And since I read the screenplay I thought I would give my impressions.
First, I was struck at some of the obvious reuse of dialog from the OT. I was also struck at how much this and the final TROS parallel each other. I can see now why they still have credit for the story.
Overall I think it is a great script. Worthy of being a early draft of a Star Wars movie. But in the end I don’t think it is up to being a shooting script.
The parallels are absolutely there, but I don’t know if I can confidently say that TROS is a huge improvement. It definitely is in some areas while in others it’s a step backward from this early draft.
Finn obviously benefits the most from Trevorrow’s script, leading the revolution Victor Hugo style. You can see the parallel in TROS with him meeting Jana or whatever her name is, and the other defected storm troopers, but it’s so lukewarm and halfway. You never really feel as thought he inspires any kind of change.
Kylo really suffers the most in this early draft. His struggle is gone as he turns into a one-dimensional character of pure evil until the very end when the script requires an instantaneous change of heart. His redemption in TROS was abrupt as well, but at least it was triggered by an act of kindness and love. Him being the one that killed Rey’s parents is an interesting idea, but the way it’s handled in this draft doesn’t really add anything to the story. At the point in which it’s revealed, Rey already seems resolved against Kylo so I don’t see that it really serves any dramatic purpose.
Rey and Poe being an item is easily the worst thing in this draft. Yuck. Although when she insisted on going on her mission alone, I did like her use of the Jedi mind trick on Poe to get him to leave her and rejoin the resistance. It was an interesting use of the common trope that we haven’t really seen before. The mind trick not used to deceive an enemy, but used rather on a friend to protect him from himself. The idea has such dramatic potential (not fully realized in this script) that I’m surprised it’s never been used in a film before.
I liked Luke’s increased role in this script mostly as a sort of guiding force for both Rey and Kylo except for his final confrontation with Kylo. You want to talk about Luke being out of character. His momentary lapse in TLJ when he considers killing Kylo is nothing compared to the ending of this draft in which he completely condemns Kylo, rejecting him out of hand, “you are no Skywalker” or whatever it is he says. I hated that coming from Luke. It’s made all the more useless when Kylo has a change of heart 2 minutes later anyway.
Anyway, it was an interesting read. Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. I don’t think it’s better that TROS.