Star Wars: The Force Awakens has smashed box office records around the world and has been praised by critics as a franchise-saver, but Avatar director James Cameron is underwhelmed by J.J. Abrams' film.
Cameron, who's a close friend of Star Wars creator George Lucas, said that Abrams' film lacked "innovative visual imagination" of the original films. When JarJarAbrams asked about his opinion about Episode VII, Cameron said:
"George Lucas is a friend of mine and he and I were having a good conversation the other day about it. I don't want to say too much about the film cause I also have a lot of respect for J.J. Abrams, and I want to see where they're taking it next, to see what they're doing with it."
He went on to explain how George Lucas' Star Wars films had more innovative visual imagination than Abrams' The Force Awakens:
"I have to say that I felt that George's group of six films had more innovative visual imagination, and this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before, and characters you had seen before, and it took a few baby steps forward with new characters."
His opinion echoes the thoughts of those who felt that Abrams added nothing new to the franchise. While it's true that The Force Awakens recycles a lot of elements that Star Wars is known for, I thought Abrams crafted an enjoyable story and unforgettable visuals that Cameron fails to give credit on. One of the most breathtaking scenes is in the Battle of Takodana, when we see X-Wings and TIE Fighters battling while we see Stormtroopers being shot on the ground.
Back in April, Abrams explained whyThe Force Awakens was a lot like A New Hope, saying that the film "was a bridge and a kind of reminder; the audience needed to be reminded what Star Wars is, but it needed to be established with something familiar, with a sense of where we are going to new lands, which is very much what 8 and 9 do."
Abrams' words assure us that Episode VIII and IX will focus on bringing us fresher visual elements that we've never seen in the saga before, and it sounds like Cameron has bright hopes for the franchise: "For me the jury's still out. I want to see where they go with it."
As much as I enjoyed James Cameron's Avatar and its visuals, its story lacked originality. It was pretty much Pocahontas in space.
Star Wars: Episode VIII will be released in theaters on December 15, 2017.
Read: Mark Hamill Clarifies Luke Skywalker's Star Wars Future
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