Remember when Obi-Wan Kenobi decided he would no longer fight Darth Vader in their final showdown during the original Star Wars? At a post-screening Q&A for The Rise of Skywalker on Friday night, J.J. Abrams essentially did the same thing, lifting his lightsaber in reflection rather than battle. Strike if you feel that’s right; but he will not be striking back.
The only thing he rejects is the notion that there is a disturbance or hostility between him and The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson.
The newest Star Wars film has received punishing reviews from critics, although audience scores on sites like Rotten Tomatoes are significantly more positive. There’s no denying that the ninth film in the Skywalker saga has divided the vast fandom for the series, even as it tallies strong box office numbers. Intense and heartfelt reactions both in favor of its story and against it continue to emerge as more people see it.
After a screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, Abrams was asked what he would say to those who are unhappy. Are they not getting something? “No, I would say that they’re right,” he answered quickly. “The people who love it more than anything are also right.”
Abrams still believes in his movie, but he expressed respect to those who had a differing view and suggested everyone in the fandom should do the same to each other, no matter where they stand.“There is an MO of either: ‘It’s exactly as I see it, or you’re my enemy,’” he said. “It’s a crazy thing that there’s such a norm that seems to be void of nuance and compassion — and this is not [a phenomenon] about Star Wars, this is about everything.”
The director had just returned from a global tour with the film, where he also fielded questions about that mixed reaction. “I was asked just seven hours ago in another country, ‘So how do you go about pleasing everyone?’ I was like’ What…?’ Not to say that that’s what anyone should try to do anyway, but how would one go about it? Especially with Star Wars.”
With a series like this, spanning more than four decades, nearly a dozen films, several TV shows, and countless novels, comics, and video games, the fanbase is so far-reaching that discord may be inevitable. “We knew starting this that any decision we made — a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision — would please someone and infuriate someone else,” Abrams said. “And they’re all right.”
But they are wrong about him and Johnson, he insists, and the notion that The Rise of Skywalker is trying to undo what Johnson did with The Last Jedi. “It would be a much more interesting answer if there were conflict,” Abrams said. “The truth is when I was getting [The Force Awakens] up and running, I was nothing but grateful that a director and writer I admire as much as Rian was coming in to do [the next one.] Not expecting to come back to this, it was just fun to watch what was happening and get to respond to it.”
Johnson earned exceptionally high marks from critics for The Last Jedi, which depicted Luke Skywalker as fearful and embittered before rediscovering his courage through the help of Rey’s decency and determination. However, that 2017 film was just as divisive within the fandom— with some irked about moments like Luke dismissively tossing aside his family lightsaber, and Kylo Ren smashing his iconic mask after it was mocked by his Supreme Leader.