Rian Johnson on the use of the Force in TLJ.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Empire Podcast Spoiler Special
Luke and co.’s expanded Force powers had to compete with what we’ve seen before
The likes of Leia, Luke and Snoke all display incredible Force powers in the film. Johnson acknowledges that this was something he wanted to tackle.
"It was twofold,” Johnson explains. “First of all, it’s tough, because at this point between The Force Awakens and even the video games, the level of Force powers has slowly come up. I feel like we still offered a modicum of restraint, because we didn’t have anyone pulling Star Destroyers out of the sky. And believe me, it came up when Luke came out on to the field, I was, like, 'should he wave his hand and all the walkers blow off like dust?’ The things that are in there that are Force moments largely came out of the dramatic moments. But the Leia thing is an interesting example. It’s something that Kathy kept bringing up, which I thought was interesting. She said, 'I’ve always been intrigued by what Luke says to Leia in Jedi in that she has the power inside her also, and why haven’t we seen that?’ And the idea behind Leia’s big moment was that it was not incredibly powerful, because she’s in space and that doesn’t offer much resistance, it doesn’t take much to pull her back in. But also, that it’s instinctual. It’s like when you hear parents that have a toddler trapped under a car, and they lift the car up with Hulk strength. The idea that it’s not going to end today, that she’s not finished yet.”
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