Rogue One
That was fucking awesome.
This was such a satisfying movie for me on so many levels. As I was telling killabeez, I'm a SW movie fan, first and foremost; the cartoon shows and the canon tie-ins aren't that interesting to me. And this movie was a seamless addition to the movie canon, full of delicious treats for fans like me who love continuity and symmetry and tributes to our fannish history. The thing I always loved about the original SW trilogy, that 'dirty future' thing where it all feels like it's a real place and you can go there, is pervasive in this movie. It's so wonderful. Every detail is right. It's brilliant.
For me this is the story that the original Star Wars could never be - it's the story of the people who fight and die for a cause. It's the story of Han and Leia, if that story was real; at the end, I started to cry, thinking about how it took that kind of reality 30 years to catch up with Han, and when it did, it was just a plot point. Rogue One feels like it's grounded in the reality of war, and that gave it such depth and grounding. Everyone dies. No one lives to tell the tale. Because it's a self-contained story, the stakes could afford to be very high, and I connected with the characters just enough to be able to mourn them all.
WHERE TO EVEN START. How about the fact that we live in a magical time, where Peter Cushing can be resurrected from the grave to play Grand Moff Tarkin once more? And not just in one scene, either. He's a playa! OMG! I had an extended jaw-drop moment when I saw it, and honestly, I talked to one Millenial-type person outside the theater who did not realize that was not a living actor. WTF. (Tho I suspect there is a body and voice double doing some work there, too.) That speaks to its genius. The reason this movie is seamless is because it's the story behind the story - and the fact that it segues from the story we didn't know, to the story we did, without even so much as a blip -- COMPLETE PERFECTION.
VADER! VAAAAAAAAAAAAAADER!!!!! The audience broke into cheers and applause when Vader goes on his little murder binge. Uh, perhaps not the right reaction, but damn, everyone was so happy to see him at peak murderbot! But I was completely distracted by the fact that his mask and armor plate were more or less exactly right in terms of matching Star Wars, down to his red-tinged eyes. HIS RED EYE THINGIES!!!! Also I was flipping the fuck out that he has a palace on the lava planet. What the hell is the name of that planet. Mustafar? WHATEVER, OMG HE DECIDED TO LIVE IN THE PLACE WHERE OBI-WAN CUT HIS LIMBS OFF, kill me now. Is he waiting for his former master to come and kiss it better?????? WHAT EVEN IS THAT. And we got to see him in a bacta tank, but here's my question - why is he still hanging out in bacta this many years after he got fried like crispy chicken?? SO MANY QUESTIONS, I don't care about any of the answers because VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! James Earl Jones, thank god you are still alive, some things CGI cannot fix.
TINY YOUNG LEIA! THREEPIO AND ARTOO! These things were good! Especially because they, along with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and a few others created the bridge from the prequels to the OT. Also good, the dude with the weird nose and his friend that harassed Luke in the Tatooine cantina, before Obi-Wan put an end to that. *g* So many easter eggs, aaaaaaaaaaah.
GUESS WHAT THO. GUESS WHAT. I'm pretty sure the leader pilots in Red and Gold squadron were the original pilots from Red and Gold squadrons in SW!!! I'm going to go online in a second and confirm that, but I believe it's them! This movie is the best. I'm not sure how they did that.
OK, on to the new guys whose names I have no idea about except for Jyn and Galen Erso. I like Jyn because she just kicks ass now, asks questions later. Or not at all, ever. Heh. Her character was amazing, as was her dad. Mads Mikkelsen is having a great year, may it long continue. I loved every one of the rebels, tho I have a special joy in my heart for Riz Ahmed. The biggest surprise for me was Donnie Yen as the guardian of the ransacked temple, and his protector-friend, who were the most glorious hardcore battle bromance. One followed the other into death! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
But my favorite, without a doubt, is the scary Imperial droid without a circuits-speaker filter. K-2SO, I salute you; you have taken Threepio's odds-crunching and bad feelings and turned them into sarcasm and the robot equivalent of suspiciously narrowed eyes. Amazing.
I also loved Ben Mendelsohn in his role - a new villain to despise, w00t! - and I loved the overall feel of the movie in terms of how much more of the Empire we get to see, and what daily life is like on the occupied worlds. The broadening of those horizons felt like the best kind of visual fanfic there ever could be.
And that ending! That perfect, perfect, perfectly perfect ending!! SO PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is my biggest wish for Episode XIII: I have already said I expect to see Luke communing with blue ghosts in the Jedi Temple - Yoda for sure, and possibly Mace and Qui-Gon, too. But it just doesn't work if we can't get Obi-Wan back as Luke knew and remembered him. And if they can do it with Peter Cushing, they can sure as hell resurrect Sir Alec for a few lines. GIVE IT TO ME.
Thank you, thank you Disney for wrestling Lucasfilm away from George Lucas so we could have nice things again!!!!
This was such a satisfying movie for me on so many levels. As I was telling killabeez, I'm a SW movie fan, first and foremost; the cartoon shows and the canon tie-ins aren't that interesting to me. And this movie was a seamless addition to the movie canon, full of delicious treats for fans like me who love continuity and symmetry and tributes to our fannish history. The thing I always loved about the original SW trilogy, that 'dirty future' thing where it all feels like it's a real place and you can go there, is pervasive in this movie. It's so wonderful. Every detail is right. It's brilliant.
For me this is the story that the original Star Wars could never be - it's the story of the people who fight and die for a cause. It's the story of Han and Leia, if that story was real; at the end, I started to cry, thinking about how it took that kind of reality 30 years to catch up with Han, and when it did, it was just a plot point. Rogue One feels like it's grounded in the reality of war, and that gave it such depth and grounding. Everyone dies. No one lives to tell the tale. Because it's a self-contained story, the stakes could afford to be very high, and I connected with the characters just enough to be able to mourn them all.
WHERE TO EVEN START. How about the fact that we live in a magical time, where Peter Cushing can be resurrected from the grave to play Grand Moff Tarkin once more? And not just in one scene, either. He's a playa! OMG! I had an extended jaw-drop moment when I saw it, and honestly, I talked to one Millenial-type person outside the theater who did not realize that was not a living actor. WTF. (Tho I suspect there is a body and voice double doing some work there, too.) That speaks to its genius. The reason this movie is seamless is because it's the story behind the story - and the fact that it segues from the story we didn't know, to the story we did, without even so much as a blip -- COMPLETE PERFECTION.
VADER! VAAAAAAAAAAAAAADER!!!!! The audience broke into cheers and applause when Vader goes on his little murder binge. Uh, perhaps not the right reaction, but damn, everyone was so happy to see him at peak murderbot! But I was completely distracted by the fact that his mask and armor plate were more or less exactly right in terms of matching Star Wars, down to his red-tinged eyes. HIS RED EYE THINGIES!!!! Also I was flipping the fuck out that he has a palace on the lava planet. What the hell is the name of that planet. Mustafar? WHATEVER, OMG HE DECIDED TO LIVE IN THE PLACE WHERE OBI-WAN CUT HIS LIMBS OFF, kill me now. Is he waiting for his former master to come and kiss it better?????? WHAT EVEN IS THAT. And we got to see him in a bacta tank, but here's my question - why is he still hanging out in bacta this many years after he got fried like crispy chicken?? SO MANY QUESTIONS, I don't care about any of the answers because VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! James Earl Jones, thank god you are still alive, some things CGI cannot fix.
TINY YOUNG LEIA! THREEPIO AND ARTOO! These things were good! Especially because they, along with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and a few others created the bridge from the prequels to the OT. Also good, the dude with the weird nose and his friend that harassed Luke in the Tatooine cantina, before Obi-Wan put an end to that. *g* So many easter eggs, aaaaaaaaaaah.
GUESS WHAT THO. GUESS WHAT. I'm pretty sure the leader pilots in Red and Gold squadron were the original pilots from Red and Gold squadrons in SW!!! I'm going to go online in a second and confirm that, but I believe it's them! This movie is the best. I'm not sure how they did that.
OK, on to the new guys whose names I have no idea about except for Jyn and Galen Erso. I like Jyn because she just kicks ass now, asks questions later. Or not at all, ever. Heh. Her character was amazing, as was her dad. Mads Mikkelsen is having a great year, may it long continue. I loved every one of the rebels, tho I have a special joy in my heart for Riz Ahmed. The biggest surprise for me was Donnie Yen as the guardian of the ransacked temple, and his protector-friend, who were the most glorious hardcore battle bromance. One followed the other into death! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
But my favorite, without a doubt, is the scary Imperial droid without a circuits-speaker filter. K-2SO, I salute you; you have taken Threepio's odds-crunching and bad feelings and turned them into sarcasm and the robot equivalent of suspiciously narrowed eyes. Amazing.
I also loved Ben Mendelsohn in his role - a new villain to despise, w00t! - and I loved the overall feel of the movie in terms of how much more of the Empire we get to see, and what daily life is like on the occupied worlds. The broadening of those horizons felt like the best kind of visual fanfic there ever could be.
And that ending! That perfect, perfect, perfectly perfect ending!! SO PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is my biggest wish for Episode XIII: I have already said I expect to see Luke communing with blue ghosts in the Jedi Temple - Yoda for sure, and possibly Mace and Qui-Gon, too. But it just doesn't work if we can't get Obi-Wan back as Luke knew and remembered him. And if they can do it with Peter Cushing, they can sure as hell resurrect Sir Alec for a few lines. GIVE IT TO ME.
Thank you, thank you Disney for wrestling Lucasfilm away from George Lucas so we could have nice things again!!!!