George Lucas’ Thoughts on ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Are Far From a Rave Review

Over the weekend it was revealed that Star Wars creator George Lucas had finally seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens and, according to new Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Lucas “really liked it.” That was nice to hear (I guess?), but it didn’t come directly from the man himself, and obviously Kennedy wouldn’t pass along anything that wasn’t positive. Now George Lucas is speaking for himself and, while still saying positive things, it definitely sounds like he may not have loved it as much as Lucasfilm may have wanted him to.

Vulture caught up with Lucas on the red carpet for the Kennedy Center Honors in New York City and asked him point blank what he thought of the film. His response wasn’t so much what he thought about it, but rather a sort of backhanded compliment.

I think the fans are going to love it. It’s very much the kind of movie they’ve been looking for.

This is like what I say when I get dragged to a horrible movie with my kids and someone asks, “So, how was Minions?” and I just say, “Well, the kids loved it…”

Lucas has been outspoken about how what the fans wanted from him and Star Wars was much different from what he wanted for himself and for Star Wars. Nowhere could that be more clear than the Prequel Trilogy, which was exactly what Lucas wanted, but far from what the fans wanted. Lucas also went back and repeatedly tinkered with the Original Trilogy, saying the films weren’t what he wanted them to do. So, saying that The Force Awakens is giving the fans exactly what they wanted is faint praise, because I don’t think Lucas puts much stock at all in what the fans want.

Because Lucas will be attending both the Los Angeles and London premieres of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we should expect most of his comments to stay positive, at least on the surface level. After a few weeks though, I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually hear some of his criticisms of the film and his real thoughts on what happened.