I hear what you're saying and I understand what you mean, but from a film history point of view I would have to disagree. Age has a lot to do with the Spielberg aura. If you want to start comparing someone to Spielberg you cannot ignore that part of what makes Spielberg "Spielberg" was that he was a "wunderkind." He did not start his career spending ten years working his way up as a screenwriter. He was a director from his very first job, and by his mid-twenties put Hollywood on its ear and helped to invent (along with his buddy Lucas) the current Hollywood paradigm of a "blockbuster" movie and the whole opening weekend box office obsession. He has spent his career creating and starting film franchises, not adding to them. No offense to J.J. but he is not reinventing anything but an existing film franchise (from the reviews apparently doing it really well) but he is hardly a new cinematic voice or someone who will re-invent Hollywood in the manner of Spielberg. Really, it's impossible to make such statements anyway. Was Beethoven the new Mozart? Not even close. Their careers and legacies were very different. Was he as good? In many ways, yes, but not so in many other ways. Okay, I am making a mountain out of a mole hill, but I thought it would be interesting to discuss.
Maybe J.J. will be the next David Lean. :confused
