5 Ways Ridley Scott Is The New George Lucas

Even outside of the prequels, George Lucas has attracted criticism that his characters feel icy and two-dimensional. Indeed, actors who have worked with him note his lack of direction and general articulation with them. Particularly with the prequels, his mind was more focused on the CG worlds he was creating, rather than on the inhabitants themselves.

Also a very technically minded director, Scott has admitted that he does not spend time “spoon-feeding” his actors, preferring to stay behind the camera and devote attention to the visuals. To some, this has also given credence to the accusation that his films have bland performances and/or characterisation, and are generally emotionally cold.

It’s not a ubiquitous problem in Scott’s filmography, but the criticism has repeatedly surfaced in various reviews of his more recent work. Robin Hood, Prometheus and Exodus: Gods & Kings all arguably shared similar uses of stony characters and rare instances of levity.

To a degree of course, it depends heavily on the screenwriter (Lucas writes all of his movies) and Scott’s films are probably only as emotionally rich as the scripts he adapts. This ties in with criticism of his working director mentality: his filmography lacks much sense of a personal stamp.