STAR WARS Editor Felt That THE LAST JEDI Tried To Undo The Storytelling of THE FORCE AWAKENS
The Skywalker Saga may have ended, but like all of the films in the Star Wars franchise, the final three movies will continue to be discussed and debated for years to come. It’s just what fans do. These latest films are still fresh in the minds of fans, though, and as you know, they played a big hand in dividing fans.
There are some strong opinions out there regarding these films, and now the editors of Star Wars: The Force Awakens have shared their feelings on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and they weren’t big fans. Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon were both editors on the film, and Brandon returned to edit The Rise of Skywalker.
On a recent episode of the Light the Fuse podcast, they both admit they didn’t care for how Rian Johnson‘s Star Wars: The Last Jedi tried to "undo" the story of the first film. Markey said:
“I couldn’t agree more. It’s very strange to have the second film so consciously undo the storytelling of the first one. I’m sorry that’s what it felt like.”
I personally loved The Last Jedi for what it was and how it did something completely different and unexpected. I liked the crazy risks that Johnson took with it. But yes, I do agree the movie did undo a lot of major story elements from The Force Awakens. In turn, some fans feel that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker undid the events in The Last Jedi. It’s funny, at the beginning of the interview, Brandon says she liked some parts of The Last Jedi, and then Markey called her out for not telling the truth. Markey goes on to dispute the idea that Rise of Skywalker undid The Last Jedi saying:
“I don’t even feel that’s true about the third film. It took where the second film ended and just tried to tell a story. I didn’t feel like it was consciously—it just didn’t feel that way to me.”
In the end, the trilogy as a whole was weak because there wasn’t a single vision for how it should’ve played out.