Can Rian Johnson Save Star Wars?

Looking through his career for clues…

When JJ Abrams took the helm of Star Wars VII, audiences and film pundits had a lot of prior material from the director to reference for an idea of his approach. He’d already created several hit TV shows, a Mission:Impossible entry, a Spielberg-homage, and most notably a successful Star Trek reboot. By the time that Star Trek Into Darkness was released just five months after Lucasfilm’s announcement, the JJ Abrams’ brand of spectacle + emotion + nostalgia was clear to anyone familiar with his work.

Given his crowd-pleasing talents and the popular material, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens debuted to massive box office grosses and largely positive reviews. Still, coming from Abrams it’s no surprise that some found his film a misguided rehash instead of an exciting, original space opera. Even die-hard fans may have found the “blow up another big weapon plot” overly familiar. Was it a failure? Hardly. But the film inspired a flurry of articles about the seeming preponderance of “re-make-quels.” For example, Jurassic World was another film that developed new characters and ideas, but hewed close to the original film in plot, prompting a debate over it’s originality. These concerns, coupled with Lucasfilm’s commitment to Star Wars films for the rest of time, have put a slight damper on what is potentially cinema’s greatest franchise.

The next Star Wars film, Rogue One, was once again subject to criticism regarding it’s approach to “fan service.” Although the film featured an unusual tone and a unique plot, it still crammed in unwieldy cameos from Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and a pair of droids to please the fanbase. It was hard to find a review — positive or negative — that didn’t base it’s evaluation on how “fresh” the film felt in comparison the VII. The challenge for Lucasfilm is clear: to make a truly great Star Wars you film, they’ll have to impress the fans, the grumps, and everyone in between by providing suitably new material. Indeed, the soul of Star Wars lies in its expansive mythology, not just how cool it looks to swing a lightsaber. There is no shortage of articles that give measured praise to the George Lucas’ critically thrashed prequel trilogy for it’s willingness to trade in new ideas (except midichlorians. Fuck midichlorians).

Which brings us to Rian Johnson. So far the narrative surrounding Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi deals more with rumors/spoilers than the originality debate. The first trailer mimicked the teaser from Episode VII, but revealed too little to information to start up the debate machine. When we look elsewhere, it feels like Johnson has found a unique path to go down.

Johnson has been consistent, if slightly coy, when giving his influences for conceiving Episode VIII. He’s stated that Twelve O’Clock High, The Outlaw Samurai, and To Catch a Thief played the biggest roles. The first two films helped with spectacle (dogfights and sword-fights respectively), while To Catch a Thief exemplifies the appropriate scope and tone. Perhaps it’s just me, but those films don’t point to a cohesive style for the film.

That begs the question: What is Rian Johnson’s style? If we were to build a Star Wars VIII model based on prior work, how would it look and sound? Does Rian Johnson have the strength of vision to deliver the first unexpected Star Wars film since Episode III?

Breaking Down Rian Johnson’s Career

For the purposes of this exercise, I won’t go into Rian Johnson’s TV directing or music video work. Unlike JJ Abrams, who had a largely creative role in his TV shows, Johnson was only a director on Breaking Bad. His episodes are universally lauded, but as part of an ongoing show, they don’t reflect his writing or visual aesthetic as best as his films do.

Brick

Brick is a high school set neo-noir that puts Dashiell Hammett-esque dialogue in the mouths of teenagers. It has a fun labyrinth plot, a surprisingly nihilist bent (in keeping with noir tradition), and a confident visual style. Joseph Gordon Levitt is the appropriate muse for the material. His brooding/charming performance sells the films best idea that the theatrical tendencies of high schoolers and their personal drama are a perfect match for pulp storytelling. The film was not a financial hit, but has aged very well and remains Johnson’s calling card.

The Brother’s Bloom

In some interviews, Johnson expresses that fans were disappointed The Brothers Bloom wasn’t another noir mystery like Brick. I’m actually a little surprised at the backlash. The Brothers Bloom isn’t a mystery, but it is a comedic, con-man caper that exists in the same general field as his prior work; it’s an unabashedly cinematic work about lowlifes mingling and all the contrived drama that occurs. The film also has the same indulgent visual ticks and stylized dialogue of Brick.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the film, which feels like a bad Wes Anderson imitation at times. The film attempts the same mix of emotional honesty and precision that Anderson often achieves, but never quite finds the rhythm to its story. The end result is twee and over-the-top.

Looper

Brick may have been a strong DVD seller over the years, but Looper had the kind of box office success that made Rian Johnson a well-known name. For those who haven’t seen it, the film features a pleasant balance of time travel mumbo jumbo, hardcore action, and character drama. Looper isn’t the deepest film, but it’s a remarkably smooth concoction for a film of its size. It’s much nimbler than your average sci-fi thriller. It retains some of Johnson’s visually quirky ideas but is overall is more straightforward in that department. Most notably, the dialogue is entirely different than his previous film. Bits of jargon aside, this is Johnson’s most realistic approach to human conversation.

Star Wars Prediction?

Rian Johnson has the visual chops to deliver a good looking Star Wars film. I doubt that any neo-noir or Wes Anderson visuals will make their way into the final cut, but I expect more innovation than what Abrams brought to his Star Wars. A good comparison might be the little flairs that James Wan included in Fast and Furious 7. Wan is another strong stylist who was able to bring a little of his mojo to a $200 million dollar franchise entry.

The screenplay of Star Wars VIII is harder to predict. It’s worth noting that all three of Johnson’s movies feature a broken relationship at the center. JGL spends Brick atoning for a bad romantic relationship, The Brothers Bloom deals with the titular brothers, and Looper uses time travel to externalize the man vs self conflict of the film. For that reason, it’s safe to say that Johnson will find some relationship to ground the arc of his film. We can guess Luke and Rey form the backbone of the movie based on trailer footage, but you never know.

Despite my issues with The Brothers Bloom, I’m cautiously optimistic that Rian Johnson can move the ball in the “right” direction. If there is any final clue to glean, it’s that his screenplay seems to be his own work. Episode VII passed through a number of hands including, but not limited to Abrams. Rian Johnson brought this to life himself. For better or worse, it looks like we are getting a Rian Johnson Star Wars film, through and through.