Wake Me Up When It’s Ready
Sunday 30 November 2014 • 11:46 PM
While I realize that already a countless number of words has already been written (and undoubtably will be written) about the new Star Wars teaser, one detail seems to have been lost in the shuffle. From the 91 seconds of footage we’ve seen so far, the consensus seems to be that J.J. Abrams isn’t going to fuck up the franchise. For one, Abrams’ Star Wars universe re-introduces the grittiness and tarnish that was (and is) the defining aspect of Episodes IV-IV. Absence of cityscapes provides further evidence Abrams knows what he’s doing (i.e. Star Wars is fundamentally a western, a story that takes place on the frontier– see this video for a much better explanation).
But I want to focus on Abrams’ writing partner: Lawrence Kasdan, whose writing credits include The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. While I realize the importance directors, set designers and cinematographers play, if the story doesn’t work, the movie doesn’t work. Take Avatar for example. Visually, it’s incredible– an undeniable accomplishment in filmdom. But the story is so trite and contrived, it was nearly impossible to sit through (for me, anyway). I describe it as a shitty, blue version of Dances With Wolves. Cameron has said that the story was purposely clichéd, acting solely as a conduit for the film’s visual breakthroughs.
At best that’s lazy and at worst it’s disingenuous.
Take The Abyss as a counter example: a film whose story is just as compelling as its visual effects. So don’t tell me that James Cameron doesn’t know how to write and tell engaging stories.
The fact that Kasdan is co-piloting the story of the new Star Wars films is evidence enough that this film will be fantastic. From a writer’s perspective, audiences tend to only notice poor screenwriting. Frustratingly, great screenwriting typically goes unnoticed by the masses (probably because the telltale sign of great screenwriting is that it feels so natural and unremarkable). Thankfully, Kasdan’s screenwriting is about as unremarkable as it gets.