Star Wars: Rogue One

[anticlimatic]

Kind of looks like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Star Wars Edition. Might be good, might be forgettable, but I fucking love Ben Mendelsohn.

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, they pulled it off.

the movie is not without its flaws, but it has something real at the heart of it. It's also rawer and grittier -- no more of Lucas' "untarnished good guys" or necessarily lovable rogues. I mean, the guys are still likable on some level, but they do some really terrible things along at the way, as much as PG-13 movie will allow them. I was kind of shocked by one early event (at least for a Star Wars franchise pic)... this is not necessarily white-hat / black-hat, and to win, the Alliance might have to resort to deeds you won't see on any rebel recruitment material. It was also nice to see that some of the clumsier lines from the trailers, when placed back in their proper context (versus being edited together erroneously) make a little more sense.

Why are the robots usually some of the more endearing fan faves? Alan Tudyk as K-2SO follows in the line of the more acerbic droids and fits neatly between C3PO and HK-47 in terms of depressing overanalysis and humorous misanthropy. Despite his rough edges, he has moments of nobility rivaling anything from the organic lifeform crew.

Everyone is at least solid, and some are quite good (Mikkelsen, Jones); even Mendelsohn, who was told to chew up the scenery, does so appropriately and is amusing and a little scary in zealotry. At least two characters show up digitally, one for extended scenes.

Some people will get a kick out of the third act. It's a great third act including a spectacle or two I don't think we've seen in a Star Wars movie before. The X-Wing fights might seem familiar but are more polished. You guys are already know the big Darth makes an appearance, in the familiar black armor; but he always seemed bit clumsy in the original trilogy, and we only catch a tottering glimpse in Revenge of the Sith. This is the first "modern" franchise film where he's shown up and he's pretty terrifying in at least one sequence.

I'm not gonna lie, the movie pretty much goes as expected. What is in its favor is that it really hurts when you know it's going there; the film does its job. It moved me to tears on three separate scenes.

Giacchino's score isn't bad but it's not as memorable as Williams' unfortunately. It cribs some of his themes purposefully, but I can't really recall much... except for the very tail of the end credits. It's functional but isn't something that will stick in the mind like his "Incredibles" score. I don't think I heard the motifs I enjoyed from the trailers.

Anyway, it's smaller in scope than TFA but is tighter, feels more realistic, and is in the top few SW movies to come out... mainly thanks to Jones (she provides the human core), a script that provides reasonable motivations, and a narrative that basically works. I really like how it provides a lot more context for the original Star Wars movie, whether we're talking about the Death Star flaws, the Empires plan's, or how the Alliance was functioning internally. I think I like it better than TFA, but I've always favored a bit more darkness/bittersweetness in my movies. (Still looking forward to Rian Johnson's efforts next Christmas, in that regard.)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I thought the final battle was epic and pretty ballsy. Also I actually thought

CG Tarkin and Leia were pretty good.

Looking forward to more Star Wars movies like this. And yeah, I thought the score did a good job at referencing William's score in places but it wasn't as memorable. The score is probably the weakest part of the movie.

 

[Totenkindly]

I thought the final battle was epic and pretty ballsy. Also I actually thought

CG Tarkin and Leia were pretty good.

Looking forward to more Star Wars movies like this. And yeah, I thought the score did a good job at referencing William's score in places but it wasn't as memorable. The score is probably the weakest part of the movie.

About the spoiler:

They did a really great job with Tarkin. The voice wasn't QUITE perfect, and since I knew he was CGI I could see a slight difference in the detail level.... but damn. You can see how far it has come since Gladiator or even Tron Legacy -- the latter was impressive but you could still recognize it as CGI. They really gave some clear close-ups of his face when appropriate and it's hard to tell it's not actually Cushing in the flesh.

Leia looked great, but I didn't really care for her just saying "hope" -- it felt kind of tagged on by the studio or something, and didn't have the weight of just watching the entire cast sacrifice their lives. It felt kind of flaky, then going right on to the cheery Star Wars theme. I really liked the little tag after the fanfare echoes faded... it tied back to the actual tone of the movie.

Darth Vader was NOT cgi -- since you never see his face, you can just stick another guy in the suit and dub JEJ over top -- but damn, that was terrifying when he just cut through the entire squadron in the hall. I knew they'd have to pass the plans through the gap in the door and they'd all die, but that was brutal. NOW we see why everyone was terrified of Vader.

Also, Imwe and Malbus:

Pretty sure they are a gay couple, although they never just come out and say it. But there is stuff there, especially at the end, that is typically reserved for the emotional arcs of het couples, not friends. Heartbreaking bit there. But Star Wars....finally creating subtext. Whoa.

 

[Totenkindly]

The Soundtrack release is missing the End Credits. WTF is that about?

 

[Mal12345]

I thought the final battle was epic and pretty ballsy. Also I actually thought

CG Tarkin and Leia were pretty good.

That's not a spoiler. Also, CG Tarkin was awesometacular. CG Leia was, eh... kind of fat looking or something compared to the original. I'm not sure, but she was off her diet maybe.

 

[Mal12345]

Also, Imwe and Malbus:

Pretty sure they are a gay couple, although they never just come out and say it. But there is stuff there, especially at the end, that is typically reserved for the emotional arcs of het couples, not friends. Heartbreaking bit there. But Star Wars....finally creating subtext. Whoa.

Hollywood gayness these day is Awesometacular!

 

[highlander]

I have to say that I wasn't that crazy about it. I liked many of the other Star Wars movies more. The character development just wasn't quite the same as the other movies.

 

[Totenkindly]

How so? I don't think star wars is known for character development, most are just archetypes.

Example: what is princess leia's favorite color? Hated food? Deepest fear? Fondest childhood memory? We know nothing about her. She's mainly an archetype, despite being in four movies.

 

[Totenkindly]

That's not a spoiler. Also, CG Tarkin was awesometacular. CG Leia was, eh... kind of fat looking or something compared to the original. I'm not sure, but she was off her diet maybe.

There's Mal, keeping it classy!

 

[highlander]

How so? I don't think star wars is known for character development, most are just archetypes.

Example: what is princess leia's favorite color? Hated food? Deepest fear? Fondest childhood memory? We know nothing about her. She's mainly an archetype, despite being in four movies.

Maybe I just didn't feel like any of the characters made an impression on me. It's hard to explain. I didn't like them or dislike them. They were just there.

 

[Mal12345]

How so? I don't think star wars is known for character development, most are just archetypes.

Example: what is princess leia's favorite color? Hated food? Deepest fear? Fondest childhood memory? We know nothing about her. She's mainly an archetype, despite being in four movies.

Consider other characters - such as Luke Skywalker. Did his character develop through 3 movies or not?

 

[Totenkindly]

Consider other characters - such as Luke Skywalker. Did his character develop through 3 movies or not?

Not much. He remained pretty archetypical at best.

Also, why give certain characters 3-4 movies to "develop" when comparing to characters from one movie? Compare one movie to one movie to see if the dev was comparable.

There was a bit of nuance to Han and Rey in TFA, at least, moreso than any of the SW movies.

 

[highlander]

The other thing I didn't like was their decision to make this movie when the logical thing to do would have been to make the next one in time sequence. I wanted to see the interaction between Luke and Rey and what happened next. That has been a big part of the appeal of the series. Instead, they had a completely new cast of characters. I was open to the idea of a movie that was not in sequence but in the end, it just didn't do it for me. And the old characters popping in? They looked funny - kind of creepy.

 

[Mal12345]

Not much. He remained pretty archetypical at best.

Also, why give certain characters 3-4 movies to "develop" when comparing to characters from one movie? Compare one movie to one movie to see if the dev was comparable.

There was a bit of nuance to Han and Rey in TFA, at least, moreso than any of the SW movies.

Ok, how about Darth Vader through the same three movies?

 

[Ursa]

The other thing I didn't like was their decision to make this movie when the logical thing to do would have been to make the next one in time sequence. I wanted to see the interaction between Luke and Rey and what happened next. That has been a big part of the appeal of the series. Instead, they had a completely new cast of characters. I was open to the idea of a movie that was not in sequence but in the end, it just didn't do it for me. And the old characters popping in? They looked funny - kind of creepy.

I was disappointed to see yet another Death Star plot. There were two Death Stars in the original trilogy, and Starkiller Base was a Death Star in essence. The Star Wars universe is rife with possibilites, and at the very least the writers should have chosen to explore something new and fresh.

 

[highlander]

I was disappointed to see yet another Death Star plot. There were two Death Stars in the original trilogy, and Starkiller Base was a Death Star in essence. The Star Wars universe is rife with possibilites, and at the very least the writers should have chosen to explore something new and fresh.

I thought the same thing. A lot of people liked it though. It's getting 90% on Rotton Tomatoes.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Most people want variations on a successful theme

 

[Totenkindly]

well, the concept for this story has been around a LONG time -- the stealing of the Death Star plans -- and fans wanted to see a movie about it and the concept has been explored in fan fic, video games, etc. This story was always about the Death Star plans, it's not like it was conceived regarding something else.

What they should have not done was put a Death Star in "Return of the Jedi" and a Death Star wannabe in TFA. There really should have been a Death Star only in Star Wars: A New Hope and this movie. If we ever see a Death Star again, it will be too soon.

 

[Totenkindly]

As people probably noticed, a number of prominent scenes in the trailers never made the movie. It looks like they might have changed the ending about how the plans were smuggled out; they also might have done that whole tag-on ending of Vader showing his mad sith skillz (which was kind of cool) + the final few seconds of the movie (which I had mixed feelings on as noted earlier). It would be interesting to see an exact list of what was changed with the reshoots that were done in regards for story (versus production issues), I have a feeling there were both good and bad changes made with the studio's involvement.