movie thoughts: Rogue One (2016)
"This is a rebellion. I rebel" says Jyn Erso in the Rogue One trailer.
Except she doesn't say this in the movie. In fact, a lot of things shown and said in the trailers for Rogue One never made it to the big screen. (for an in-depth look at the movie that wasn't, check out this great Slashfilm article)
I will say that this is the BEST of the Star Wars prequel films. I would not rank it anywhere with the classic trilogy and I still found Force Awakens more fun and engaging.
Okay, first let's start with the positive:
Things that bugged me:
I think the most frustrating thing for me is that I could see where the edits could have been made to create more time for the story that we should have been told. The first 30 minutes of the film are filled with planet hopping that did not need to happen. The strange plot with Tarkin and Krennic was just dead weight that dragged down the film with office politics that I did not care about. I would rather have had more of Erso and Krennic. Clearly they were close, when did Erso have a change of heart? Why didn't Krennic? Why was Erso hiding on a planet?
I didn't hate it, I enjoyed the movie for the most part. I'd rather watch it than AoTC again. I think it is cool that they made a Star Wars movie that didn't rely on a sequel or Jedi. But there was a lot of potential for this film to be much more than it was but I think they were distracted by the same things that got Lucas during the prequels - the ability to use CGI in new ways. If they had focused less on that and more on the real people and their stories, Rogue One could have been a much stronger film.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Except she doesn't say this in the movie. In fact, a lot of things shown and said in the trailers for Rogue One never made it to the big screen. (for an in-depth look at the movie that wasn't, check out this great Slashfilm article)
I will say that this is the BEST of the Star Wars prequel films. I would not rank it anywhere with the classic trilogy and I still found Force Awakens more fun and engaging.
Okay, first let's start with the positive:
- I loved that we have another strong female lead in the Star Wars universe and she was an action hero.
- I loved the diversity of the cast, that they all had their accents, and that no one turned out to be secretly evil
- K-2SO aka Alan Tudyk aka THIS MAN <3 <3 <3
- Showing the shades of gray that comes with a real rebellion. While our two trilogies focus on Good vs Evil, with very clear lines, Rogue One is about the boots on the ground, the little people fighting the impossible battles, the footnotes in every history book. Even in a fictional universe, it is good to tell their story to remind us of the real people who gave their lives for causes
Things that bugged me:
- CGI Tarkin, CGI Leia -- GROSS! CREEPY! And totally unnecessary for the plot. VERY distracting because
- The above PLUS 3PO, R2, Darth Vader, X-Wing pilot insert shots pulled me out of the movie I was watching. The scenes with these characters did nothing to move the plot forward and were more confusing than anything else. THEY MADE NO SENSE! Why would Leia's cruiser have even been at the battle??? Why were the droids on Yavin already?? VADER DOES NOT PUN!
- Lack of any kind of character development. Even Jyn's character is just a brief description - orphan girl raised by extremist who gets arrested a lot?
I think the most frustrating thing for me is that I could see where the edits could have been made to create more time for the story that we should have been told. The first 30 minutes of the film are filled with planet hopping that did not need to happen. The strange plot with Tarkin and Krennic was just dead weight that dragged down the film with office politics that I did not care about. I would rather have had more of Erso and Krennic. Clearly they were close, when did Erso have a change of heart? Why didn't Krennic? Why was Erso hiding on a planet?
I didn't hate it, I enjoyed the movie for the most part. I'd rather watch it than AoTC again. I think it is cool that they made a Star Wars movie that didn't rely on a sequel or Jedi. But there was a lot of potential for this film to be much more than it was but I think they were distracted by the same things that got Lucas during the prequels - the ability to use CGI in new ways. If they had focused less on that and more on the real people and their stories, Rogue One could have been a much stronger film.
3.5 out of 5 stars