Star Wars

[chase210]

I've seen it twice now, without having seen any of the other 6 star movies yet, and the only star wars thing I've seen/played before was that early DS game, and I thought it was pretty great. I'm sure I'd have got a lot more of the call backs and references if I'd seen them, but what can you do.

[mikeleddy83]

Finally saw it tonight. A huge thanks to the internet on the whole (besides kotaku) for avoiding spoiling it. Loved it!

Nice to read all these juicy spoiler tags at last

Spoiler: show

sadly I'm going to be the one with nothing but praise for the movie, it had everything I wanted.

[ratsoalbion]

I'm currently really happy for, but also rather envious of, people who had that positive a response.

I'm going back to see it for a second time tomorrow. I certainly didn't adore it unreservedly the first time, so I'm hoping to find new things and fresh feelings the second.

[KissMammal]

Just out of interest, what were your issues first time round, Leon?

[ratsoalbion]

There were quite a few things that didn't sit right with me but many of them are nebulous and difficult to qualify (such as that the atmosphere felt off to me).
There was also much that I enjoyed too so I think I just need some time (and another viewing) for it to settle in, probably.

[DomsBeard]

Read the book on holiday and it is insinuated that

Spoiler: show

Kylo Ren/Snoke know who Rey really is

interesting they left that out of the film. Also it gave more context to the system that was destroyed by Starkiller Base

[ratsoalbion]

Rogue One trailer:
https://twitter.com/starwars/status/718043194378682373

Looks highly promising to me.

[Todinho]

I cant say I thought the trailer looked good but the movie itself looks interesting ,especially when you have Donnie Yen beating Stormtroopers with Kung Fu , definetly gonna watch it even though I think this is the beggining of Disney running Star Wars into ground by milking it as much as possible.

[DomsBeard]

I think the milking started long ago with all the Clone War stuff which I've totally ignored. My only concern is I hope Vader isn't in it bar a fleeting glance

[Todinho]

True but not in the movies and that's what really bothers to me,let's just say Im not looking foward to Star Wars movies start to come out at the same rate as Marvel movies

[JaySevenZero]

I loved the teaser trailer, great casting and a fascinating premise. It did exactly what it was meant to and now I'm excited for its release and I'm totally loving how Disney are handling the franchise.

[Suits]

Saw Rouge One on the weekend and I have to say, I was incredibly pleased with it.

Thought it was a great little movie for fans of the series.

[KissMammal]

Hate to be a downer, but though it passed the time reasonably well, Rogue One didn't really work for me and it's not a film I feel the need to ever revisit.

I think they made a good stab at it, and it had some neat visuals, but it just didn't really engage me on a plot or character level, and the film - as par for the course with a lot of these Disney movies - showed a lot of evidence of too many cooks; weird editing, awkwardly delivered exposition, inconsistent characterisation and very messy plotting. I also felt that I wasn't really seeing anything new on screen, and the fan-service - nods to the audience, cameos - just irritate and distract me more than anything.

I think The Force Awakens, which shared a lot of the same flaws, coasted on its good-natured humour and the sheer charisma and star power of it's impeccable cast. With Rogue One, not so much - in particular I thought Felicity Jones was very miscast and her character was very one-note and bland. I feel like the film needed a really scrappy, firey and engaging lead, and Jones wasn't really up to the task. Diego Luna, who I enjoyed in Y Tu Mama Tambien, was also surprisingly dour and unmemorable in this, and they seemed to be forcing a quasi-romantic bond between him and Jones towards the end of the movie that just seemed unearned, considering that they shared zero chemistry throughout and had just barely got over their mutual loathing of each other by that point.

They had a great supporting cast - real class acts like Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendlesohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelson et al, but they seemed to totally squander them imo. Mendlesohn's villain in particular was a very one-dimensional mustache-twirler, when the potential was there, given the story, to have a far more interesting, nuanced antagonist.

Ultimately I guess I didn't really get a enough of a sense of who these guys were, what was their life like immediately before these events, what their motivation was, stuff like that. There were a few expository lines to this effect thrown in here and there, but it didn't feel like enough to me. Seemed like they were telling us about the characters rather than showing us who they were, if that makes sense?

I think 'Men on a Mission' type movies in this mould live or die on two things; rigid, methodical plotting/structure and the camaraderie of the main cast, and I think this is where Rogue One fell down. Several among the crew - mainly the blind monk guy and the sarcastic robot - showed glimpses of a spark (and were by far the most memorable characters in the whole movie), but I think perhaps there wasn't enough downtime to see the guys interact and bounce off each other, and so they never felt like a cohesive unit to me. The pace is so relentless that there's just no time for them to bond or engage in a very memorable way. And when I don't really feel invested in the characters and their relationships, no amount of action and spectacle can really hold my attention. Everyone seemed to love the big finale of this movie, but if I'm honest, I found it all a little overlong and tedious, and at times very perfunctory and videogame-like in concept - for example, far too much of it revolved around the finding and operating of various buttons and keys and doors and whatnot, to the point where it became hard to keep up with - or care about - exactly who was trying to do what at any given time. I feel like it could have been a lot more streamlined.

[Todinho]

I saw the movie yesterday and I thought it was an incredibly mediocre movie until the climax when it turns into the best Star Wars movie ever XD. But yeah the characters and the story are pretty weak,especially the start,some of the characters are fun but they have no depth and the 2 leads had 0 chemistry and of course the villain is awfull because Disney doesnt seems to know how to make villains anymore especially when this movie had 2 other much better main villains potentially. One thing that really bothered me was the Score,it felt so outta place and wrong especially in some scenes and I think I hate the main theme of the movie. On the positive though the action scenes are breathtaking and I stand by what I say that this is the best climax that any star wars movie ever had barring Jedi,it's really well done and creative and especially one of the final scenes made the whole movie worth it for me,too bad that you have to sit through the other 2/3'ds of it to get to it.

[KissMammal]

To elaborate; in the original Star Wars (and strictly ignoring anything we later learn in sequels, spin-offs etc), we have a clear idea of what Luke thinks of Han. We know what Leia thinks about Luke. We know what Han feels about Obi Wan and 3PO, and vice versa. Though the characters themselves are little more than broad archetypes, there are clear cut dynamics between the members of this ragtag band, and emotions amongst them run the gamut between affection, attraction, admiration, respect, tenderness, playfulness, like and dislike, and all within very little screentime. We totally buy Luke's grief about Obi Wan's death despite the fact he has only known him - by the movie's logic - for a few days at most. In essence, there is drama.

In Rogue One - which if anything is even more of a team-based movie, could anyone really say what Jyn thinks about the blind guy? How the droid feels about Cassian? How Riz Ahmed's pilot feels about Jyn? It just feels comparatively devoid of character and emotion. There's just a big nothing where the heart of the movie should be, and so the climax of the movie - despite all the technical wizardry on display - feels dramatically inert, and thus boring to me.

it's really well done and creative

I'd say that while the action scenes are competently staged and are probably the film's strongest suit, the ending to me feels like a needless retread of the climax of Return of the Jedi. And I'd take issue with 'creative'. For example, they had an opportunity there to introduce a brand new threat, something we have never seen in a Star Wars movie before, maybe something the team's plan had not accounted for (again, adding drama). Instead, nah, it's just the AT-ATs from Empire Strikes Back again. Remember those?!?!?. They were cool, weren't they?

[ratsoalbion]

I actually concur with many of your criticisms KM, however these aspects weren't enough to spoil it for me and I still had a blast watching it overall.

Reservations aside, after one viewing I feel happier with this one than with EVII (which I've seen three times and own the BR).

Looking forward to seeing it again in the new year.

[Todinho]

I'd say that while the action scenes are competently staged and are probably the film's strongest suit, the ending to me feels like a needless retread of the climax of Return of the Jedi. And I'd take issue with 'creative'. For example, they had an opportunity there to introduce a brand new threat, something we have never seen in a Star Wars movie before, maybe something the team's plan had not accounted for (again, adding drama). Instead, nah, it's just the AT-ATs from Empire Strikes Back again. Remember those?!?!?. They were cool, weren't they?

I see what you're saying and I do think the filme has too much of the whole "hey remember that old thing that you like,well here it is again!" But what I really liked about the action and what I mean by creative is that even though there is a space battle,a battle on the ground with At-At's,etc. They are able to use those in new ways,for example what they do with the death star,it's literally the same thing from and old movie but it's being used in a new interesting way,they fully utilize all the rebel ships in their different functions,the ground combat is way more dynamic and that last action scene at the very end is something that we always wanted to see but that the original movies couldnt do. I think Im more forgiving of this movie reusing older elements more because timelinewise it happens just before New Hope so it makes sense that the elements would be more similar to the ones in the original trilogy,unlik Force Awakens where I thought the recycling of concepts was way too much even if it was like many say "deliberate".

[ratsoalbion]

What I find ironic is that if you dig out some of the many negative reviews of Star Wars from 1977, you'll find many of the exact same criticisms (limp script, thin characterisation obscured by the breakneck pace and an over-reliance on set pieces and special effects) aimed today at Rogue One levelled by critics at that movie back in the day.

[ratsoalbion]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmbl ... ?CMP=fb_gu

[Joshihatsumitsu]

What I find ironic is that if you dig out some of the many negative reviews of Star Wars from 1977, you'll find many of the exact same criticisms (limp script, thin characterisation obscured by the breakneck pace and an over-reliance on set pieces and special effects) aimed today at Rogue One levelled by critics at that movie back in the day.

That is very true. Star Wars, along with Jaws, was really the birth of the modern summer blockbuster, not really designed with critics in mind.

I have not seen Rogue One yet. Having spent my late teens/early twenties suffering through the prequel trilogy, I learnt to be careful of what you wish for, because we certainly got it. Jesus...

My adult self doesnt put the Star Wars franchise on a pedal a the way much younger me would have, and that's okay. Episode 7 was alright, and I'm sure I'll stumble across Rogue One in time... it's just not high priority anymore. it might be high priority for younger me though.