MovieChat Forums > Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) Discussion > Has Rian Johnson damamged the franchise ...

Has Rian Johnson damamged the franchise more than Lucas did with the prequels?


Id say Rian Johnson has, i wasnt a fan of the Prequels but the strories were pretty dam superb, just shame the way it was pieced together.

Alot more negativity surround TLJ than the Prequels , TLJ was so poor , the prequels dont actually seem that bad now.

Screw you Rian, you suck

reply

The prequels were awful in their own ways but they're light years ahead of the sequels. I mean, I hesitate to even call them 'sequels' seeing as their story lines have been plucked out of nowhere and feel like a game of Consequences.

But the prequels have at least 3 key things over the 'others'.

1 - revolutionised film making and were highly experimental on a technical level.
2 - They were the original creator expanding on his own stories.
3 - You could always just ignore them.

Now the 'sequels':

1 - No technical achievements, bad CGI despite coming 15 years later (and TFA costing $200M and where the fuck did that budget go by the way)?
2 - A set of hacks ripping off someone else's vision
3 - You can still ignore them but it's harder to do considering these are the characters we know and love. Imagine watching Jedi now. Yeah, the Empire is defeated, our heroes are victorious. Well. For a bit at least. Until they all fuck up - OFF SCREEN - and we have a new empire that's not the empire but is and is even more powerful due to reasons and everybody dies.

So it could be argued that the sequels have actually made the world a worse place. Which is pretty impressive really.

reply

You could always just ignore them. as long as you have the unaltared original trilogy available without prequel references inserted
Fixed

reply

Thankfully I haven't seen any of those. Can't get inside my head and fuck with my memories George!

reply

One thing you can't honestly say about TLJ is that it has bad CGI. Make whatever other complaints you want, but the film looks amazing on all fronts.

reply

“You can still ignore them but it's harder to do considering these are the characters we know and love. Imagine watching Jedi now. Yeah, the Empire is defeated, our heroes are victorious. Well. For a bit at least. Until they all fuck up - OFF SCREEN - and we have a new empire that's not the empire but is and is even more powerful due to reasons and everybody dies.“

So, you were expecting everyone to live happily ever after?

The heroes were victorious and defeated the Empire. No one will take that away from them.

But life happens. New conflicts arise. New villains are introduced, who want power.

Star Wars was originally supposed to be a reference to WWII. Well, in real life, after WWII the Cold War started and new conflicts had to be dealt with. That is just life.

reply

The key words in the above, the reason why I wrote them in capitals are "OFF SCREEN". Nobody would have had any problem (well a few might) with a well told story of how our beloved heroes went on to screw up the peace they'd won. I love that idea, all my favourite movies are depressing! The problem is it happened off screen which is about an unsatisfying way to tell a story as there can possible be, it's like saying 'Look over there, WOW, that's amazing, I wish you could see this thing that's happening here, wow'. Do you see? Simply saying a thing is happening doesn't make for a satisfying story.

So the Empire resurrected itself as the New Order? So Snoke turned Ren? So the resistance formed for inside the New Republic? So Luke fucked up Ren's training?

So if that's the story why not tell it!? Yes the actors have aged but there is nothing to have stopped them telling this story if they wanted to. We could have seen Luke train Ren, we could have seen Han and Leia fall apart, we could have seen the rise of the New Order, we could have had a decent movie! You wonder why VIII is so bad, how it feels like the end of a trilogy yet we have another part still, it's because it is a trilogy, only the first part, the interesting one that puts all the pieces in place only exits in the opening crawls and a few crappy spin off novels.

And you know why they didn't tell this story. Because they just wanted to remake IV and if they had to break IV, V and VI then so be it, they've still got your money. The reason they didn't bother to explain how the Empire turned into the first order is because they ARE the empire. The reason they never bothered to explain Rey is because she's just a gender swapped Luke. This isn't some heartbreaking story of our heroes being more fallible than we believed them to be as children, this is a heartbreaking story of corporate cynicism cashing in on nostalgia and brand recognition.

reply

Exactly. They were never really interested in telling a story. Telling that story in a sensitive and believable way would have been difficult. Why should they bother when shameless plagiarism and character assassination will bring in the bucks?

reply

No.

reply

Yes, obviously. TLJ renders the entire story of the OT, and the journey of its hero, completely meaningless.

reply

This is what makes me hate TLJ the most. The fact that because of that godawfull movie, ALL the other movies just don't matter. Its like they never existed.

reply

Yes. A lot more. Nails-in-the-coffin more.

reply

I don’t think Lucas ever damaged the series. The movies were not as good as they could have been, that’s it. The series still felt like it was a part of the Star Wars Universe. TLJ doesn’t feel a part of the series and barely feels like it connects well with the film it follows. Hell almost seems like he took a script from something else and just adapted it to TLJ like one of those bad Hellraiser sequels.

reply

No ... nothing in the sequels is as bad as Jar Jar Binks and Jesus Annie Skywalker.

reply

Not even Seal-Penguins (Porgs) Dog horses (faier or whatever) fish nuns, or sea cow milking? Not enough? How about cartoon villians, hyperspace bullets, and shirtless kylos? Still not enough?? How about rich people are bad, we shouldn't fight what we hate, or death by force projection? More you say? How about space bombers, Mary space poppins, and plastic red army men?

reply

Nope ... that is bad, but I can't stand Jar Jar or Annie Skywalker.

I could go on with more foolery from the prequals and even Return of the Jedi.

reply

To be fair the criticism of jar jar grew legs over time - it was not instant.

Unlike tlj, the criticism is not limited to a single character...

reply

Also, add in that Jar Jar was specifically a character for children to enjoy and they did. Adults were never meant to find him funny.

reply

My kids disliked Jar Jar. They didn't like the Ewoks either.

I disliked Jar Jar five minutes after he was introduced.

Please, stop with the excuses; these characters were horrible.

reply

Oh, there's no excuse for Jar Jar lol. I was just stating he was Intended for children, not adults. I will say the technology used to bring him to the screen was groundbreaking. Nothing like that can be said about RJ's TLJ.

reply

The topic is not about one being bad and one being good; it is a comparative essay. I agree that TLJ is a bad film for both Star Wars fans and Sci Fi fans in general. That stated, the prequals are barely watchable at all.

reply

I can see why people hate Jar Jar: it's not so much because he was a bumbling, annoying idiot stepping in poo, but because he basically gave Palpatine an army with which to conquer the galaxy and form the Empire.

reply

The former is idiocy; the latter is a plot device. I am certain people who dislike Jar Jar will state that the former is their greatest cause of dissatisfaction.

reply

I agree. And I don't remember any hatred toward Jar Jar over time. It was just a terribly misguided character from the beginning.

I'm trying to go for an engaging, funny youtube channel so, if you have the time, take a look. Hope you enjoy what you see and if you have any thoughts or criticisms, i'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance. Review is right here- https://youtu.be/nerCnafPUm8

reply

YESSSSSSS, despite the flaws of the prequels, they still remained true to STAR WARS. The prequel trilogy had a worthy story to tell. The rise of the Empire and the fall of Anakin. The new trilogy's plot is basically a redemption arc for Kylo Ren, which we've seen before. The prequels were narratively better-told stories, unlike The Last Jedi which completely jeopardises this whole new trilogy singlehandedly by dispensing with all the setup done in the Force Awakens.

reply

The prequels didn't damage the franchise, they improved it.

reply

So are you saying the prequels are better than the OT?

reply

That is correct.

The prequels are more interesting films. A much more epic story.

reply

better story , but nowhere near as good as the OT as a film, the prequels were poorly made , i think you are the first person i have come across in this known universe to say that.

reply

I can point you to at least one other person who agrees with me. In fact, I was talking to him just earlier today.

The prequels certainly aren't perfect, but I find myself returning to them much more often than the OT. I mean, I do enjoy the original trilogy as well, but the prequels seem to me to have much more to unpack. The world-building is richer. They are thematically more nuanced.

For me at least, Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars film ever made. The sub-plot with General Grievous could've been better, but everything with Anakin is excellent and Ian McDiarmid creates in Palpatine one of the best villains of all time.

The OT is good but story-wise they are very simple. This is not in itself a bad thing, but I much prefer the more complex and ambitious story that is told in the prequels.

reply

Were you born after 1983?

reply

I was born in 1981.

reply

that is why you fail

reply

Hehe gold

reply

Styles, you have to remember that the Prequels tell the deeper backstory of Star Wars and give an impression that many, many more worlds are in the battles than was ever told in the OT. The OT only focuses on several core people, but the PT focuses on a lot more. I always thought that the OT felt... smaller.

reply

yes and i think thats absolutly fantastic , i think the prequel stories are amazing, its just the way the movie was made that dissapoints me, Jar Jar, Anakin actors , CGI creatures etc etc

reply

I agree. Episode 3 is my all time fav Star Wars movie. followed by episode 5, then 4 then Rogue one, then 6 and then 2 and 1. I don't count TLJ canon, and since TFA didn't matter thanks to TLJ, I also don't count TFA as canon.

I don't understand how people can be soooo angry with the prequels. Only 1 and 2 kinda sucked but they didn't destroy Star Wars. The OT is very well still intact (minus the god awfull changes Lucas made).
And Episode 3 is just amazing. It builds so much mythology and lore.
What Rian Johnson did with TLJ is infinitely more horrible.

reply