SW Rogue One
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I believe critics as much as I do politicians.
There have been too many movies I've seen and enjoyed that critics didn't particularly like.
There have been too many movies I've seen and enjoyed that critics didn't particularly like.
It's a solid "B". I found the film a bit of a mixed bag. One the plus side, the "StarWars" aesthetic is faithfully captured, the battle sequences are absolutely first rate, well realized, well choreographed and fun to watch. So if you're there for kabooms, ships exploding, bodies flying, stoic heroics in the face of hopeless odds, evil villains, and epic sweep then this latest addition to the StarWars franchise will satisfy immensely.
Where it doesn't deliver is the sort of elan that marked the original three, that smart aleck banter that Lawrence Kasdan brought to the world. The dialogue is efficient and not much more. When the droid has the best lines, the script isn't firing on all cylinders. The opening is disjointed. Better film makers could have portrayed the lead character's history and development through a brief montage, rather than leaving a gaping hole that is not patched by a few lines of dialogue. Tropes abound, like the blind kung-fu master. Star actors come and go without doing more than appearing, their parts so undeveloped that they need not have appeared at all. And we have one long dead actor, Peter Cushing, who is portrayed via digital head stitched to a stand-in body, which fails to exit "uncanny valley" glassy eyes, rubbery movement despite face capture, looking like a refugee from a video game. But as the live actors aren't given much more to do, their performances aren't all that different from the dead ones. They dutifully run through their paces in service of the plot twists.
This film is thoroughly successful from the standpoint of mechanics, but lacks any real heart. It's highly competent but lacks inspiration and imagination. It's a first rate theme park ride.
Where it doesn't deliver is the sort of elan that marked the original three, that smart aleck banter that Lawrence Kasdan brought to the world. The dialogue is efficient and not much more. When the droid has the best lines, the script isn't firing on all cylinders. The opening is disjointed. Better film makers could have portrayed the lead character's history and development through a brief montage, rather than leaving a gaping hole that is not patched by a few lines of dialogue. Tropes abound, like the blind kung-fu master. Star actors come and go without doing more than appearing, their parts so undeveloped that they need not have appeared at all. And we have one long dead actor, Peter Cushing, who is portrayed via digital head stitched to a stand-in body, which fails to exit "uncanny valley" glassy eyes, rubbery movement despite face capture, looking like a refugee from a video game. But as the live actors aren't given much more to do, their performances aren't all that different from the dead ones. They dutifully run through their paces in service of the plot twists.
This film is thoroughly successful from the standpoint of mechanics, but lacks any real heart. It's highly competent but lacks inspiration and imagination. It's a first rate theme park ride.
No plans to watch it, but after the disaster I saw in the early 00s, my view is that the franchise should have ended after the first movie back in 1976.
Say what you will; the two new films are *MILES* above the utter drivel Lucas spit at us 1999-2005. Big time.
Bad reviews means possible awesome gem.
This is all opinion, mine being Episode 1-3 are great, the Original Trilogy created an atmosphere where we are still in a post Star Wars period with filmmaking. Yea Lucas didn't out do himself with the prequels. Episode 7 was trash, and Rogue One was a step in the right direction. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, but not a geek about it so much anymore, it's fun to see different reactions to these films. I get a kick out of folks taking them a little to seriously, claiming their childhood was raped because of a few changes and the prequels not what they expected etc etc etc especially from twerps who were born in the 90's....but hey it's the internet you can be who you want to be and claim what you want to claim.
Everybody has an asshole.....you get the point.
This is all opinion, mine being Episode 1-3 are great, the Original Trilogy created an atmosphere where we are still in a post Star Wars period with filmmaking. Yea Lucas didn't out do himself with the prequels. Episode 7 was trash, and Rogue One was a step in the right direction. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, but not a geek about it so much anymore, it's fun to see different reactions to these films. I get a kick out of folks taking them a little to seriously, claiming their childhood was raped because of a few changes and the prequels not what they expected etc etc etc especially from twerps who were born in the 90's....but hey it's the internet you can be who you want to be and claim what you want to claim.
Everybody has an asshole.....you get the point.
I absolutely loved it! Brilliantly connected some dots between the main storyline while also standing well on its own. You'll feel a full range of emotions while watching too. And I love the recent Star Wars emphasis on badass female leads. TFA holds a slightly larger place in my heart still, but both films were fantastic.
I like the entire Star Wars saga and look forward to seeing it. I'm almost 44, so grew up with the originals, and ALL of the movies were a mix of annoying (C3P0, Jar-Jar, bad actors...) and entertaining (familiar yet somewhat unique story writing, good actors, great effects etc...).
Forget the characters, this movie has some of the best large scale action setpieces in any movie ever, I think this movie is worth going to just for the visual concepts that they pulled off.
As far as technical movie crafting goes, I'd agree that it's a "solid B", but my personal slant will probably put this as one of my most favorite movies ever made. Just behind 3/4 of the original trilogy, and ahead of the Ewoks and the Prequels.
As far as technical movie crafting goes, I'd agree that it's a "solid B", but my personal slant will probably put this as one of my most favorite movies ever made. Just behind 3/4 of the original trilogy, and ahead of the Ewoks and the Prequels.
I went to see it at the weekend, on the spur of the moment. Despite being a bit of a geek, I knew nothing about this film was wasn't particularly bothered about seeing it.
Well I'm really glad that I did. I enjoyed it much more than Force Awakens, I found the cast/characters to be much less irritating. The dialogue was functional, yes, but we were also spared any lengthy exposition.
The witty nature of the early films always felt a little incongruous with the peril that that characters faced. I liked the serious nature of the main protagonists and the device of the reprogrammed robot to add some humor.
My issue with Star Wars is always that the world felt a little one dimensional, the viewer only really gets told details that directly serve the plot. Having a film placed slightly outside of the overriding narrative was a great glimpse into the rest of the SW universe.
Well I'm really glad that I did. I enjoyed it much more than Force Awakens, I found the cast/characters to be much less irritating. The dialogue was functional, yes, but we were also spared any lengthy exposition.
The witty nature of the early films always felt a little incongruous with the peril that that characters faced. I liked the serious nature of the main protagonists and the device of the reprogrammed robot to add some humor.
My issue with Star Wars is always that the world felt a little one dimensional, the viewer only really gets told details that directly serve the plot. Having a film placed slightly outside of the overriding narrative was a great glimpse into the rest of the SW universe.
Yea, Episode 7 was a mistake..... can 8 and 9 give it replay value, I hope. If you liked 7 that's great, IMHO they made so many errors and should never have completely turned a back to the Expanded Universe. In fact I believe whom ever wrote the screen play for Rogue One, must've been fans of the Expanded universe. It had the EU atmosphere.
Glad the Remake Master isnt going to direct episode 8 and 9.
I think they need to rethink doing anything else outside of 8 and 9, flooding the market will make money, but will it only bog the franchise down. A little needs to be left to the imagination, once in a while. Even though I like the prequels, I still would rathe be wondering about the clone wars, as well as wondering if all storm troopers were clones.
Glad the Remake Master isnt going to direct episode 8 and 9.
I think they need to rethink doing anything else outside of 8 and 9, flooding the market will make money, but will it only bog the franchise down. A little needs to be left to the imagination, once in a while. Even though I like the prequels, I still would rathe be wondering about the clone wars, as well as wondering if all storm troopers were clones.
Thrawn? A cameo would be cool, at least. But they didn't even have to go that far with episode 7-9. Just combine a lot of the story arcs, as templates, make them better. Let the characters evolve more, Solo's death at least needed to wait until episode 8 with a better reveal. Anybody can back seat drive though. Who knows what was left on the floor. Oh well. Everybody has an opinion.
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