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There's something in particular that's been nagging me about the sequel trilogy ever since TROS (aside from many other obvious things), and I couldn't put my finger on it until now:
Rian Johnson shoots/directs Daisy Ridley way better than JJ ever did, by a significant margin.
Rian Johnson shoots/directs Daisy Ridley way better than JJ ever did, by a significant margin.
Acting-wise, Daisy comes off as more of a well-rounded human being in TLJ rather than a toy in the mystery-box that hasn't been fully assembled. You could chalk it up to Daisy getting more seasoned with each movie, but it's really Rian being a good writer who values characters.
When you watch Daisy in TROS, she's reverted back to being incomplete. Not just by the ugly demands of the story, but by how quickly she bounces back and forth between emotional extremes. She'll be quipping one second and crying for the Academy Awards the next second.
Rian made sure Rey's emotions come naturally. When she cries, it's realistic and not showy. That's part of what makes the "They're nobody" scene so effective. When she shouts, it's at appropriate times. Again, she's not a toy to Rian. She's a character who's a human being.
This isn't as important a factor as the acting, but I feel it needs to be said anyway: Daisy is better shot and lit in TLJ than in either of JJ's movies. Rian and Yedlin are a great team, so of course the actors are going to be framed and made-up well. Daisy is no exception.
In TFA, she comes off that way only during her big character moments, like her introduction and the duel with Kylo. Outside of that, she's not given room to be a physical presence, and her face is shot at unflattering angles because JJ and Mindel are no Rian and Yedlin.
In TROS, she's shot and lit like a Barbie doll -- a perfect end to JJ's intended role for her as the toy in the mystery box.
Maybe I've been doing a bad job explaining this specific factor, so let me put it this way: there's way more screencaps of Daisy looking unflattering in TFA and TROS than in TLJ
To wrap this up, I don't pin any of this on Daisy. She's clearly a good actor, as shown in TLJ and bits of her performances in the other two films. And like most actors, she'll be a force to be reckoned with when she works with the right filmmakers. Rian was one of them.
