Rian Johnson's Trilogy

I think Terrio has received a bad wrap. Warner Brothers has made a mess of the DC properties. Seems unfair to blame the writer and Disney really rushed this project and while I have me issues with the final product I don't really blame Terrio or JJ. As far the cut stuff, that's just moronic internet stuff. They have poor imaginations so they're just regurgitated the same stupid stuff.

As for Rian Johnson... we've reached the point now that his star may have risen to the point that doing another Star Wars film would be a waste of his time. Him and his friend just launched T-Street and Knives Out is a massive hit. He says he loved his experience with The Last Jedi, but it seems like he would just leave it at that. From a Star Wars fan standpoint it would be disappointing because he's a huge talent.

 

His writing credits for big blockbuster movies include: Batman V Superman, Justice League, Rise of Skywalker.
All 3 suffer from similar flaws and issues. He is the lone commonality. It's just not for him. Not sure how many more films like this he has to make for excuses to stop. He's obviously talented based on Argo, but these big films seem to give him all kinds of issues.

 

This is like complaining about Lawrence Kasdan because Solo was a disappointing and that he wrote Wyatt Earp, Dreamcatcher, and Mumford (these aren't good films). Writing isn't about how big the production is, that's more of a director issue. Terrio is just an easy target because people are prisoners of the moment. My issues with BvS and JL weren't writing. They're mess b/c the studio tried to cram too much stuff into those films. Shakespeare couldn't have written a way to make those films work.

 

But Kasdan has proven he can write other big movies. Terrio is 0 for 3.
So it's just sheer dumb luck for Terrio? Not just a symptom of his writing style for these movies?

 

Terrio literally said that having questions about the story is the result of people not understanding how writers think. that's...really not how writing works.

it boggles my mind.

 

I just don't get defending him over big movies at this point. He had three high profile chances and all three had similar story issues (regardless of editing or studio crunches, it would have taken extraordinary amounts of time to make these stories play out in a logical way)

 

Sorry for quoting myself here, peoploids, but as I happened to just watch a recent (October 2019) Knives Out interview with Rian Johnson, I feel like following up on this.

Now, as I said, this was a publicity interview (in London) for Knives Out, but when Johnson is asked about his experience with making The Last Jedi -- and this was in October, I remind you -- he states, several times that it was the happiest time of his life, and an experience he would remember till the day he dies.

I think, given a chance, it is VERY unlikely that Rian Johnson will turn down further Star Wars

 

He's not a director. What does the writing have to do with how big the production is? The man has an Oscar for writing. Do special effect change writing? To be fair Star Wars isn't very complicated. A film like Argo is far more complicated from a writing perspective that a superhero film or Star Wars.

I'm not a huge fan of his work, but I think I tend to agree with him about how people don't understand how writing works.

 

The scale. All of those movies feel like 2 movies shoved into one.
Now you are altering my argument with a strawman. I never said he wasn't a good writer. I said he doesn't seem to fit with big movies well.

And yes, SFX can change writing. Scale of the movie effects writing.

I let it slide when you tried the Kasdan strawman. But come on man.

It's not about complication levels. It's about adeptness. John Williams' scores are infinitely more complex than most radio music. But that doesn't mean John Williams could compose a top 40 hit in hip hop. Terrio has shown a high level of adeptness at writing a movie like Terrio. He hasn't shown that same skill at making big movies with big stories.

Michael Jordan was the greatest NBA player ever. He was a terrible baseball player. Both are sports. Why was he so bad at one but so great at the other? Not everyone can be Bo Jackson.

 

Because they were. Those DC movies had studio interference. You're blaming a writer for a studio problem. That's not a strawman. That's just the reality. I'll just leave it here and move on because I've never understood "it's a big movie problem" argument.

Jordan was a better baseball player than most people realize.

 

My claim of strawman wasn't that they were two movies. My claim was that you argued I said he wasn't a good writer. I never said that. You also set up the Kasdan strawman earlier. We know about studio interference, but did you ever stop to think, that maybe, part of the problem is the writer? If the writer turns in a script with two movies worth of crap and you have to make it fit in one movie....that's not ALL on the studio. That's a writing issue. It's a problem top to bottom. From writers to directing, from editing to producing. He is a part of the problem.

Michael Jordan was a world class athlete and it carried him in certain aspects. But he wasn't good at baseball.

 

No offense, guys, but this is getting a bit off topic

 

His Airness is never off topic.

 

Knives Out turning into a monster hit may mean there's pressure for Rian Johnson to make a sequel which he almost teased at the end of the credits. So much for TLJ ending his career.

 

I think another great way of looking at it is Quentin Tarantino. He is, without a doubt, a fantastic writer/director. Even if he isn't everyone's cup o tea so to speak. I'm just not sure he'd be a great fit to write a Star Wars film. He might be. But I think he's far better doing his own thing. I think Chris Terrio is better at films that aren't part of the sci-fi/fantasy/superhero genre. It also certainly doesn't help that a couple of those films most certainly had studio interference (and I guess you could say TROS might have also had some, but who the hell knows?).

As for Rian Johnson, I hate to speak for him. He can do that well enough on his own. If I were him (and lucky for him I'm not or he'd be far less talented and making far less money) I'd stick to things like this. Do my own thing. I thought Looper was a darned good film. I didn't catch Knives Out for various reasons, but from what I've heard it's pretty good (and that's from people who vehemently disagreed with what he did in The Last Jedi). Having made a film that made a good amount of money compared to what they spent making it, I'd do the inevitable follow up. No matter how much I "enjoyed" making VIII. But what the heck do I know?

 

It's a good comparison with QT and Terrio. A Tarantino Star War wouldn't be anything like Star Wars. It'd be a Tarantino movie with a Star Wars aesthetic. It could work, hell, if you gave him one movie to tell a small story in Mos Eisley....it'd probably be great. But it would have to be something so detached from everything else it would essentially be related in the same way Batman 89 is with Suicide Squad; which is not at all.

Terrio is making huge bank so I don't fault him for taking the jobs. But I'd like to see him go back to Argo level. A smaller, tight story that won't get bogged down by so many obligations.

 

To me the DC movies felt like Snyder films. No matter what Terrio did it was Snyder who set the overall structure, feel, look of the films. How much impact did Terrio have on editing, etc. Not much I would think. I do know many hated the Martha bit. Was that Terrio or Snyder? Other then that I dont recall much cringeworthy dialogue. I certainly dont have issue with TROS dialogue. Hell I loved TROS. I do feel that much of TROS story was put together through story boarding with JJ and Story group and then screen play was written.

 

I think he would be a great get for the Luminous project.

I feel they will be doing what they did with marvel movies and have movies focus on a character and then build them up for an Avenges type of movie later down the track.

Rian is a great writer and without having to focus on legacy characters i feel he could write and direct an awesome movie and if that movie is a hit it could easily be a trilogy.

 

You know, that idea for a QT Star Wars film actually sounds cool as hell! Some one call LFL and tell them to get on this! Seriously, it wouldn't be a tentpole, but having QT take the cantina and some of the ruffians... bounty hunters and what not? I like that idea big time.

I do think Chris Terrio should go back to smaller films. I really enjoyed Argo big time.

 

I have to look at RJ getting another SW film as a business decision for Disney/LFL and nothing else (quality, workmanship, etc.). Whether you liked TLJ or not we all have to agree that it was a divisive film ... it seems to be the fork in the road for fandom. So if Disney/LFL is now trying its best to unite the fanbase again (see: Mando, TROS course-correction) I find it impossible for them to bring back the guy who, at the very mention of his name, elicits extreme reactions from the fanbase. So I don't think it matters that Disney/LFL loves RJ, they have to see his involvement as an off-the-board option if they want to maximize profits.