Rogue One Feelings? Here’s Your New Star Wars Spoiler Thread!
Hey, I actually remembered to put up the open thread for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story spoilers on opening day! Dive in if you’ve seen the film already and want a safe spot to discuss!
FULL SPOILERS FOR ROGUE ONE TO FOLLOW AFTER THESE GIFS OF MADS MIKKELSEN WITH A LIGHTSABER (via reddit)
Mesmerizing, isn’t it?
Going to have some first impressions going up at Uproxx on Monday [Edit: here that is!] as part of a big geek group chat but…I liked it. I have problems with it though, mainly it’s lack of character development for anyone and lack of women actually doing things. But they gutted me at the end. K-S2O was the best, Chirrut and Baze are totally a couple, and the world is not ready for CGI actors.
Go forth! Discuss! I’m sure I’ll have more to say upon my second viewing this weekend…
[…] Note: If you have seen Rogue One, check out our spoiler thread to talk with other fans about […]
[…] Rogue One spoilers? I guess? [Editor’s Note: Don’t forget about our open spoiler thread for the film here.] […]
How did R2 and C3PO get from Yavin to the ship with Leia? The Rebel fleet was already airborne when we saw them on the ground…
Not to mention the Walrus-man and his life-partner who got out of the city in the few minutes before it blew to bits and went straight to Mos Eisley somehow.
I loved it. It was exactly everything I wanted.
Except for Tarkin and the uncanny valley. Yeaaaahhhhh….
But everybody in the theater who didn’t notice he was CGI didn’t feel the effect, so… yay?
I think we were all a little unprepared for just how “stand alone? it would be. The movie is almost completely insular, aside from a few glaring cameos. I think it’s wonderful that they’re expanding the brand (it reminds me of these Clone Wars novels I read that were about ground medics in one particular far flung and unimportant campaign) and I do hope that we’ll get to see some Star Wars Tales that feel like they can stand on their own without a Skywalker in sight…but I don’t think this one is it. And it literally isn’t since Darth Vader is in it.
If you cut Vader, the droids, Tarkin, and Leia…or, better yet, just made Krenic into Tarkin since he’s playing the same freaking dude and they recast Mon Mothma, so…
It just wasn’t my cuppa.
The Mon Mothma from Rogue One is the same woman from the cut scenes in the prequels.
True story.
Considering the end, I didn’t mind the lack of character development. I mean, it’s a war film. How many of the soldiers in The Dirty Dozen did you really get to know? Can you tell me Vin Diesel’s character’s backstory from Saving Private Ryan?
All were interesting to look at and gave us the jist of their motivation, Jyn was the central character and gave us the family resonance we needed for connection and a nice character arc from someone who didn’t care to someone who finally finds a purpose.
As to the cgi people. They should have gotten Blur Studios (the makers of The Old Republic mmo game’s intro scenes) to do it, or Weta.
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/is-a-star-wars-story-rogue-one-derful/
https://mattthecatania.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/mrbcw1481891868.png?w=1200&h=600
I couldn’t quite get emotionally invested in the characters. That just made the movie’s very big flaws even more visible to me. There were a lot of choices and missteps and I find myself second-guessing most of them. I can forgive a lot when I’m totally won over by the characters, even to the point to rank TFA my favorite SW film (yes, even over 5). Without that connection, though, I just… meh. Middle of the road. The last time I was rooting for a movie with full support and open eyes and found wanting and not invested in the characters even in their most dire moments… was Harry Potter 6.
And speaking of that… Governor Dobby and Princess Pointless pulled me out of the movie extremely hard each time they showed up.
Honestly I kind of found myself not caring. None of the characters were likable enough, plus I’d already figured they’d all be dead at the end. K-2SO was probably the best, but even he didn’t have much personality. I dunno, it’ll probably be better when I rewatch it and know what to expect.
Production-wise I liked some of the attention to details, like the red in Vader’s eyes, but I don’t know–it kind of felt like we were seeing a guy in a Darth Vader costume, not Vader himself. Tarkin and Leia were a huge mistake. I was honestly cringing at that big, supposedly cheer-inducing final shot. Should have been backs, reflections, and holograms of them at best.
And it’s “great” to see we’re keeping the Force Awakens tradition alive by adding unnecessary callbacks (the cantina guys wanted on twelve systems) and reusing stuff created for the originals but that didn’t make it into the movie–in this case Vader’s castle and a reference to the Whills. Is it hypocrisy when I love obscure references in a Marvel movie and think it’s cheesy in Star Wars? Probably. Do I care? http://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20151110/rs_500x271-151210142329-500-han-solo-shrug-star-wars-120315.gif
Reminds me–was Jyn’s mother a jedi? She seemed to be wearing jedi robes so I figured the director guy was hunting her at first, but then no one said anything about it and she ended up using a blaster instead of a lightsaber.
I think she was just a Jedi wannabe like Chirrut Imwe.
PISH POSH.
I love that we’re getting non-Jedi Force sensitives. I hate the idea that there’s ONE correct religious order and the allegory holds up better if there are multiple sects.
IIRC, the reason there are no other sects than the Jedi Knights is that the Jedi Knights crushed the rest of them. It was their way or the highway.
Damned intergalactic crusades!
Not wannabe, cos-player.
I loved it but yeah, the first two acts are certainly mired by lack of character development and some wonky af editing and dialogue. Plus, CGI Tarkin wants me to go back to church for some spiritual cleansing after than visual encounter.
That said, I still believe that these are minor concerns to me personally because 1) we do get some great performances and 2) Gareth Edwards has strong control over tone (i.e., the desperation of the Rebels’ struggle, esp. the “grunts/soldiers” who are the unsung heroes within the Star Wars mythos) and 3) the final act is prob the best final act I’ve seen in a SW film with regards to both visual spectacle and emotional weight. Would have an extra 15 min. fleshing out the characters in the first act def elevate that impact? Absolutely! But I don’t think it undermines the final act in any way either.
That said, 3.25 stars out of 4. I don’t really like comparing this to TFA (they succeed and falter for diff. reasons IMO), but I will admit that I do find Rogue One’s thematic layers a tad bit more interesting of the two.
Let the force be with you!
“CGI Tarkin wants me to go back to church for some spiritual cleansing after that unholy visual encounter.” YES THIS
I do feel that there was an interesting theme that got buried under inconsequentials, cameos, and some odd editing and plot choices. There was a great potential theme of the Rebellion confronting its own dark side and wrestling with what actions it’s willing to take vs. the high road. I think if that had maintained a strong throughline and sharper focus, this film could have been salvaged from “passable.”
It definitely feels like the Marvelization of Star Wars, where there’s lots of strong points but the heavy hand of “movie-by-committee” is felt. If I had to rank it, I’d probably give it a 2/4 stars, but I’m holding off a bit longer until I see it a second time in the coming weeks.
You gotta knock off at least one point from ANY rating system just for the terrifying doll’s eyes and weird floaty lightness of the CG cameo characters.
Yeah, Tarkin and Leia were the worst glaring flaws of the film. There were lots of other flaws too, and they would have been easier to forgive (just like all the flaws in TFA) if I’d had an emotional connection and investment in the characters (like I did in TFA!). Gareth Edwards’ characters in his Godzilla film also had the same problem for me.