Recently someone had the gumption to ask one of the most profitable directors in cinematic history his opinion on one of the most profitable films in cinematic history, (Cameron directed 2 out of the 3 highest grossing films ever), and his opinion is not at all surprising (to me). Here’s what he specifically said when the question was raised:
“I don’t want to say too much about the film cos I also have a lot of respect for JJ Abrams, and I want to see where they’re taking it next, to see what they’re doing with it,” he said.
“I have to say that I felt that George’s group of six films had more innovative visual imagination, and this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before and characters you had seen before, and it took a few baby steps forward with new characters. So for me the jury’s out, I wanna see where they go with it.”
And I totally agree! As someone who has gradually grown to appreciate the Star Wars franchise I do feel that the prequel films had more imagination, regardless of execution, with regard to their story. I knew that walking into each prequel film that I would see someone new and unique from a story perspective and I found myself disappointed with a lot of what I saw in The Force Awakens. It’s a fun film, no doubt, but it was a very familiar tale that moreso felt like a retelling rather than a wholly new entry into the franchise.
Cameron is supposedly good friends with George Lucas which may have factored into his opinion… or he could just be shooting from the hip and being forthright in his opinion. JJ Abrams did a decent job with the movie but all things considered it wasn’t that innovative film many may have wanted.
Maybe someday we’ll get that great wholly unique film that many feel JJ is capable of creating but this film clearly was not it.
It was a cool movie, with fun classic Star Wars moments, however I felt as Cameron did that it was quite un-original in certain aspects. Not to mention the many un-answered questions that I felt were kind of a waste of my time ( like how did Rey just know how to use the force spontaneously etc ).
I also felt Kylo Ren wasn’t that great ( or scary ) once the film progressed. I felt things got kind of candy coded and lost their edge, as soon as Kylo took his helmet off ( besides Han dying that way, which I hated ). While I understood Kylo being weakened after Chewie shot him, I still don’t get how Rey was spontaneously so good at using the force and her light saber ( that whole thing makes very little sense to me ).
It wasn’t that it was a bad movie, but the hype as if it was the second coming was not worth it for the originality it lacked.
P.S.
Still a great time !