Say what you will about Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Sure, it definitely feels like the odd one in an eight-film saga. And yes, it does seemingly take a lot of the groundwork laid down in ‘The Force Awakens’ and destroy it. But you can’t say that the film wasn’t willing to take risks, no matter the outcome.
And while speaking on the first episode of Creative Processing with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (via CinemaBlend), Johnson was specifically asked why he decided to take so many chances with his shot at a ‘Star Wars’ film. And according to the filmmaker, he was just following in the footsteps of George Lucas and the rest of the folks behind the Original Trilogy.
“I think the instant you start thinking in terms of how do you not step outside of the bounds of what the original movies did, you’re not thinking the way the people who made the original movies did,” explained Johnson. “They were with every movie, they were pushing it forward, with every movie they were stepping outside those bounds and pushing the characters into new, emotionally honest, but surprising places.”
He continued, “That’s why those movies are great. That’s why they’re alive. If they had been looking at something that came before it and saying, ‘Oh, we better not do this because that is outside of this or that,’ it would’ve been different.”
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No matter what you think of ‘The Last Jedi,’ you have to admit that there is a bit of logic in what Johnson says there. If it wasn’t for the desire to push boundaries and try something new and different, the Original Trilogy would have probably looked really different than what it does. And even those that defend J.J. Abrams’ take on the series, with ‘The Force Awakens,’ have to admit that the filmmaker didn’t dare to push the boundaries of what ‘Star Wars’ had done previously. Hell, for all intents and purposes, he made the world’s most expensive fan-film homage to Lucas’ ‘A New Hope.’
Obviously, Johnson’s comments aren’t going to change hearts and minds of ‘Star Wars’ fans, but at least it does shed some light on his thought process.