Two J.J. Abrams tropes the director needs to avoid for ‘Star Wars Episode VII’

While nothing has been made official by Disney or Lucasfilm at this point, several credible reports have claimed that “Star Trek” filmmaker J.J. Abrams is in negotiations for the coveted “Star Wars Episode VII” directing gig. After months of speculation that linked almost every high-profile director and their mothers to the project, Disney’s planned “Star Wars” sequel appears to finally have a director.

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Now, it may seem blasphemous in some geek circles for the man who currently controls the reins of the “Star Trek” franchise to be given the keys to “Star Wars” as well, but in light of Abrams’s Steven Spielberg- and George Lucas-inspired blockbuster tendencies, even the most ardent “Trek” and “Wars” fans would probably admit that he’s the right guy for the job.

That said, there are two major "Abram-isms" that "Episode VII" absolutely must not fall victim to.

Lens flares and the shiny future aesthetic

Abrams has taken a lot flack over his apparent love affair with lens flares, but he might save himself all that criticism if he just stopped using the effect so much. “Mission: Impossible III,” “Super 8,” and particularly “Star Trek” are all full of lens flares. Where most filmmakers try to avoid lens flare where possible because it muddies and obscures the image with visual artifacts, Abrams fills his shots with the light scattering effect. Even Abrams himself has said the lens flares in “Star Trek” were a little ridiculous, but justified their use by saying that he wanted to give the film a visually distinct look.

“I love the idea that the future was so bright it couldn't be contained in the frame,” he told io9 in 2009.

That’s something Abrams needs to keep in mind for “Star Wars Episode VII,” which, despite its sci-fi setting, takes place in the distant past on the other side of the universe. The “Star Wars” universe seen in the original trilogy (which "Episode VII" is a sequel to) isn’t our own bright future; it’s a grimy, beat up, junk-filled galaxy far, far away. Though it would be interesting to see the sort of lens flare that the twin suns of Tatooine would generate, Abrams’s bright “Star Trek” future is completely at odds with the used universe of “Star Wars."

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Fans have already seen a sleek and polished version of the “Star Wars” galaxy thanks to director George Lucas’ much-maligned prequels. They don’t want cold corridors and green screens, they want real sets and locations that look worn and lived in – like in the original trilogy. People didn’t love Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon because it was a shiny, state-of-the-art starship like the Enterprise; they loved it because it was a dented and dirty space jalopy that still managed to be the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.” Fans also loved Solo’s ship because it felt so real – they actually built a full-sized Millennium Falcon, inside and out, for “The Empire Strikes Back.” Just because you can do that on a computer doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Abrams has to get full credit on that count, though. Granted, "Star Trek" was full of computer-generated imagery, but it was also full of real sets and actual locations. If the director can lose the lens flares, and combine his penchant for set building with the used universe aesthetic popularized by the original trilogy, then "Star Wars Episode VII" is already well on its way to outdoing its predecessors.

Convoluted story lines, time travel, and an unsatisfying resolution
While this is more emblematic of the future "Star Wars" director's television work, it can be said without reservation that the TV shows and movies that Abrams has been involved with always walk the line between complex and convoluted. The Abrams-produced TV shows "Alias," "Lost," and "Fringe" set a very high bar for serialized television shows, but they also often strung viewers along with confusing plots involving dual identities and time travel. Heck, even the Abrams-created college drama "Felicity" got into the act with some time-travel schtick in the show's final few episodes that basically invalidated almost the entire previous season.

Abrams made a habit of using things like time travel as plot devices on TV, and he kept up with it once he made the transition to film. The 2009 "Star Trek" featured an alternate universe/time travel plot that allowed Abrams to reconcile his rebooted "Star Trek" universe with the continuity laid out by decades worth of "Trek" TV and movies. But if there's one thing "Star Wars" doesn't need, it's time travel! The Force is more than enough.

See also: 'Star Wars Episode 1': What went wrong?

Another unfortunate trope of Abrams work -- and again, this more illustrative of his television shows than anything else -- has to do with his endings. Abrams can do a good cliffhanger (something he probably picked up from the original "Star Wars" trilogy and its epic "Empire" cliffhanger), but boy, has he messed up a lot of conclusions. "Felicity," "Alias," "Lost," and most recently "Fringe" were all criticized by fans for having series finales that left certain things open and up for interpretation. There can be no such ambiguity with the "Star Wars" movies, though. It's meant to be a clear cut, fantasy tale for all ages.

There's a reason that George Lucas based the original trilogy on mythologist Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey" model (an archetypal myth with very clear stages that the hero must go through): Luke Skywalker's struggle is universal. Ultimately, "Star Wars" movies are meant for kids. You can't have youngsters leaving the theatre wondering whether Obi-wan Kenobi is a smoke monster or why the Han Solo from the past killed his time-travelling future clone! It just won't work.

Keep it simple, J. J.!