‘I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened..’
-the Fandumb to the news that J.J. Abrams will indeed be directing Star Wars Episode VII.
Nothing quite like passing judgement on a film that you haven’t seen or one that hasn’t been made yet. Oh yeah, silly me…it’s the net.
Anyways, from the press release:
‘…Abrams, his producing partner Bryan Burk, and Bad Robot will be producing the movie with Kennedy and Disney, and that Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter on The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, will be consulting’
Should I speculate that either a) Michael Giacchino will be invited to score the film or b) the master himself, John Williams will handle the duties?
Let that ALL sink in for a second. Go ahead. You good? Now, where does the line begin?
The Bad Robot logo at the beginning of a ‘Star Wars’ movie? Mind. Effing. Blown. For real, everything is going to be alright my fellow Jedi and Sith enthusiasts. Here are my reasons ‘WHY’.
-He’s a safe bet for the studio
JJ will always have his haters. But I disagree that he’s a “flash in the pan” or just like ‘M. Night’. For one thing, he has an established track record of hit shows and movies as a Director or Producer: Felicity, Alias, LOST, Revolution, Fringe, MI:III, Super 8, Cloverfield, Star Trek, etc. He’s been at it for over fourteen years and he unleashes a new television show almost every year.
Abrams knows how to direct action, and, in particular, VFX-heavy action. Just think about how important the visuals are, to the franchise, and how much impact it could have to get a thoughtful director in there, who knows how to put together a massive set-piece or two, without turning every green-screen-backed shot into a leaden outtake from Sky Captain?
-He does badass ladies in a very non-embarrassing way.
If he doesn’t have a woman stepping into the young Skywalker role, I’d be really surprised. BTW…I’m pulling for Anna Torv (she might be a tad too old though).
-I think he could make a resurgence of the Sith VERY scary.
Abrams seems to have a solid grip on cinematic evil. Hoffman’s villain in MI3 didn’t get much love, but I thought he was brilliant…a bad guy so completely apathetic and soulless, he barely managed to emit complete sentences, much less cackle diabolically. That character was sort of the post-modern endgame of the Hollywood Arch villain. Star Wars needs something more classic, but Abrams gets the full spectrum, well enough to adapt whatever masterful mustache-twirling that Arndt will no doubt come up with.
-He gets the ‘Scoundrel’ and there WILL be one in the new film, mark my words.
Lost’s Sawyer character seems to bespeak Abrams’s appreciation of the scoundrel with a heart of gold element that Han Solo brought to Star Wars and that was such a critical ingredient in the flavoring of the original trilogy.
-He LOVES Star Wars
Abrams’ love of Star Wars was all over Star Trek. To the point where I think it’d be fair to joke that Star Trek was the best Star Wars movie since Empire Strikes Back (Or Revenge oF The Sith). So I’m not really worried.
Star Wars is first and last a fun, visually stylish space opera. No one is (or should be) expecting anything particularly weighty or profound with this film, so there is nothing here that is anywhere close to surpassing Abrams’ abilities as a filmmaker and storyteller. At the very least, I have confidence the movie will be entertaining. Whether or not it can capture the spirit and vitality of the original trilogy remains to be seen.
A lot of the right pieces falling into place, but the key partly lies in re-examining the convictions that drove Lucas’s vision. To those of you who think that J.J. isn’t up to it, I find your lack of faith disturbing.
-Dagobot
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