Simon Pegg: I Miss George Lucas’ Vision
Beloved actor Simon Pegg is known for his opinion about the “Star Wars” franchise in the past, from the current state of its fandom to his famous criticism of George Lucas’ prequels.
Recently appearing on the
Adam Buxton Podcast (via
The Playlist), Pegg spoke about the films including Rian Johnson’s divisive entry “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and then spun that out into a larger conversation about his disappointment with the overall films of the post-Lucas era:
“There was an odd thing with [‘The Last Jedi’] in that the people who didn’t like it were sort of being gaslighted by the people that did like it, who were just dismissing their complaints about the film as being fanboy butthurt. And yet, the whole thing is just eating itself in a hideous cultural soup. It’s a shame because it’s just a film.
I must admit, watching [‘The Last Jedi’], the overriding feeling I got when I came out was, ‘I miss George Lucas.’ For all the complaining that I’d done about him in the prequels, there was something amazing about his imagination.
Those first three [‘Star Wars’] films were the product of real collaboration. Then with the prequels, it was like, ‘Do what you want!’ And without someone to steer him in the right direction, it did overflow into slightly muddled kind of less elegance…. but I do feel like his voice is missing from the current ones.”
Pegg cameoed in the J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” but it’s unclear if the director will bring back Pegg for the currently filming “Star Wars: Episode IX” which hits cinemas on December 20th 2019.
