There were a ton of possibilities in coming up with completely new stories, characters, and visuals that did not involve recycling large parts the OT, while still incorporating Star Wars tropes like the Force, lightsabers, space battles, and what not. However, the current creators chose to take the save route, and rather than take the franchise in a new direction narratively and visually, gave us a loosely based remake of the OT, and worst of all, they chose to diminish the accomplishments of the classic characters to achieve this end. That is what makes the ST far less original than any of the previous films made by Lucas.
Well said. I agree that it’s a safe route, agree that it’s less original than Lucas’ films (but more enjoyable than the prequels), disagree that they diminish the OT. I’m not bothered by this safe route, in fact when I see something called “Star Wars #7” I want more of what came before, I expect something traditional.
I think the spinoffs are a good place for experimentation and we’ll be getting new stories from Rian Johnson and others as well. Perhaps the sequel trilogy could have been more different like the prequels or something in between but I’m happy with what we’ve gotten.