While Star Wars: The Force Awakens initially received unanimous acclaim, the usual suspects are now taking great pride in trying (and mostly failing) to tear the movie apart. It happens with every blockbuster, but by far one of the most common - and laziest - complaints about this release is that it's basically just A New Hope. However, J.J. Abrams was more than prepared for both that and the predictable backlash, something he made clear in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I knew that, whatever we did, there would be a group of people — and I was just hoping and praying that it would be smaller than not — that would take issue with any number of things. But I knew we weren't making the movie for any other reason than we believed that it could be something meaningful and special and entertaining and worthy of people's time."
"I can understand that someone might say, 'Oh, it's a complete rip-off!'" he admits, adding, "What was important for me was introducing brand new characters using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new — to go backwards to go forwards." Abrams acknowledges the similarities then, though there's a huge difference between that and what some have claimed is a movie which is 100% identical to what's come before (the popular Star Wars Ring Theory is perhaps the best explanation out there for why that's not the case). Regardless, Abrams won't be back for Episode VIII, but why would he turn down the chance to take the helm of this entire new trilogy? "I realized when I was working on [The Force Awakens], the amount of energy that was required to tell the story, and do it justice, knowing when Episode VIII would start shooting, there was no way — if I wanted to still have my children talk to me in my old age — that doing that would make any sense. If The Force Awakens worked, it was be the perfect place to say, 'I got to make a Star Wars movie,' and not be a greedy bastard. If it didn't work, no-one would want me doing it anyway."
Abrams definitely achieved his goal of making a great Star Wars movie anyway, though it's become clear in recent weeks that the majority of fans do wish he was returning for the follow-ups. For now, we'll just have to wait and see how Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow fare when they tackle the beloved franchise. Do you think they'll top The Force Awakens?
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