The Force Awakens – The missing piece.

It’s the New Year. The time to look back in order to move forward. I loved the Force Awakens. It was a romp. Full of engaging characters. Zippy, funny and thoroughly entertaining. But I can’t help but feeling… ‘What could it have been?’

So let me regress. Back to 1993. When George Lucas had a light bulb moment. Whilst we were all sitting in cinemas astounded by the wonder of seeing life-like dinosaurs stomping through Jurassic Park, Lucas realised that the moment had come when technology had finally caught up with his vision. At last he could bring to the screen the vast story, sprawling vistas, epic battles and myriad of creatures that spun around inside the Star Wars universe. At last he could go back and tell the bigger picture. But at the same moment he made a fateful decision. The technology at his fingertips meant no more fiddly matt shots. No more stuttering stop motion. No more interference from union led crews finishing at 5pm. It was achievable with one man calling all the shots. George Walton Lucas Jr. He decided to go ahead and be the auteur everyone had credited him with being back in 1977. The Phantom Menace was the result.

But let’s consider an alternative timeline (I know JJ likes too). What if Lucas had taken his concepts to someone else to write? And what concepts they are. A Ben Hur scale story of a Messiah- like boy born in a desperate land, unaware of his religious importance. Of great chariot races through exotic canyons with jet size engines. Underwater cities. Epic battles fought on green savannahs between lizard riding amphibians and killer robots. Of political intrigue on a planet sized city. Fights between lightsaber wielding monks with mystical powers and horned creatures trained in mortal combat... It’s the stuff of great fantasy. Derivative? Yes. But none the less the sheer scope of the vision has to be applauded. Now imagine this being handed to Lawrence Kasdan to write. Imagine the heart he would transplant into the characters. Imagine the emotion, the humour. Imagine how the story would have zipped along. How clunky dialogue would be replaced by smart, sassy interchanges. How effortless the exposition would have been delivered. How empathetic and heartfelt the heroes would have been and how interesting and deeper the antagonists would seem. Now go a step further and imagine if the whole project had been given to Steven Spielberg to direct! One can only dream how good he would have been casting and then directing the child actor. How amazing would the Gungans ground battle have been transformed into a ‘Saving Private Ryan’ style engagement. How his ability to film dramatic court room scenes would have added to a tense and intelligent interpretation of the great political debating that weighed so heavily. I can think of no argument that would lead me to change my opinion that Lucas/Kasdan/Spielberg would have made The Phantom Menace the greatest Star Wars movie…ever.

So where does that leave The Force Awakens? For me, a missed opportunity. Kasdan wrote a great script. And without Spielberg you’d have to go a long way to find anyone better to fill his shoes than the young pretender JJ Abrahams. But where is Lucas. Where is the imagination? The scope? The scale? The intent? In jettisoning him completely I think they made a similar misstep as Lucas did himself in thinking he could go it alone back in 1993. Star Wars is what it is because of him, not in spite of him. I understand all the arguments for why he is not there. I understand that faced with the huge deal he was offered he stepped away. But if I was Rian Johnson I’d pick up the phone and ask Lucas if he wanted to hang out on set. JJ may have trusted Kevin Smith for his opinion but I’d go to the horse’s mouth.

 

I agree. Whatever the reason I felt the film missed his input. I think it was telling that they had a direction they wanted to go that didn't involve any of Lucas's new concepts but instead they went back and repeated his ideas from the original trilogy. I'd love to eventually read or hear of what he wanted to do. Unfortunately I suspect Disney have gagged him some what in revealing too much when they bought it.

 

Maybe. I suppose time will tell. I really should stop playing the 'what if' card and just be thankful The Force Awakens was as good as it was.