I know I promised you more tales from my travels, but I have to keep up with breaking Disney news! Which can be very difficult when Disney keeps buying up all of the world’s most popular franchises. I am, of course, talking about…
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Late last night, my twitter feed was abuzz with the news that Star Trek’s J.J. Abrams is officially confirmed as the director for Disney’s upcoming Star Wars VII.
When Disney first announced they were taking their newly acquired cult-ural phenomenon and once more entering Unwarranted Sequel Land, the news was met with a lot of groans and eye rolls from the public. Myself, I didn’t really care much because, well, I’ve never liked Star Wars.
Hey, stop throwing tomatoes at me! I’m sorry! I know, I know, it’s not okay for a film geek to not like Star Wars, but the reality is I’m not a big sci-fi fan. Love fantasy, hate Sci-Fi. Why? No idea. As I’ve said before, I’m a strange person.
But you know what I did love? The Star Trek reboot, directed by one J.J. Abrams. Never liked the TV show or the old movies, but I enjoyed the 2009 Star Trek and have watched it many times. You know who else loved it? My die hard Trekkie cousin. Abrams satisfied purists and newbies. Not an easy task, my friend.
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How did he do it? Well, I think his background in television has taught him how to look at established characters and say “what’s next?” But mostly, he’s just a great story teller. Sure, he created a great look and interesting cinematography for the movie, but it didn’t dominate the screen. You didn’t think about the camera angles because it all served to tell the story of these characters. That, to me, is what makes a great movie, regardless of genre. So I’m interested to see what he’s going to do with Star Wars.
My only potential beef with Abrams directing this movie is, well, it’s kind of like Ian McKellan playing Albus Dumbledore.
What do I mean by that? Well, Albus Dumbledore is a wise, world-weary, playful, and completely badass wizard who appears in one of the world’s most popular fantasy series of all time. Ian McKellan previously played Gandalf, a wise, world-weary, playful, and completely badass wizard who appears in one of the world’s most popular fantasy series of all time. Are they the same character? Absolutely not. Just like Star Trek and Star Wars are vastly different. There’s lots of nuances and important defining characteristics that make them completely unrelated to one another. But they fit into that same “box” in the brain; they’re cut from the same mold. And if Ian McKellan were to play both Gandalf and Dumbledore, it might feel like they were pretty much the same character.
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So, for me, JJ Abrams directing Star Wars is sort of like if Ian McKellan decided to take over for Dumbledore after Richard Harris’ untimely death. Okay, that’s cool and you’re great for the part but…didn’t you just do this? I mean, it’s great that we know you can do it and do it well, but won’t it feel like more of the same thing?
That being said, I would have much rather seen Ian McKellan play Dumbledore than Michael Gambon (nerd grumble). And I’d much rather have a proven and talented director like Abrams manning the helm than someone less talented who doesn’t truly understand the material at hand (dear God, just read the books, Gambon!).
Bottom line, with the choice of Abrams as director as well as Michael Arndt (of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3) for screenwriter, I’m suddenly much more interested in this new Star Wars movie.
What do you think? Post below!
Oh, and for your viewing pleasure…
Love that man.
