I’ve been a fan of a number of JJ Abrams’ projects for a while.
Alias was an incredible TV show. Lost was one of my favorite shows ever. And I thought the Star Trek movie he directed was great.
But still, I had my issues with him. He left Alias in the middle of its third season and Lost right after shooting the pilot episode (this was a bigger problem for Alias than it was for Lost). And while the Star Trek movie was very entertaining, story-wise, it was a lot like the original Star Wars.
So a few months ago, when it was announced that Abrams would direct Star Wars Episode VII, I thought he was a decent pick. He’s a Star Wars fan and loves the material, but I’ve had some misgivings about his involvement in his other projects.
But after reading part of an interview JJ did with Empire Magazine, I think that he’s the absolute best pick. In describing how he, who was not a Star Trek fan, made two movies for some of the world’s most discerning fans, JJ said he’s taking a similar approach to Star Wars: “I feel like I can identify a hunger for what I would want to see again and that is an incredibly exciting place to begin a project.”
As a fan, he’s absolutely right.
