Three Directors Mentioned as Possibilities to Direct the New Star Wars (That I Would Hate With a Passion)

Kevin Smith

My favorite director on this list, and the one that I feel would give the biggest fanboy effort into the new films.  Smith references Star Wars in many of his films, from Clerks’ discussion of contractor ethics in regards to choosing whether to work on the soon-to-be-destroyed-again Death Star to the spoof porno in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.  I’m not questioning that he would be the truest to the original trilogy, willing to strive for the glory that was the first 3 films rather than the commercial appeal (and overall failure) of the last 3 (Jar Jar Binks).

However, Kevin Smith is not a technically sound director at all, and his films have enormous flaws.  While he is capable of writing hilarious dialogue in some scenes, other scenes feel bogged down.  He lacks any real visual flair, his films are poorly edited, and the film would likely suffer in quality.  Smith could deliver some very solid concepts and would likely make an enjoyable film, but it wouldn’t be as great quality as some better options would provide.

Michael Bay

This is a fairly obvious one.  While his films had a bit more heart early on (The Rock, Bad Boys), he has since come out with films that are mindless blockbusters.  I’m not going to deny that he is more than capable at filming an action movie, but Star Wars should be more than that.  I don’t see any way that Bay could capture the human elements from the original trilogy, and I believe he would lean closer to the simpleminded action of Transformers than the actual plot/characters of The Avengers.

Guillermo Del Toro

A name I’ve heard mentioned plenty of times, Guillermo is known for having a flair for the supernatural, and Star Wars’ universe could certainly give him a great canvas to work with.  But, and maybe this is just my opinion that most people don’t share, I don’t think his films are that great.  The recent Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (which he wrote, did not direct) was an uninteresting piece of irrelevant shit that deserved to be a straight-to-the-SciFi-Network film.  The original Hellboy was solid, a minimal compliment that I don’t think the sequel came close to earning.  And clearly I’m in the minority on this one, but I didn’t think Pan’s Labyrinth was great.  My opinions on his films aside, Del Toro doesn’t direct in the same style as the original trilogy, relying more on a sense of wonder at the world than the sense of adventure you experience watching A New Hope.