J.J. Abrams on The Last Jedi surprises and The Force Awakens criticisms

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Although Disney's STAR WARS Sequel Trilogy has been hugely successful, the films have been met with their share of criticisms. Some believe that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS played it too safe by sticking closely to the elements of the Original Trilogy, and while speaking with Rolling Stone, director J.J. Abrams said that he completely understands those criticisms.

And I completely get the criticism, and for those who found it too much of an overlap, I say, "I totally hear you and respect the review." But the idea was to continue the story and to begin with this young woman who felt like Luke Skywalker was a myth. And to tell a story that was not just history repeating itself, but a story that embraced the movies that we know as the actual history of this galaxy. So that they are still living in a place where there is good versus evil, they’re still living in the shadow of what has come before, still grappling with the sins of the father and the people who have preceded them. This was not about a nostalgia play. It felt, to me, like a way of saying, "Let’s go back to a Star Wars that we know, so we can tell another story."

Abrams also responded to fans who wished that the Sequel Trilogy had put more of a focus on Original Trilogy heroes such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa. "It certainly could have been their story. But it felt like the way to use them was to be in support of a new story. The great thing about Star Wars fans is they care so much," Abrams said. "And even those who are the most cynical or the most negative are still people who, for the most part, embrace what’s being done, even just as fodder for debate. All I can say is that the main characters in this trilogy felt naturally connected to those characters that came before."

When it came to STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, director Rian Johnson chose to subvert the audience's expectations as he seemingly did away with much of what Abrams had set up with THE FORCE AWAKENS, such killing off Supreme Leader Snoke. How did Abrams react to that development? He laughed.

When I read his first draft, it made me laugh, because I saw that was his take and his voice. I got to watch cuts of the movie as he was working on it, as an audience member. And I appreciated the choices he made as a filmmaker that would probably be very different from the choices that I would have made. Just as he would have made different choices if he had made Episode VII.

As for what Abrams felt was the biggest surprise of THE LAST JEDI, the director said that it was how dark Johnson took the character of Luke Skywalker. "That was the thing that I thought: 'Oh, that was unexpected,'" Abrams said. "And that’s the thing The Last Jedi undeniably succeeds at, which is constant subversion of expectation. The number of things that happened in that movie that aren’t the thing you think is going to happen is pretty fun."

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER will hit theaters on December 20, 2019.