Exactly if they do react to the "backlash" all that's going to happen is they're going to make a super safe Episode IX that takes zero risks and basically just goes a checklist of what a 40-year-old nerd wants to see. 

There is no artistic licence left anymore I guess. Simply just make Star Wars movies on a template. 

I will be disappointed if they chicken out on the Rey isn't related to anyone bit and reveal she actually is related to Skywalker/Kenobi after all. 

I see this a lot now, with the backlash this movie is receiving, where those who enjoyed the movie are in one way or another all calling out the "40 year old nerd." Now, while I agree, that you have to be able to take some artistic license, and move a franchise forward, you have to be very very careful when you're making decisions that are actively putting off your hardcore fanbase. However big your franchise is right now, it got there on the back of those fans. All those people who go out to conventions, buy all your books, games, who theory craft, talk about it with their friends, drive the traffic/discussion around it online, etc, etc. Now, obviously you don't want your product to just be just pandering to those people, especially since you can never make everyone happy, but you really don't want to be treating them with the kind of blatant disregard, and disdain even that Rian Johnson seems to exhibit with this movie, and which is certainly the stand out response given to people who don't care for this movie, by it's supporters. 

I mean hey....maybe you can get away with it. Maybe that fanbase is all talk and they'll just keep coming out for all your movies regardless. Maybe you can make a new hardcore fanbase, as numerous, and as loyal as your old one. Maybe you can make all the money you'd ever want off your franchise from just the casual movie going audience. I don't know. But maybe you can't. Maybe you don't wanna be sending them all the message "Star Wars isn't what you think it is, nerd!" It might not be good for you in the long run.

Yea, it's a shame TLJ's "risks" (I refer to them more as trolls) were so poor, both in idea and execution, that we'll get a super safe sequel. Or a mess that tries to recon the last movie. But, yeah, they'll make sure to put more toy bait and, most likely, another scene straight out of a generic Disney film in it. 

It's true though, basically the only lesson that Disney will "learn" if there is any lesson to be learned is to basically "pander to the nerds", from their POV.

If they do dumb shit now like make Rey a Skywalker or Kenobi, I'm fucking walking out of the theater. At least have the balls to stand by your creative choices. 

Otherwise lets just have a freaking movie where it pauses every 15 minutes and the audience votes on what they want to happen next. 

Making a sequel trilogy was a mistake to begin with because you have little/no creative license to work with. They should have just waited further into the future and had Episode VII begin with Luke's natural passing from old age and begun from there. Skywalker Saga ends with ROTJ, there is no need for it to continue past that.

No, I agree that with this trilogy (or these two movie so far into it at least) they've made their bed, and now they have to lie in it. What I'm saying though, is that what happened here was clearly a step too far, just for the sake of trying to break from the established norms of Star Wars. Not just in a general sense, but also in terms of story beats, and expectations for payoff set up by TFA.

In the future, Disney needs to be more mindful of the continuity of Star Wars as a whole, and these big main saga movies. Like for starters, if you're gonna keep rotating through different directors for each movie in a trilogy, at least have them come together and agree on the main plot points, and themes that they wanna hit. That way you don't run into issues like here with Rain Johnson just being blatantly flippant of the entire script of the last movie (which of course, since it was basically a remake of New Hope, is thus by extension flippant of soooo much more that is dear to Star Wars fans).

In fairness to Rian Johnson ... 

JJ Abrams already established that Luke abandons his friends/family and basically allows the First Order to happen by running off to an island. There really is no good/satisfying reason for this to begin with. 

All Rian Johnson did was take that concept and probably take it to its logical end. 

Really there is no creative reason for these movies to exist. Not a chance would Luke/Han/Leia be dumb enough after all they went through to simply let their only blood relative to turn to the Dark Side because "they were too busy". 

The Skywalker Saga ends with Anakin Skywalker throwing the Emperor down that shaft. Any premise after that was always going to be flimsy. 

Fitting because Hollywood is just like the "AAA" gaming industry - a soulless industry machine that's run out of ideas so everything must either be a remake/soft reboot, sequel, or based on something else (usually a book/comics in Hollywood's case). I'm just really hoping for an entirely new imagined cool idea at this point that starts completely from scratch (much like Star Wars primarily did back in the 70's), especially something in the realm of Sci-fi or Fantasy genres.

Thought maybe Valerian had the potential to be that movie until I found out it too was adapted from a comic (well and the bad reviews came in). Still better than a remake/sequel I suppose..

The OT Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Terminator 1/2, Alien, Aliens, Back to the Future 1/2, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ghostbusters (first one only), E.T., The Matrix (first one only), Star Trek II and maybe VI are the only "really great" blockbuster fantasy movies.

Everything else is on a tier well below that.

So basically the last good one was LOTR like 14 years ago. 

Expanded the list above, but name some other movies that belong in that class but they are basically all from the 80s. There's not many. 

Because nothing stands out as belonging in that class. And there's a good reason for that. 

For the rest, as long as it's competent (and IMO these newer Star Wars films while flawed do fall into that lower bracket), I'm ok with it. 

"Great" fantasy films do not happen often.