I don’t mind a subversive SW movie.
Heck there are elements in the EU that paint the Jedi or republic in less than heroic or glorious lights. There’s also Treia you know.
I think what Johnson was really interested in was subverting the idea of “hero gains wisdom from past sage” or rather trying to deconstruct that motif of the Hero’s Journey.
Then again-he isn’t nearly as deep to actually think like this.
But he missed his shot.
And honestly-his whole line about “I consider a good movie to be divisive-people love it or hate it” is just...not good art.
Like I get what he is trying to say, a movie should ideally leave an impact. And I will TLJ for actually making people argue.
But the subversion actually has to have something in it-there has to be gold in the chest.
Dividing audiences by making a polarizing movie is not what you want when making a big budget franchise film.
If he had a stand-alone story with a morally ambiguous Jedi or something-sure he could play out his subversions.
Not only are his subversions stupid and empty, they are also inappropriate in place.
Nothing in TLJ is ultimately that deep or reflective.
Best way to tell if a movies good is if "crtics" don't like it.
It honestly depends. Critics are given too much credit. And film theory and what not are pretty useless in terms of whether or not a movie is enjoyable.
