Rian Johnson reageert op kritiek The Last Jedi en meer

In de afgelopen week is er niet alleen veel lof maar ook veel kritiek gekomen op de nieuwste Star Wars film, The Last Jedi. In een interview met Business Insider reageerde regisseur Rian Johnson op de beste manier mogelijk, en hij heeft een punt.

Having been a “Star Wars” fan my whole life, and having spent most of my life on the other side of the curb and in that fandom, it softens the blow a little bit.

I’m aware through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply — sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter. But it’s because they care about these things, and it hurts when you’re expecting something specific and you don’t get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don’t take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That’s fine. It’s my job to be there for that. Like you said, every fan has a list of stuff they want a “Star Wars” movie to be and they don’t want a “Star Wars” movie to be. You’re going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up. 

And I also know the same way the original movies were personal for Lucas. Lucas never made a “Star Wars” movie by sitting down and thinking, “What do the fans want to see?” And I knew if I wrote wondering what the fans would want, as tempting as that is, it wouldn’t work, because people would still be shouting at me, “F— you, you ruined ‘Star Wars,'” and I would make a bad movie. And ultimately, that’s the one thing nobody wants.

LET OP! Het volgende stuk bevat spoilers van The Last Jedi!

Johnson reageerde ook op verschillende scenes in de film. Zo reageerde hij op de dood van Snoke. Volgens Johnson was zijn dood een belangrijke stap in het verhaal van Kylo Ren en was het nodig voor een balans met Luke's verhaallijn in de film.

Tevens reageerde hij op de terugkeer van Captain Phasma en haar korte screentijd:

There wasn’t a ton of Phasma that we shot for this. The God’s honest truth is, if you take a look at the movie, it’s so full already. There are so many characters to serve already, and it’s tough because Phasma really enters the movie when she needs to, and she does exactly what she needs to do in it. She’s someone at the tail end of Finn’s journey that represents his past for him to have this cathartic moment of being on the side of good and fighting her. 

The notion of having a side plot of Phasma throughout the course of the film — look, I love Gwen [Christie]. I love Phasma. It would have been fun. But it just wasn’t the story we were telling. There just wasn’t a place for it. We already had quite a full plate to deal with in terms of all the other characters.

Ter verassing leerde we ook de naam van het jonge kind met de bezem aan het einde: Temiri Blagg). Tot slot  kwam ook nog de dood van Luke Skywalker aan bod:

Several times in the movie, characters mention “the spark” that will light the fire that burns down the First Order. While completing the task is now the job of the new heroes, it turns out that spark was our old friend Luke. 

"Now the Legend of Luke Skywalker is spreading. Hope is reignited in the galaxy."