - 2
Lost: Missing Pieces (TV Mini-Series) (teleplay - 1 episode)
Mission: Impossible III (written by)
The Catch (TV Movie) (creator)
Felicity (TV Series) (created by - 84 episodes, 1998 - 2002) (written by - 17 episodes, 1998 - 2001)
Joy Ride (written by)
Armageddon (screenplay)
Gone Fishin' (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)
Forever Young (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)
Regarding Henry (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)
Taking Care of Business (written by - as Jeffrey Abrams)

He is overrated IMO....and he keeps getting passes. Interesting...

 

[Octoberist]

You don't even provide your own opinion on the matter?

 

[hellified]

You don't even provide your own opinion on the matter? Or do you want to just sh** on him?

30 YEARS after Jedi (literally and in the saga) in the whole GALAXY created for this thing the BEST they could come up with is a remake of A New Hope??? Really?? Seriously?? I though J.J. Abrams was a Star Wars fanatic, I mean he turned Star Trek into Star Wars but then again he just rehashed ANH in THAT flick..people caught that:

[YT]yd0j97RhZUQ[/YT]

Sooo is Abrams just REEALLY impressed with Episode IV or is that a coincidence that he rehashed the same plot for two films he helmed??

 

[jokesonm3]

 

[Octoberist]

30 YEARS after Jedi (literally and in the saga) in the whole GALAXY created for this thing the BEST they could come up with is a remake of A New Hope??? Really?? Seriously?? I though J.J. Abrams was a Star Wars fanatic, I mean he turned Star Trek into Star Wars but then again he just rehashed ANH in THAT flick..people caught that:

[YT]yd0j97RhZUQ[/YT]

Sooo is Abrams just REEALLY impressed with Episode IV or is that a coincidence that he rehashed the same plot for two films he helmed??

I don't mind different opinions, but threads like these are silly, pointless, and annoying, and sorta why I don't like being on the boards anymore. I could ignore it, but my tolerance level is dying off I guess. Just put down what you don't like into the appropriate thread ("Things you didn't like" thread") instead of this?

Stuff like this only lead to flame wars, and it's stupid.

 

[hellified]

I don't mind different opinions, but threads like these are silly, pointless, and annoying, and sorta why I don't like being on the boards anymore. I could ignore it, but my tolerance level is dying off I guess. Just put down what you don't like into the appropriate thread ("Things you didn't like" thread") instead of this?

Stuff like this only lead to flame wars, and it's stupid.

what flame war? its a discussion of his career so far..

an example is he recycled the same plot for two different films..

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah, all he managed to do was make the second best Star Wars film and the two best Star Trek films. Dudes a straight up hack.

I love when posters who have like 10 post come out of the woodwork simply because they want to complain. Makes dismissing this kind of stuff so much easier.

 

[Sithborg]

The poll answers are a bit weird. I just went and said that he isn't overrated. I mean, he isn't exactly a well loved director by many. I mean, he is no Joss Whedon or Nolan.

I fully acknowledge his weaknesses. He needs some help in the script area, sure. The longer he is away from Dumb & Dumber, the better. And he does use a few visual tricks a few times too often.

But good god, he is able to elevate a script. By all rights, I should not have enjoyed Into Darkness as much as I did. But between his great work on casting, getting great performances out of said cast, and just somehow make a weak story into something very entertaining on screen, I loved it. He is a director that knows what needs to be done in order to entertain. And I love him for that.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I think he's competent. But I feel that he has yet to really distinguish himself in film (I would say that he has already done so in television).

Don't get me wrong, The Force Awakens was decent (even good at times), but it's still a George Lucas movie. Not helped at all by the fact that the new movie seems to almost be a remake of Star Wars.

 

[writer0327]

JJ Abrams is a fine director. Is he the greatest? No, but he's hardly a hack. The man is pretty successful and has put mostly good material out there. There have been some missteps, yes, but overall he has made some pretty entertaining films and TV shows.

 

[titansupes]

No.

 

[Greens]

He is rated just right.

 

[Jekecy]

Part of me wishes he would've stayed to direct Episode VIII because he most certainly would have traveled new territory there and that would've been a way to shut up his naysayers. As it stands unfortunately he left the series on relatively the same note as he was coming into it; a competent director madly in love with Episode IV.

 

[LizardMan07]

He's not overrated, he nailed TFA.

Sure it's a retread but it's a bloody good retread, respected the old, made us care for the new.

A+ JJ. He's incredible for doing something that hasn't been done in decades; make a universally liked Star Wars film.

Praise our new JJ overlord.

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

He's not overrated, he nailed TFA.

Sure it's a retread but it's a bloody good retread, respected the old, made us care for the new.

A+ JJ. He's incredible for doing something that hasn't been done in decades; make a universally liked Star Wars film.

Praise our new JJ overlord.

Totally agree. Hell he gave us alias starring Jennifer Garner and I still heart that show. 😃 TFA was the first step in a much larger universe. So no he really isn't overrated to me considering I haven't seen much of his other work.

I wish he was sticking around to direct VIII but it's good to hear from him that Rian is going to helm the next installment and that the script itself is very good.

 

[VOID-Theft]

He is not actually overrated, but he should learn to finish his stories.
My feeling is JJ is very good at starting projects. It is as if the studio's engage him to start projects or to revive old projects, after which it's handed over to others.

 

[horacethegrey]

I personally think Abrams is overrated, but on two occasions he's knock it out of the park (The Force Awakens, Star Trek 2009), one middling effort (MI3), and one straight out turd (Star Trek Into Darkness). Don't ask me for an opinion on Super 8, as I never watched it. But as a whole, I think he's hit or miss.

My big problem with Abrams is that at times he can be a bit style over substance. He's more interested in moving the plot along rather letting us work out the details, or alternatively looking for plotholes. And yes, as some noted he sometimes rehashes material that worked before rather than coming up with new material. Sometimes it works (The Force Awakens) and sometimes it fails spectacularly (Into Darkness). But he does get great performances from his actors and casts really well.

 

[NoLaNitE007]

Yeah, all he managed to do was make the second best Star Wars film and the two best Star Trek films. Dudes a straight up hack.

I love when posters who have like 10 post come out of the woodwork simply because they want to complain. Makes dismissing this kind of stuff so much easier.

Hmm...like I said he gets passes for some odd reason and no this "new" SW film is not the 2nd best SW film. That's non sense.

FOA was a copy and paste job and the 3rd act was just all over the place.

 

[NoLaNitE007]

what flame war? its a discussion of his career so far..

an example is he recycled the same plot for two different films..

People don't want to see that. His ST film we're overrated as well and people are barely starting see that now ....

 

[Sithborg]

See, the issues with Star Trek, I mainly chalk up to Dumb & Dumber (Orci & Kurtzman). Especially Into Darkness. But, he has shown an incredible ability to raise up scripts with his visual flair, casting and direction of actors, and editing his films to keep on moving.

 

[Vincanws]

He would have totally been nick-named Jar Jar Abrams had Force Awakens not been broadly well received. Only saying ..

 

[spider-neil]

Yeah, all he managed to do was make the second best Star Wars film and the two best Star Trek films. Dudes a straight up hack.

I love when posters who have like 10 post come out of the woodwork simply because they want to complain. Makes dismissing this kind of stuff so much easier.

JJ's Star Trek is no where near the best Trek movies. They are so far removed away from the themes Rodenberry established they are Trek movies in name only.

Also Empire is one of the best movies ever made, period. And TFA takes lots of beats from ANH. So how TFA can be considered the second best SW movie ever is anyone's guess.

JJ has made lots of movies I have liked but has never made a movie I have LOVED.

 

[Solidus]

Sorry the whole rehash thing is just superficial at best. Taking beats from a previous movie....many of you must not watch any comicbook movies because almost all of them have similar plot beats (not that that is a bad thing). The plot beats are pretty much all that's there with TFA. TFA's complexity and unique context is what makes it a superb film. With deep characters and interesting relationships already building and budding.

Again almost every comicbook film has general tropes and plot beats. However in TFA they are superficial at best, when the actual mission is quite different then what we've seen in a SW film before.

 

[Tony Stark]

Into Darkness was controversial, so I'll leave that one out, but Star Trek 09 was certainly one of the best Star Trek films and only Wrath of Khan is the only one that I feel can top it.

Let's be honest the vast majority of the Star Trek films were bad or merely OK, especially the Next Generation films. The best one of those was First Contact, which was more of a fan service film than a great film that stands on it's own.

That's not really a knock on the franchise as Star Trek was built for television, and most of the plots of the films play out like TV show plots. The Wrath of Khan was really the only one that stood the test of time.

Let's also not kid ourselves about the fact that Star Trek was dead when JJ. took over. No one cared about it, no one wanted to see it. The final spin-off show was cancelled after 3 seasons and abysmal ratings.

Now certainly there were problems following that film but a lot of it was due to Paramount and Bad Robot, not "striking while the iron is hot" and allowing 4 years in between films in the series, which no doubt took a toll on "Into Darkness".

Now on this film, I do not put this above the original trilogy. I don't know what film could be better than those, they are special for a reason. However, this is the perfect follow up to those films and light years better than the terrible prequels.

JJ is only "overrated" if someone thought he was "best director ever", which I don't. I do think he is a very talented and creative film maker, and did a fantastic job on this movie.