There’s been a silent war on social media about The Last Jedi since it released this last December. Depending on who you speak to a remake would be highly preferred to what many fans feel is one of the absolute worst films in the entire Star Wars franchise. But wait, didn’t The Empire Strikes Back hold that title for a while? And then, didn’t the prequels also get slammed with this kind of argument for a bit? At this point in the franchise The Last Jedi seems to offer up a lot of plot holes, unexplained stories, and a problem with continuity that many fans, both casual and diehard, have been arguing about for months. In fact despite having died down a bit it’s still fairly easy to see just why some people are still up in arms about making a new film and others are willing to let it go in favor of continuing the story.
Some fans have even signed a petition and have been raising money in order to remake the film, though the mysterious ‘investors’ that have supposedly raised $200 million in order to remake the entire movie have carefully warded off any indication that they might actually be in the process of doing so. There are some upsides to remaking the movie and some very serious downsides as well. Let’s dip into those for just a bit.
Remaking the movie would silence a lot of the critics. Or would it?
The Last Jedi has been deemed as the worst Star Wars movie to date, and that’s saying something after the whole Jar Jar Binks hate that was spread around during the prequels. Remaking the movie and creating better story lines for characters such as Rey, Captain Phasma, Rose, and even Leia and, if there’s time in the eyes of those are pushing, Master Skywalker, would open up the movie to a lot more positive comments and could bring it from the worst to one of the best of the franchise. The only issue there however is that the length of the movie and the development of the many different characters wouldn’t mesh all that well. Phasma, Rey, Rose, and Leia all have their own stories, as does Skywalker. Trying to flesh each one of them out in a two to three-hour long movie wouldn’t be as possible as some people think. But focusing more on them and less on the peripherals would be appreciated by many fans.
Many of the ‘fans’ calling for the remake seem to want a female director and to focus intently on the female cast members.
There’s nothing wrong with getting a female director so long as she’s balanced in her approach and doesn’t seek to make the film all about the women as there are influential men in the Star Wars universe as well, just in case some ‘fans’ forgot. It is for the most part Rey’s story, so yes, there does need to be more focus put on her. But as to focusing intently on the women and leaving the men as supporting characters that are there and gone as needed, this seems a bit extreme. One of the main and most crucial characters of the Star Wars franchise is male, and another is female. Keeping it balanced would be necessary to avoid losing any more fans.
The argument for a remake unfortunately looks like way to lose money and fans however.
If you’ll notice, many fans that are seeking to downplay this movie are those that either came to the franchise late and have never read the books, the comics, or anything else. Plus, many fans don’t seem capable of realizing that Disney has, by ditching the Legends canon, taken the franchise in an entirely new direction. Before Disney came along there was no First Order. Luke Skywalker was the last of his order, and Han and Leia seemed very happy together. Those same fans don’t seem to understand how much material was dumped unceremoniously in order for Disney to create what we have now. If anyone is going to feel slighted it should be those that have followed the franchise for decades now, rather than those that are seeking to remake something they might not fully understand.
Everyone has their right to an opinion, but at this point the idea of remaking The Last Jedi only has one real upside, it might go into further depth concerning Rey and Luke, and possibly Rose. But banking on that after the movie has already hit the $1 billion mark and kept going seems like a very long and uncertain shot at something that might not be feasible. Those crying for the film to be remade can go on and on about their investors and how they’re ready to talk about a new movie being made. But the fact remains that Disney has already released something that made them money. Trying to double down and go for another billion with a remake doesn’t seem like it would be a wise move.
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