The Star Wars sequel trilogy is a never-ending source of controversy, granted, but no one’s opinion has been the hardest to get than the franchise creator himself, George Lucas. Since the Lucasfilm acquisition by Disney in 2012, he has tried to stay away from the spotlight, but people still wonder whether he liked them or not. His opinion on Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is the only one that has publicly made the rounds, and it’s a good thermometer for his stance on the sequels. So, did he like it or not?
George Lucas Believes ‘The Force Awakens’ Didn’t Bring Anything New to ‘Star Wars’
At the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015, per Vulture, George Lucas stated, “I think the fans are going to love it. It’s very much the kind of movie they’ve been looking for.” This may seem like a positive sign, but is it really? Lucas has clashed with the Star Wars fandom ever since the Prequel Trilogy release, with the fans complaining that those movies had too much politics for Star Wars (a terrible take, of course).
The Force Awakens, on the other hand, is focused on nostalgia. Too much, one could say, and, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger in his 2019 memoir The Ride of a Lifetime, that’s Lucas’ true take, too. Upon watching it, the creator told the executive that “there’s nothing new” in the movie, and he’s essentially right as The Force Awakens is mostly a re-spin on Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Young protagonists growing up on desert planets, a planet-killing weapon, a fledgling rebellion –those are all beats that Lucas created himself in the 1970s. So, when Lucas says that “the fans would love” The Force Awakens, that was a backhanded rebuke to the people who criticized him back when the prequels came out.
George Lucas Doesn’t Consider ‘The Force Awakens’ Innovative Enough
The original Star Wars movies were important; not only for the cultural phenomenon they became, but also because of the countless technical innovations they brought to filmmaking. At his core, George Lucas is as much an innovator as a creative storyteller; he started Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound from the ground up just to make the first Star Wars movie. So one can imagine how important it was for him that The Force Awakens followed in these footsteps.
According to Bob Iger though, The Force Awakens was another let-down for Lucas. The executive says in his memoir that Lucas didn’t even try to hide his disappointment upon watching it for the first time, noting that “there weren’t enough visual or technical leaps forward” there. While there were some interesting devices used in filming, like using practical models for BB-8, most of what was used in terms of visual effects didn’t impress Lucas, who used to spearhead innovations in this sector himself when making the original trilogy.
Geprge Lucas Has Been Cautious About His Opinions on Disney’s Star Wars
While his opinions on The Force Awakens have been pretty clear, George Lucas’ stance on the rest of Disney-produced Star Wars has been played close to the vest. He apparently approved Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi enough to say it was “beautifully made” and even talked to writer and director Rian Johnsonafter the premiere — whether Lucas was talking about the technical aspects or the story is unknown. Lucas also seems to have enjoyed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, having given his impressions to director Gareth Edwards, who later said he could “die happy now.”
As for the black sheep of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, there simply is no account of whether Lucas liked it or not. He enjoyed and was even supportive of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, according toPablo Hidalgo, but wasn’t present at the premiere of Episode IX.
Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens is currently available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
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