Filmmaker Rian Johnson has explained his reasons for the removal of a scene from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” a deleted scene that has been making the rounds on social media this week.
The movie itself remains a hot topic of conversation within its fanbase, its subversive elements still proving divisive. More recently talk about it has come up again as a contrast and comparison to the recent J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” which had its own divided reaction albeit for very different reasons.
In ‘Last Jedi,’ Rey briefly trains with Luke on an island planet. One of his key three lessons involves the planet’s villagers, with Luke baiting Rey to see how she would react if the Caretakers were attacked. The scene however was taken out of the theatrical cut, despite having finished effects. A fan asked Johnson why it got the chop, and he replied on Twitter:
“Mostly pace, and something about it always felt a little repetitive, coming at a point in the movie where we want to hit the gas and start escalating towards the finale. I love the scene, it was a tough (but ultimately good) cut.”
The rewatch comes in the wake of the film’s editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey recently revealing their mixed feelings over the film – one crediting Johnson for trying something new, the other for ‘undoing’ what Abrams setup.
