With The Last Jedi, filmmaker Rian Johnson propelled the Star Wars sequel trilogy forward with some of the most exciting and unexpected turns in the saga, taking the literal lightsaber-baton from J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens and charting his own course with it. And with recent saga-capper The Rise Of Skywalker, Abrams ended up re-inheriting the baton to close things out with Episode IX. Despite the perception – and heated discourse – that Abrams’ trilogy-closer reneged on some of Johnson’s story elements and new characters, the filmmaker says he had “a blast” watching the final instalment of Rey and Kylo Ren’s story.
Speaking at the Oscars, Johnson told MTV: “I had a blast, man. It made me so proud. And seeing the heart and soul that J.J. put into it, seeing my friends who were in the movie bring the whole thing to a conclusion… Yeah, for me as a Star Wars fan it was a really special experience.” Of course, it seems unlikely that Johnson would publicly bash a franchise he’s so invested in – and still theoretically working in, with his proposed spin-off trilogy – but it’s nice to see him come out in support of the film and his fellow filmmaker amid considerable divisiveness.
Criticisms of the final chapter include the sidelining of Kelly Marie Tran’s character Rose Tico, introduced in The Last Jedi, and the notion of Rey’s parentage being re-addressed after it was supposedly tied up in Johnson’s film. The Rise Of Skywalker also received more mixed reviews than the previous two films in the trilogy, and a lower box office tally – though the film still grossed over $1 billion on the big screen.