I have not always been impressed with JJ's oeuvre by any means, and I agree with those who've pointed out that he has a problem sticking landings (although, in my experience it's usually because he starts big ambitious projects and then hands them off to other people, remaining in charge in an executive sense but not actually writing or directing: see ALIAS, LOST, etc.). However, I do think The Force Awakens was exactly the film it had to be in order to win back fans jaded by the disappointing Prequels and to bring in new fans with little or no knowledge of the OT and PT except through cultural osmosis. Every beat of TFA that seems derivative is not accidentally but consciously so -- it was a gesture of regaining trust, of proving that JJ and Lucasfilm sans George Lucas actually know what makes Star Wars work and want to respect it. I'm not sure that the same result could have been achieved with a daringly original plot and all-new characters who were nothing like Luke, Leia and Han, or at least I have a very hard time imagining it.
At the same time, though, TFA broke some pretty impressive new ground. A female main character (even if her status as the true Force-wielding protagonist was obscured until halfway through the movie, when she holds her own against Kylo's interrogation), a Stormtrooper who is not only a three-dimensional and likeable character, but a man of colour as well; and for me the most revolutionary and refreshing thing (especially since this has not always been JJ's strong point, to say the least) -- there was not a single moment in that film where a female character was sexually objectified. That's not a claim that can be made for any of the preceding films.
I think JJ does get Star Wars, that he loves it, and that he wants to do well by it. I don't think he's up to the level of what Rian Johnson pulled off with TLJ, but I don't think he's going to ruin the story either. Or at least, no more than George Lucas ruined RotJ, which was seriously flawed and derivative in a number of ways and even nonsensical in parts -- but what people remember isn't the stupidity of the Death Star Mark II or the inanity of the Ewoks so much as the powerful confrontation and reconciliation between Luke and Vader and the defeat of the Emperor. If JJ can pull off Ben's redemption and return to the Light and Rey truly coming into her own as the Last Jedi, I'll forgive him a few plot holes and absurdities along the way.
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At the same time, though, TFA broke some pretty impressive new ground. A female main character (even if her status as the true Force-wielding protagonist was obscured until halfway through the movie, when she holds her own against Kylo's interrogation), a Stormtrooper who is not only a three-dimensional and likeable character, but a man of colour as well; and for me the most revolutionary and refreshing thing (especially since this has not always been JJ's strong point, to say the least) -- there was not a single moment in that film where a female character was sexually objectified. That's not a claim that can be made for any of the preceding films.
I think JJ does get Star Wars, that he loves it, and that he wants to do well by it. I don't think he's up to the level of what Rian Johnson pulled off with TLJ, but I don't think he's going to ruin the story either. Or at least, no more than George Lucas ruined RotJ, which was seriously flawed and derivative in a number of ways and even nonsensical in parts -- but what people remember isn't the stupidity of the Death Star Mark II or the inanity of the Ewoks so much as the powerful confrontation and reconciliation between Luke and Vader and the defeat of the Emperor. If JJ can pull off Ben's redemption and return to the Light and Rey truly coming into her own as the Last Jedi, I'll forgive him a few plot holes and absurdities along the way.