J.J. Abrams "Made a Mistake" With Leia in Force Awakens

[Steven Bogos]

J.J. Abrams "Made a Mistake" With Leia in Force Awakens

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A common nitpick around General Leia concerns a scene near the end of the film, which Abrams has admitted was a mistake.

J.J. Abrams has admitted he "made a mistake" with Carrie Fisher's character: General Leia in The Force Awakens [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/star%20wars%20the%20force%20awakens?os=star+wars+the+force+awakens]. The mistake concerns a scene near the end of the movie, and as such, is very heavily ridden with spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie, do yourself a favor and click the back button on your browser now.

To make it absolutely clear: Spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens follow.

Okay? We good? The scene in question comes just after Han Solo's death. The resistance fighters return from Starkiller base with the good (and bad) news. Leia looks quite distraught - you can tell from her face that she already knows Han is dead, and looks to her friends for comfort. Inexplicably, she brushes off poor Chewbacca - a lifelong friend of both her and Han, and hugs Rey - who is practically a complete stranger.

"That was probably one of the mistakes I made in that," Abrams told Slashfilm [http://www.slashfilm.com/leia-hugging-rey-jj-abrams-force-awakens/]. "My thinking at the time was that Chewbacca, despite the pain he was feeling, was focused on trying to save Finn and getting him taken care of. So I tried to have Chewbacca go off with him and focus on Rey, and then have Rey find Leia and Leia find Rey. The idea being that both of them being strong with the Force and never having met, would know about each other - that Leia would have been told about her beyond what we saw onscreen and Rey of course would have learned about Leia. And that reunion would be a meeting and a reunion all in one, and a sort of commiseration of their mutual loss."

However, he admits that "Had Chewbacca not been where he was, you probably wouldn't have thought of it. But because he was right there, passed by Leia, it felt almost like a slight, which was definitely not the intention."

So there you have it, straight from the director himself.

Source: Slashfilm [http://www.slashfilm.com/leia-hugging-rey-jj-abrams-force-awakens/]

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[American Fox]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

 

[Jadak]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

Maybe add a Han Solo force ghost while they're at it, but portrayed by whichever actor they find to play young Han in the standalone movies.

 

[Kameburger]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

Maybe add a Han Solo force ghost while they're at it, but portrayed by whichever actor they find to play young Han in the standalone movies.

I was thinking that when Ren is talking to the helmet of Darth Vader, they could re-edit it so that instead of the helmet, it's a CGI Force ghost of Hayden Christensen. That would really kick things up a notch.

 

[Nazulu]

I didn't even notice it... because of all the other bloody problems!!

When he admits that he stuffed in way too many stupid little jokes, or acknowledges that taking so many scene idea's from A New Hope was taking so many scenes idea's from A New Hope, then I'll do back flips!

And No! I don't want to see that piss poor cop-out excuse.

 

[Jadak]

I was thinking that when Ren is talking to the helmet of Darth Vader, they could re-edit it so that instead of the helmet, it's a CGI Force ghost of Hayden Christensen. That would really kick things up a notch.

Come on now, they can keep the helmet. Makes more sense to let him talk to it, then he hears a response, pan the camera and it's the Christensen Ghost standing beside him.

 

[Ukomba]

Right. Someone had explosive diarrhea all over the bathroom, but the real problem is that toilet paper roll is the wrong side round.

I'd put money on him really doing it because Leia snubbed him at the end of A New Hope too. It's one of the problems with the Find/Replace function in word.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I think there were a few other mistakes that should have been addressed first--perhaps one of them being the fact that only Leia and Rey seem to mourn Han's passing. Chewie too, but he dealt with it by blasting the crap out of a lot of people. This man was a hero in the galaxy. How about some sort of funeral or something? Jeez.
And while we're on the subject of Leia, she...didn't do much in the movie. Next time, can we have her coming off the ship and shooting a Stormtrooper that's about to shoot Han in the back? This is a woman who took control of her own rescue, TWICE, and had no problem jumping on a speeder bike to chase after a scout. She shouldn't have just shown up to talk.

Although, now that it has been mentioned, yeah, I guess her snubbing Chewie to hug Rey is kind of odd. That whole hugging scene was kind of odd actually. As the article mentioned, these two don't really know each other.

 

[dragongit]

whats with the sudden shitting all over the Force Awakens? Maybe it's the Phantom Menace all over again but I still think it's a good film. Now everyone is treating it like "explosive diarrhea" or "the worst thing to happen to star wars cannon", you serious?

 

[Draconalis]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

Maybe add a Han Solo force ghost while they're at it, but portrayed by whichever actor they find to play young Han in the standalone movies.

I was thinking that when Ren is talking to the helmet of Darth Vader, they could re-edit it so that instead of the helmet, it's a CGI Force ghost of Hayden Christensen. That would really kick things up a notch.

I'm still trying to figure out how that helmet survived the explosion of the 2nd Star Destroyer... or hell... how he found it among the wreckage of something the size of a small moon.

But I didn't watch the movie... so maybe they explained it.

 

[dragongit]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

Maybe add a Han Solo force ghost while they're at it, but portrayed by whichever actor they find to play young Han in the standalone movies.

I was thinking that when Ren is talking to the helmet of Darth Vader, they could re-edit it so that instead of the helmet, it's a CGI Force ghost of Hayden Christensen. That would really kick things up a notch.

I'm still trying to figure out how that helmet survived the explosion of the 2nd Star Destroyer... or hell... how he found it among the wreckage of something the size of a small moon.

But I didn't watch the movie... so maybe they explained it.

Luke was shown to burn his father's corpse in Return of the Jedi, in his full outfit. That is why the helmet looks heat warped.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

whats with the sudden shitting all over the Force Awakens? Maybe it's the Phantom Menace all over again but I still think it's a good film. Now everyone is treating it like "explosive diarrhea" or "the worst thing to happen to star wars cannon", you serious?

Because that's how things work now, apparently.

OT: I enjoyed the film for what it was, and I did think that scene was a little weird. At least he admits it was a mistake and didn't make excuses and blamed the viewers for not getting it, or whatever.

I still think the movies were a hell of a lot better than Episodes 1-3, but not the travesty that people make it out to be.

 

[Draconalis]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

Maybe add a Han Solo force ghost while they're at it, but portrayed by whichever actor they find to play young Han in the standalone movies.

I was thinking that when Ren is talking to the helmet of Darth Vader, they could re-edit it so that instead of the helmet, it's a CGI Force ghost of Hayden Christensen. That would really kick things up a notch.

I'm still trying to figure out how that helmet survived the explosion of the 2nd Star Destroyer... or hell... how he found it among the wreckage of something the size of a small moon.

But I didn't watch the movie... so maybe they explained it.

Luke was shown to burn his father's corpse in Return of the Jedi, in his full outfit. That is why the helmet looks heat warped.

I thought that was a helmetless pyre

 

[Saltyk]

It really just fits into my theory that Rey is Luke's daughter and Han and Leia know or at least suspect it. There's a scene where Maz asks Han "Who is the girl?" and as Han starts to answer it immediately changes to Rey chasing down Finn.

whats with the sudden shitting all over the Force Awakens? Maybe it's the Phantom Menace all over again but I still think it's a good film. Now everyone is treating it like "explosive diarrhea" or "the worst thing to happen to star wars cannon", you serious?

You can't make everyone happy. What's more there is a saying.
"If you like something, you will tell 5 friends. If you hate something, you will tell 10 strangers."

The people who disliked it are way more vocal than the ones who liked it. For the record, TFA is sitting at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. In comparison, the Revenant is at 82% (a great movie) and Deadpool is at 84%.

I, for one, saw it three times in the theater. Twice with my mom (she wanted to see it again and, since I had the holidays off, asked me if I would go see it again with her).

 

[dragongit]

They should reshoot it, but then, the entire movie was pretty dumb.

Maybe add a Han Solo force ghost while they're at it, but portrayed by whichever actor they find to play young Han in the standalone movies.

I was thinking that when Ren is talking to the helmet of Darth Vader, they could re-edit it so that instead of the helmet, it's a CGI Force ghost of Hayden Christensen. That would really kick things up a notch.

I'm still trying to figure out how that helmet survived the explosion of the 2nd Star Destroyer... or hell... how he found it among the wreckage of something the size of a small moon.

But I didn't watch the movie... so maybe they explained it.

Luke was shown to burn his father's corpse in Return of the Jedi, in his full outfit. That is why the helmet looks heat warped.

I thought that was a helmetless pyre

nope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEwlu72BVo
clearly has his helmet on.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

whats with the sudden shitting all over the Force Awakens? Maybe it's the Phantom Menace all over again but I still think it's a good film. Now everyone is treating it like "explosive diarrhea" or "the worst thing to happen to star wars cannon", you serious?

Were you not around when it first came out? Basically since opening day, Star Wars fans have been calling it a lazy, uninspired and soulless rip-off of A New Hope.

OP: And JJ, if this is the big mistake you made in this movie, then you really shouldn't have been put in charge of Star Wars.

 

[Nazulu]

whats with the sudden shitting all over the Force Awakens? Maybe it's the Phantom Menace all over again but I still think it's a good film. Now everyone is treating it like "explosive diarrhea" or "the worst thing to happen to star wars cannon", you serious?

Just because a lot of people are now looking back on it and start noticing it's flaws, doesn't mean they all think it's a bad movie. We can all enjoy movies with flaws, and I reckon it's healthy to notice these things.

Also, does it really surprise you that there are many people that see it as "the worst thing to be canon"? C'mon! Fanboys/girls have always been like this. If anything, I'm surprised they care about whats canon at all after the prequels came in.

Because that's how things work now, apparently.

Mate, that's how it's always been! From the very beginning.

Spoiler

What I think you're both missing here is that it's fun to give criticism... with an attack. Sarcasm and exaggeration can make things more fun to read sometimes, it's not meant to be a personal attack at all (though some people mean it). Just another style of humour.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Because that's how things work now, apparently.

Mate, that's how it's always been! From the very beginning.

Spoiler

What I think you're both missing here is that it's fun to give criticism... with an attack. Sarcasm and exaggeration can make things more fun to read sometimes, it's not meant to be a personal attack at all (though some people mean it). Just another style of humour.

It can be fun.

I mean, I do it all the time and I enjoy sarcasm and hyperbole as much as the next person, but it can also be very tiresome.

It's very hard to tell with fanboy/fangirls in these parts.

Maybe I'm just old.

 

[Nazulu]

It can be fun.

I mean, I do it all the time and I enjoy sarcasm and hyperbole as much as the next person, but it can also be very tiresome.

It's very hard to tell with fanboy/fangirls in these parts.

Maybe I'm just old.

Yeah, some people actually chuck a tizzy, while others aren't very good at comedy. I just gloss over it.

You learn to ignore certain comments because it's always a mixed bag, and many people don't know how to explain their thoughts, which I'm not the best at either

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

It can be fun.

I mean, I do it all the time and I enjoy sarcasm and hyperbole as much as the next person, but it can also be very tiresome.

It's very hard to tell with fanboy/fangirls in these parts.

Maybe I'm just old.

Yeah, some people actually chuck a tizzy, while others aren't very good at comedy. I just gloss over it.

You learn to ignore certain comments because it's always a mixed bag, and many people don't know how to explain their thoughts, which I'm not the best at either

Maybe something can be said about learning from the humble honey badger.

"Ignore the Star Wars fanboys and enjoy the movies."

Much can be learned from his wise ways.