Actor Sam Witwer is no stranger to Star Wars, having voiced the character of Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story, as well as portraying the character of Starkiller in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games.
He’s also a huge fan of the franchise, but it seems that – as with a good portion of the fanbase – he hasn’t been too impressed by the Sequel Trilogy, particularly director Rian Johnson’s hugely divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In fact, he’s even went as far as to say that Johnson “didn’t do his homework” especially with regards to his handling of Luke Skywalker.
“Last Jedi, to me, felt like a movie made by a guy who hadn’t quite done his homework,” said Witwer in a recent fan Q&A. “I think Rian Johnson’s a talented guy, but Bruce Lee didn’t develop Jeet Kune Do without learning Kung Fu first. You can’t reinvent Star Wars without knowing Star Wars first and he didn’t – for me – make a compelling argument for why Luke didn’t go and help his sister.”
“This is just my opinion, guys,” he continued. “There were a lot of things in The Last Jedi I found compelling in a Rian Johnson filmmaker point of view. They just didn’t fit into Star Wars. I don’t think he did his Star Wars homework. The themes, what it’s about, what the characters are about. But as a standalone film, if I don’t know what the Jedi are or who Luke is or what he represents, I think there’s some compelling things in there. If that’s meaningful to you, that’s awesome.”
Witwer then turned his attention to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, adding: “Look, if you like it, awesome. It’s not as meaningful to me because I can’t really reconcile that mythology with George’s. But that’s just my opinion, you know? My personal is take is I think a Star Wars where the moral of the story is ‘throw down your weapon, don’t hurt your family, love or fear.’ I think that’s superior than a Star Wars where you win by melting the bad guy’s face off. That’s just my thing… I don’t know that you can do a better ending than Return of the Jedi.”
What do you make of Witwer’s comments? Do you agree with his criticisms of the Sequel Trilogy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Star Wars: The Last Jedi stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Holdo), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Benicio Del Toro (DJ), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Jimmy Vee (R2-D2).
Via Dark Horizons
