Though he wasn’t ostensibly involved in production, former Lucasfilm president George Lucas has offered his two cents on Star Wars: The Force Awakens in a roundabout way.
While Kathleen Kennedy reaffirmed that the founding father of Star Wars very much enjoyed The Force Awakens, the man himself weighed in on the soon-to-be-released sequel while attending the Kennedy Center Honors this past weekend.
Remaining firmly on the fence, Lucas didn’t so much praise or criticize the film as he did remark on the way he feels fans will react to Abrams’ feature – spoilers: it’s overly positive. “I think the fans are going to love it,” he said. “It’s very much the kind of movie they’ve been looking for.” Take from that what you will.
Of course, it’s easy to pinpoint what Lucas is alluding to, and already the general hype for The Force Awakens has spawned a feverish and almost infectious excitement, no thanks to Abrams’ commitment to practical effects and a core storyline. It’s an approach that also appears to push talk of trade routes and Jedi councils onto the backburner in favor of an entertaining story, though the jury’s still out on just how much fans will really take to the director’s finished product. We’ll find out that reaction soon enough.
With little over a week to go until release, Star Wars mania is very much upon us, and that looks set to continue for a long time once Star Wars: The Force Awakens releases on December 18.
