JJ sets up a dramatic cliffhanger. RJ turns it into a gag. Original vision respected, definitely.
Moving goalposts. You said RJ abandoned thos plot point. Its still there, you didn't like how it was handled. It also wasn't a gag. It could have been filmed more seriously, but it wasn't slapstick humor. If JJ cared about his "original vision" he should have opted in to direct episode 8 (which he feels is a better film than 7
JJ sets up a shadowy and mysterious character who controls the FO from on high like Emperor Palpatine. We never see his face or know anything about him, but fans enjoy a few theories including one where he might in fact be Darth Plaguis (sp?). RJ gives him 2 throne room scenes where he is just generically evil and then cuts him in half. Mystery solved!
No one is under any obligation to appeal to fan theories or baseless speculation. That's not how filmmaking works. You see Snoke's face in his holograms and let's not pretend retreading ground is a good plotpoint either.
Snoke shows up in the flesh, directly influences many aspects of the plot and pulls off a number of things using the force. Whilist also delivering more dialogue and character in a few scenes than the emperor had in the entirety of the OT
Snoke isn't a main character in the film, he serves the purpose of furthering Kylo's development as a character. He fulfils this purpose by being the catalyst that allows Kylo to take his destiny into his own hands and ultimately ascend to the position of being the true main antagonist of the trilogy.
And seriously, complaining about Snoke being generically evil in the same paragraph you're bringing up Darth Plaguis fan theories?
JJ sets up Han talking about Luke making a spiritual return to sacred ground. RJ shows he has abandoned any interest in Jedi, has closed himself off from the force, and spends his days milking monster teats and wasting time. Rey even says, "I've seen your daily routine, you are NOT busy." So spiritual!
That's your own personal interpretation of the line and another bit of "I didn't get what I wanted". The fact of the matter is the only things established are:
Kylo destroyed Luke's new generation of Jedi
Luke left everyone behind
And Han stating that Luke walked away from it all.
Yeah, having your nephew turn evil, destroy your lifes work then go on to destroy the galaxy because of a mistake you made depresses a guy, who knew?
JJ spends a whole movie showing Finn thirsting for Rey and asking if she has a "cute boyfriend" and the movie ends with him having gotten under Rey's skin a little, kissing his forehead. RJ decides "none of that needs follow-up whatsoever, in fact I think I'll have some new character indirectly confess their love for Finn, kiss him, and then have Finn caring for her while Rey watches at the end of the movie." Rey and Finn: practically a couple!
No follow up?
You mean like when Finn tries to leave the Resistance so he can find Rey?
Or the fact that he picks up Rey's beacon when Leia drops it?
Or the fact that Rey looks over at him and smiles when theyre reunited on the Falcon?
Also just because one person expresses feelings for someone doesn't mean the two are in love. Unrequited feelings exist.
JJ sets up Rey as someone hurt by and obsessed with the location of her parents -- where are they? Are they coming back? WHO are they -- she has force powers, and Luke's story was he was dropped off on a desert planet to be kept safe, just like her! I... Oh, you don't even try to counter that yes, RJ abandoned that thread. Cool.
Are Obi Wan and Qui Gon Jinn related because they have force powers and are white?
Maz tells Rey in TFA to move on because she already knows her parents aren't coming back. Who they are isn't inherently important. No one is clammoring to know who Poe's parent's are. They abandoned her and they're not coming back, Rey didn't set out to find them, she set out to find her own purpose in the universe rather than be shackled to Jakku forever. Rey wasn't "dropped off" on Jakku to be kept safe, she just lives there and her parents sold her for money.
You can't abandon what was never established in the first place, its headcanon.
Yeah, so, whatever, I don't really care about the integrity of JJ Abrams' vision or something. It's not like I regard him as any more worthy an auteur than RJ; he's a poppy/mainstream director for sure. But pretending that there weren't major detours from the original direction is really unnecessary. None of this even means the film was bad, just that it veered away from TFA. In fact, given what we know about how TFA and TLJ was written -- that JJ didn't have a "plan" and was intentionally "mysterious," and RJ didn't use any of JJ's notes for Episode 8 -- it's a pretty natural result of two different directors trying to tell different chapters of a continuous story.
Lets be real, if you didn't care you wouldn't be in this thread making multiparagraph responses about how TLJ "abandoned" plot threads from TFA. Im not going to deny that JJ and RJ had different things in mind, but at the end of the day TLJ followed up on everything JJ set up. You just didn't like the answers it gave you.
