Rian Johnson defends himself from criticism of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
'I completely disagree with your view', the director replied
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Your support makes all the difference.Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has defended himself after numerous fans criticised his portrayal of Luke Skywalker.
The director, whose film Knives Out was recently nominated at the Golden Globes, replied to a post that described why some fans disagree with the way Johnson wrote the character, who is played by Mark Hamill.
In the critique, Johnson is accused of “attempting to overwrite six films-worth of arcs”, which the writer argues “undermines the central conflict of the original trilogy and prequels”.
Johnson was tagged in a retweet of the article, with another Twitter user writing: ”This is the best written explanation I’ve seen of how Rian Johnson completely destroys the character of Luke Skywalker and almost derailed the franchise.”
Referencing the return of JJ Abrams for divisive final chapter The Rise of Skywalker, the user added: “Thank goodness for [production company] Bad Robot coming in and cleaning up Johnson’s mess.”
Johnson’s measured response read: “Gil, I understand that point of view but I completely disagree with it.
"In fact, I think it disrespects the character of Luke by treating him not as a true mythic hero overcoming recurring wounds & flaws, but as a video game character who has achieved a binary, permanent power-up.”
Ahead of the release of The Last Jedi in 2017, Hamill voiced his initial concerns with the arc of his beloved character.
The actor said he found it difficult to accept the way Johnson had decided to steer Skywalker having lived with the character since A New Hope in 1977.
New film The Rise of Skywalker has split fans down the middle, with some disliking the way Abrams has ignored several plot points presented in The Last Jedi.
One critic of the previous film, though, is lead star John Boyega, who said he thinks the film “could have done better” by his character Fin.
Meanwhile, actor Jake Cannavale tore into Episode IX, which was released last week, despite appearing in Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian. He called the film “an absolute failure”.
Find a rundown of every cameo in the film here.
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