Marcia Lou Griffin, the ex-wife of George Lucas, has brought fair critiques of the handling of theStar Warsuniverse by the current team of writers. She thinks the current people are wonderful as human beings, but when it comes to the story choices, she thinks they could’ve made better decisions for theStar Warsstoryline.
Her critiques come from the recently released book titledHoward Kazanjian: A Producer’s Life,which is written by J.W. Rinzler and features insights from various people in the film industry as the book explores the life and work of film producer Howard Kazanjian. Griffin is known for being a well-decorated film editor. Her credits span from the originalStar Warstrilogy (for which she won an Oscar forEpisode 4),Taxi Driver,and she also received an Oscar nomination for her work inAmerican Graffiti.
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Griffin had a lot to say regarding how the current team is handlingStar Wars.She critiqued the handling ofMark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia, as they all were written with smaller roles in order to make way for a “new trio.” She also critiqued the lack of an explanation for Rey quickly becoming a very powerful Jedi by saying, “…we don’t know how she got Jedi powers, or who she is. It sucks. The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful. You can quote me.”
Griffin went on to say more about the sequel trilogy movies. “Now that [Kathleen Kennedy’s] running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about Star Wars. They don’t get it… AndJ.J. Abrams is writing these stories…when I saw that movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious… there was no rhyme or reason to it,” she said. “I thought, You don’t get the Jedi story. You don’t get the magic of Star Wars… They killed Han Solo. They killed Luke Skywalker. And they don’t have Princess Leia anymore. And they’re spitting out movies every year.”
Star Warsdefinitely did a poor job handling the legacy of the original heroes. When one looks at how Luke Skywalker leftEpisode VIin comparison to his exit in the sequels, it’s a very unsatisfying way of handling that character. Han Solo didn’t get the end his character needed, althoughHarrison Ford himself had pushed for his character’s deathwhile filming the originalStar Warstrilogy. Hopefully, there’s some truth to the rumors about the sequel trilogy being rebooted.
TheStar Warssequel trilogydefinitely brings out conflict among fans who disagree about how much they enjoyed or hated it. The trilogy brought new actors into the limelight, it had a new powerful protagonist, and it also broughtStar Warsback into the frontlines, with many new viewers becoming attached to it. For what it’s worth, it was a fun ride for many and fans will hopefully get a dose of more movies to come that do well with storytelling in the same wayClone WarsandThe Mandalorianhave been doing.
