Leave the audience wanting more. That’s a lesson we learned from the Beatles and the 1970s/80s Star Wars Trilogy. It also a lesson that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson put into practice with the D23 Expo 2017 presentation. The UK Guardian news service seems to only have more questions about Star Wars: The Last Jedi following D23. New uniforms and fight scenes for The Last Jedi impressed USA Today. On the other hand Director and Screenwriter Johnson shed some light of his own.
The UK Guardian learned five things from the Behind the Scenes reel and posed five hundred additional questions. The casino planet is the weirdest world, yet. The eighth Star Wars episode is all about family. Rey is an even better fighter this time around, than she was before. The creatures on Luke’s water planet show that Mr Johnson learned the lesson of the wretched Ewoks. Captain Phasma gets a bigger part. And the Guardian goes on and on about what the discussion panel and the video didn’t tell us the story, the plot, Benicio Del Toro’s character and the reasons for new uniforms. If they told us all that, would we want to see the movie?
On the other hand USA Today seemed to be able to take the presentations for what they were. The behind the scenes video of Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley training with wooden sticks for their lightsabre fights impressed USA Today. The American news outlet seemed to like the flashy new costumes and uniforms, just for the evolved look, and not need to question the reasons behind them. USA Today appreciated Laura Dern’s enthusiasm for her character and Rian Johnson’s script.
And finally We Got this Covered pulled a juicy quote from Rian Johnson’s appearance on Good Morning America.
“Do we have some sense of what Rey wants from Luke? To me, the big enigma was what’s going on with Luke Skywalker. Why is he on that island? He knows his friends are in trouble, he knows the galaxy needs him. Why would this hero that I grew up with have put himself in exile? To me, it was like if we could crack that nut then we have something to start working with and then that will inform what their whole relationship is.”
— Rian Johnson, Director/Screewriter of Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi, on GMA
Why Luke Skywalker stayed in exile is the real question, to this writer. One that merits its own essay; stay tuned for that later this week. But Rian Johnson says that what Rey needs from Luke and the reason he went into exile inform Rey’s relationship with the Jedi Master. And really what makes a film matter and endure are the characters’ relationships with each other and with the audience. So, if Rian Johnson has really cracked that, and given that Mark Hamill called Rian’s script a “game changer for the saga,” he must have done. If The Last Jedi can answer why Luke went into — and stayed in — exile, if it can tell this story in a way that builds the characters into a family and brings the audience into that family, it is surely a film that will be long remembered.
TVoverMind has some additional coverage of The Last Jedi. See what John Boyega says about his character Finn and his massive adventure. See images of the characters brought to life by Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro that so impressed the Guardian and USA today. And let’s not forget to take a look at Rian Johnson’s set photos.
Since characters and their relationships with each other and to the audience are what make a film last, we can’t neglect the actors who portray them. Carrie Fisher died after completing this performace as Leia Organa and about two others. The role of Leia put her on the map and made her Disney Legend. She may be a General to this generation, but to me she’ll always be a Princess. Rian Johnson’s sizzle reel gave Carrie Fisher the last word. I think we should, too. Fisher said, “It’s about family, and that’s what so powerful about it.”
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