4) The Singular Vision Has Been Replaced By ‘Collective Filmmaking’
It was gracious of George Lucas to give up his creative stake in Star Wars after the prequels. We all knew it, and evidently he knew it in the end: Lucas had lost that spark that made him the man to continue overseeing this particular space opera universe.
Now, Lucas has passed the reins onto J.J. Abrams, one of the more capable blockbuster filmmakers around. But hang on a minute, because Abrams isn’t the only one who brought his ‘vision’ to The Force Awakens. Far from it, in fact.
There was also producer Kathleen Kennedy, writer-producer Simon Kinberg and veteran Star Wars scribe Lawrence Kasdan. Even Simon Pegg was brought into contribute, as part of what has been called the new Star Wars ‘brain trust.’
Filmmaking by committee, rather than allowing a singular vision to guide the way, can be risky. Episode VII could turn out a solid example of this so-called ‘collective filmmaking,’ but there’s a reason why many of the greatest movies of all-time had one uncompromising auteur alone in charge.