Rian Johnson’s weird film

Rian Johnson is a great and original movie director for sure. I completely trust him, he will present to us a good Star Wars movie.

But I don´t think the weirdness is because of many unexpected deaths. I believe that EP8 is constructed like the Godfather 2 (many flashbacks), and this is bizarre for a Star Wars movie.
Furthermore we can expect a completely new aspect of the force.

 

Yeah - that's the way I'm thinking too. Kind of like the way the back story of Ned Stark (and Jon Snow) is slowly being revealed by Bran's visions in Game of Thrones.

 

What if Rey kills Finn during a Force tantrum?

 

I think the "weirdness" will be through places we've never seen before (or thought we would see in Star Wars), the topics the film covers, and aspects of the force we never thought existed.

I don't think Rian is going to:

-Differ from the linear storytelling that has always been in Star Wars
-Include a time jump of any sort
-Change the time/placement of the opening crawl

It can still be "weird" without potentially making fans angry by changing the fundamental traits of a Star Wars film.

 

i agree with this, i don't think they'll be jumping around the time line or doing weird flash backs. maaaybe we'll get another Force vision or something, but nothing more substantial than that.

the weirdness will probably be more quirks in the characters and how they develop, and also maybe some interesting perspectives on how the Force works. hopefully they don't screw that up!

 

There was a rumor about this some months ago.
I read a so called leak about how Luke and Rey get killed off in VIII. (I don't liked it)
No doubt, it would be shocking and surprising at the same time. (the bad guys win in VIII, but what happens next in IX?)
The sequel trilogy will not work without the heroes.

Disney is playing it ultra safe, best example is TFA the "ANH" plagiarism.
They will not kill off the main leads, they can't, even if Rian Johnson would beg day in, day out.
There is too much money involved, Star Wars is not a indie film anymore, it's a huge brand.
Maybe it's a dilemma, they can't experiment/risk too much, because they are tied to standards.

 

Where's the "I really hope you're right" button?

 

Some of you need to see Looper. Rian's "weird" is not just unexpected plot twists, death of main characters. That is not really weird, its how you get to point B from point A that becomes weird. In looper you have a concept where a hit man is sent into the past to be killed by himself. This is a strange way to get rid of a hit man. it is an unusual plot structure. This is what I expect. I expect characters to have to make moral choices. What does Kylo do when to discover the true power of Darth Vader he has to contront Vader. What if we go back to the 2 force ghosts of Anakin idea. Kylo is taken on a quest where to get the power he wants he has to trust the Anakin he does not want. This kind of thing. moral choices that are difficult and reached in bizzare ways.

another example would be, now we know Kylo and Rey are not likely related, but if Rey discovers that to finish her Jedi training she must confront Kylo, and then discovers that Kylo is her only family, supposing leia dies I guess. This leads to strangeness which the OT touches on, but does not really dive as far into as it could have

 

When they said the movie would be "weird" I immediately thought of the cave scene in TESB - the "weird" tone it strikes, in contrast to any other scene in the movie, or in any of the SW movies. It's in slow-motion, it's very dream-like, the score could be straight out of a thriller, and it's got this bizarre, metaphysical twist when Luke is "revealed" behind the Vader mask. It's a great scene, but it's absolutely anti-Star Wars, in style and mood.

I'm wondering if that's what they meant about R. Johnson's movie - that he might play around with the style and tone we're used to.

 

Yep, it's about the style...

I think a lot of people here are not understanding the role of director.
Generally speaking the director does not write the story (although Lucas would be one of the occasional exceptions to the rule). The basic story will have existed before the director was assigned to the project.

If the film is going to be 'weird' and that weirdness is down to RJ's involvement, it will be in the way the story is brought to life - the creative/stylistic/narrative decisions, but not the story itself.

 

However in this case it could be both has Rian also wrote the script for VIII. Remember, it was Kasdan who called it "weird". He is very old school. I suspect weird = different. I think this movie has the ability to be very good but also very polarizing in the SW fan community. It will be praised by those who are craving something different and put down by those who will say "that had never been done in SW before" or "that is not Star Warsy enough." As long as it is a compelling story and well executed I will be fine with it no matter how similar or dissimilar it may be.

 

Isn't this what happened to Luke in the OT. He had to face Vader to complete his training, but found out Vader was his father. I think they went pretty deep in this with RoTJ, where Luke refused to kill his father and instead redeemed him.

 

weird is like new story themes and tropes never before seen in a star wars movie. It does not mean killing off main characters.

 

I want VIII to go places that no SW film has ever gone, in terms of story, but I want it to retain the feel of a SW movie. No reason this can't be done.

I hope they stay away from Rey being tempted by the dark side. I think that has been done enough already, between Anakin, Luke and Kylo Ren in the movies, and Ezra in Rebels.

 

I think you're not understanding that Rian is both writer and director He created the story for this one, and already has developed the basic outline for IX( which Colin Trevorrow is writing the script of / directing). Rian is the story guy for the rest of this trilogy. Of course there was an outline when Rian came on board, but J.J himself said that Rian changed it up and took it to places he never thought possible. For this film though, Rian has complete control. He can add and remove whatever he pleases.

 

i haven't seen a lot of discussion on this, but Adam Driver being in ireland for shooting creates all sorts of possibilities. I get the feeling that Rian is going to go someplace we haven't thought of yet. How does he find them? They had no idea where they were. I fully expect Rian to swim outside the box and I for one can't wait to see what we have in store.

 

Agreed on both points, I get so bored by the supposed temptation of the dark side, mostly because I feel it's just never been convincingly depicted.

I think we'll get a SW that's as different in tone/structure from TFA as ESB was from ANH.

Rian Johnson does not make conventional choices as a writer/director. JJ plays it safe with his storytelling: he makes what seem like significant changes -- a female lead protagonist, a black stormtrooper deserter as the male hero -- but they are superficial changes, since the story doesn't challenge the conventions of the saga or deviate from the structures already laid out.

[E.g. The female protagonist arc is modeled explicitly after the protagonist arc of the ANH (orphaned/marooned on a wasteland planet, chance encounter leads to mystical journey/adventure), the deserter hero goes through the same arc as the rogue hero of the ANH (deciding to go on his own before the 3rd act, then returning heroically), the elder mentor goes through the same arc of the elder mentor in ANH (seeking redemption for a past mentoring failure, dying), etc.]

Johnson will take a different approach. If JJ tried make his movie look different but feel the same, Johnson will try to make his movie look the same but feel different. Instead of unfamiliar tropes assembled in familiar ways, we will see familiar tropes assembled in unfamiliar ways. This is what will make it feel uncanny or "weird" -- the dynamics he creates, the situations the characters find themselves in, the tone and the story beats. He will take us to the same galaxy far far away, but what we do there will be different.

 

Han was the first, however the shock value would have been tenfold had they done it during the OT.


His death could have worked in the OT if it had occurred in "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK". But not in "RETURN OF THE JEDI". It would have taken away Anakin/Vader's death and the story between him and Luke.


Johnson will take a different approach. If JJ tried make his movie look different but feel the same, Johnson will try to make his movie look the same but feel different. Instead of unfamiliar tropes assembled in familiar ways, we will see familiar tropes assembled in unfamiliar ways. This is what will make it feel uncanny or "weird" -- the dynamics he creates, the situations the characters find themselves in, the tone and the story beats. He will take us to the same galaxy far far away, but what we do there will be different.

God, I hope you're right. I'm a major fan of Johnson's work with "LOOPER", so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Another thing Johnson will do that JJ doesn't do: storyboards.

This will lead to more a "crafted" feel. I think JJ does a lot of things well (his ability to cast and develop a group dynamic is among the best in the business), but some of his camera movements can feel like movement for the sake of movement -- similar to the common criticism of his overuse of lens flare. His visual style can lack a certain intention or thought behind it, which can paradoxically make it feel lazy despite the kinetic energy, if that makes sense. Johnson is more of a film school geek who uses framing and shot composition to manipulate tone or amplify the emotional resonance of a situation.

I actually think JJ's more improvisational visual approach was a good fit for TFA, given the time constraints. He didn't have the benefit of time to meticulously plan things out, like Johnson does. Johnson had almost two years of preproduction and the benefit of watching the "proof of concept" (TFA) go through development. The result will be a more tightly wound story and intelligent visual narrative.

Edit: Also, Adam Driver's characterization of Kylo Ren is totally aligned with Johnson's weirdo humor. Imagine the episode of Breaking Bad that Johnson directed called "The Fly" but with Kylo Ren instead of Bryan Cranston.