From that Kylo Ren line in the trailer to the very first Skywalker scene in the film, it’s clear that Rian Johnson wanted to go his own way with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Anecdotally, I have some friends proclaiming it to be the best Star Wars film since Empire, or the worst since Phantom Menace. It’s a metaphor for everything that’s about to happen, as Johnson blazes a new trail for Star Wars while quite possibly starting a forest fire in the process. Abrams was doing Star Wars fan service to the point where it often felt like a clone of the originals. I think Disney was smart to see that if they give him free reign, he’ll do something interesting with Star Wars that no one has ever seen before.

Source: Forbes December 17, 2017 18:00 UTC