The sheer volume of TV shows and films produced and/or directed by people who clearly hated the property is staggering. Sometimes, it turns out good. Kenneth Johnson, for instance, is far from shy from claiming he hated comic books and considered them the bottom of the barrel of entertainment; he still developed, produced, directed and/or wrote “THE INCREDIBLE HULK” for 5 seasons on CBS. Yet not only was it good, the MCU to this day is heavily inspired by it regarding the Hulk. Tim Burton was also not shy about “not understanding or liking” Batman, yet he directed 2 successful films about Batman which were both good and inspired not only an even better animated series (and related media) but also influenced the comics as well (albeit in some “troubling in hindsight” ways, like focusing 99% on the villains).

The CW and/or DC Comics are pretty infamous for this kind of approach. “SMALLVILLE” ran 10 seasons and was about Superman before he became Superman, or Superboy, or even wore a costume even though he was literally teaming up with the Justice League and/or JSA by the end. “GOTHAM” was 5 season of, basically, “Batman without Batman,” just Jim Gordon running around for years until Bruce Wayne got old enough (barely, and only if he stood on a milk crate) to put on a mask and fight crime near the end. “ARROW” started before Oliver Queen actually called himself, well, Green Arrow and he was just “the Vigilante” with mascara over his eyes for 1-2 seasons. “DAREDEVIL” did the same thing, only Murdock was “The Devil from Hell’s Kitchen” for seasons. And no end of superhero films have been made by directors and/or producers who clearly have contempt for the franchise and are only doing it for alimony or cocaine. From “FAN4STIC” to Zack Synder’s entire career after “WATCHMEN” to even a few of the pre-MCU Marvel movies (like “DAREDEVIL,” where the director very clearly wanted to remake “THE CROW”), and on it goes. Even 2004’s “THE PUNISHER” is like that, with Frank Castle not wearing a skull shirt and dedicating himself to punishing criminals (rather than wanting personal and specific revenge) until a second before the credits.
But the answer is always money. For enough cash, Steven Spielberg would make a “TWINKIE THE KID” movie and then breathlessly proclaim that it is high art of the utmost quality that HAD to be told. Anyone would. The question is, kind of like Jay Sherman once said, if we stop watching bad remakes, maybe they’ll stop making bad remakes.

There was one scene in the movie that felt like it was created by a different filmmaker entirely (the Force explanation scene) because it was a genuine, warm look at the lore of the universe Lucas created. The other scene that felt like a true Star Wars scene was Rose’s scene where she stopped Finn’s suicidal rush.