"The script had these fantastic sequences in it but there was a mystery in it that was very complicated. What I did was about clarity. The mystery had to be made simpler*.* It's like reaching into a sock and pulling it inside out. "Excerpt from director Christopher McQuarrie about him rewriting Ghost Protocol (2011). He also went on to direct two more of Mission Impossible sequels that have been described as thrilling and nail-biting. He had us all gripping our seats while we saw twists after twists in Rogue Nation and Fallout.
Now, I'm not going to throw dirt on JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson. They were both capable directors who have proven themselves in other stuff [Star Trek + Alias and Brick comes to my mind]. But I guess the quote is important in this context.
JJ Abrams talks about Mystery boxes and how stories can be captivating by having mysteries. That's what brought us to theatres to see ESB and ROTJ [the mystery of the force and how luke at a low point is going to get through this]. Even though not great, it also brought us to see the Prequels [We know Anakin turned into a sith but it was the why]. JJ, he started the mysteries... but he never cared to make them simpler or understandable. Most of the time it was ignored or handwaved.
Rian Johnson also surprisingly failed at the same point. Making the mystery inconsequential is not equal to making it simpler. Doing so would disconnect any emotional attachment we made with the characters. We didn't go to see TLJ to know about Rey's parents or who Snoke is or how Finn became the first rogue... We went to see why. I went to see why. With all that violence the FO is causing why was Finn the first to snap? Why did Snoke go after a young Ben when instead he could've gone after Luke [Sidious didn't have a problem with Adult Anakin, so why not go after the root instead of just a branch]? Why was Rey so insistent about going back to Jakku for her parents?
Now, I do not have the talent of a scriptwriter but I believe "subverting expectations" being done with something emotional and simpler would've been great.
Example: Luke wanted revenge for his father and mentor's death in ESB. So, his main goal is to get a killing shot at Vader.
- Simplest cheap subversion = Vader didn't kill Anakin who actually died by accident. Result = Alright, Obi-Wan and Yoda lied to Luke. So why should Luke care about saving the galaxy anymore? Well, maybe he will, because "that's what heroes do!". But... if you were in 1980 and saw this version, would you have gone to see ROTJ with such interest?
- Simplest Emotional Subversion[SES] = Vader didn't kill Anakin because Vader was Anakin. Result = Nononono. Does Luke have to kill his father? Why did Yoda and Ben lie to him? Are they both actually evil? Have Jedi been the bad guys? Will Luke join Vader now? But he can't betray his friends, can he? Why does my baby Luke have to suffer through all this, not to mention a hand cut off and his weapon lost?
Now a bad over convoluted explanation? Vader was actually a clone of a Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker made after he was captured and killed, who was stuck in time but Sidious used his force powers to bring him back and corrupt him and make the clone infiltrate the Jedi order and destroy it from inside out. Now wanting revenge and give poetic justice, both the Jedi lied to Luke so he can try to get revenge for his father who wasn't technically even dead.
Now, you might think "Boi. That's the worst fever trip fanfiction. Get out!". That's because it had twists which didn't serve any purpose to increase an emotional connection. Cue- Casino Planet from TJL and Rey's capture/rescue in TFA... only both were done better than my cringe twist.
- In TFA we actually, see Finn making an emotional choice. To save Rey while risking all of the resistance... He should've been shown as a selfish man who's obsessed over people because he never had people care for him before. Yet it was played for laughs [That's not how the force works! or SES works!]
- IN TLJ we get "a" not "THE" codebreaker. What was the emotional choice he makes that changes him? He realizes that his parking etiquette is poor... and that war is profited off and people are cruel to animals. That's common knowledge even Han Solo knew about.
See the point I'm trying to make? Those twists, those important moments that make or better the character, that's going to bring us to the theatre while we're bursting with worry about what will happen?... doing it in a simple and effective way is an art, a skill.
I also believe the same problem plagues Fantastic Beasts series. Twists made not simpler or emotional. Refer Crimes of Grindelwald and the Credence situation. There is emotion involved but you have to traverse a maze of trivia and "subversions" to get to the truth.
Now, I'm just a simple lurker making my way through the reddit. But seeing that quote had inspired me to want to discuss with you about this. Am I being off the base too much or is this a serious problem in Disney Era Star Wars Universe or what I'd like to call Rey-CU?
Submitted January 08, 2019 at 09:37PM by Abishek_Ravichandran http://bit.ly/2C6sXn8
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