Rogue One, or: what the fandom wants from Star Wars

I'm a Star Wars fan since 1999, when I saw The Phantom Menace for the first time, and bought the VHS collection of the Original Trilogy (1997 Special Edition). I kinda liked every Saga movie, at its time, and yes: I literally worshipped The Force Awakens, even if it wasn't the perfect movie I hoped it was.

Well, I can say that, after 17 years of pure, genuine, cinematographic love, I didn't like a Star Wars movie. Or, better: I actually did, because Rogue One is not a bad movie (but not as good as TFA) - it's a 6,5/10, or 7/10 movie, in my personal view: well directed, well acted, not really well written, but with a third act that was like a direct punch in my face. What I didn't like, is what this movie represents in the SW universe.

The Force Awakens was a remake of A New Hope: a soft one, with very intriguing new things, but still a non-original movie, that tried to justify itself by kneeling to the old trilogy. Nevertheless, the new characters were awesome, and the story good enough to make me anxious to see the sequel. This is what Abrams did: use the old language of the original trilogy to tell a brand new story, with brand new characters that will probably become as iconic as the old ones (Rey and Kylo Ren are already memorable, to me). Gareth Edwards never tried to do that, and THIS is what I didn't like in Rogue One:

- the screenplay is confused, expecially in the first two acts;
- the characters are anonymous, and if it wasn't for the actors (each one is very very good) the level would have been just a little higher than the Prequel Trilogy;
- the action literally eats every chance to make them more intriguing, and that's quite obvious in the second half of the movie.

Anyway, these three flaws are not just writing or directing flaws. There's a reason behind them, and the reason is: the FAN SERVICE.

Please, don't get me wrong: fan service is the same reason that pulled Abrams to not write an original screenplay, and make a light reboot of the original trilogy. But the fan service in Rogue One is different.

While in TFA the references were structural, and used to face the OT legacy and create a new story for the other films to come, in Rogue One the references lead to nothing but to what has already been told. We already know the Death Star will be blown up; we already know the Rebels will catch the plans; we already know the main characters will eventually die. This, in general terms. But even if we look at the "new" characters or locations, we might note that there is something strange in the movie: Saw Gerrera comes from The Clone Wars; Vader, Mon Mothma, Tarkin and Leia from the OT; there are references to the prequel trilogy and to SW Rebels. The emotional climax of the ending doesn't concern some of the brand new characters, but Vader - and Vader is the main focus of another scene, that brought back Mustafar to the screen.

Rogue One is a mosaic of various things that come from other SW media... and return to them. Because there is no development: no new stages to reach for the saga, just... a celebration. Jyn dies; Cassian dies; Krennic dies... They leave the SW universe in the same way they entered, and I think the writing flaws are due to this precise reason: why to make this characters memorable, if they have to die?

We can resume TFA and Rogue One with two lines:
- the past dies to make the future appear (TFA);
- the future dies, to make the past be celebrated (RO).

It's, in my opinion, a cinical way to look at the future of the SW saga. But what is more cinical, is the response of the fandom: everyone loved the final Darth Vader's rush (me too), and for many people this made the movie. The same fandom that blamed Abrams for having done an unoriginal movie last year, now magnifies Edwards for having done the "perfect SW movie" (which means, for a lot of people: a movie that leads nowhere but to the original trilogy).

There is a discrepancy in this view of the reality. So, the question is: what the fandom wants from Star Wars, after all?

Changed thread title from 'Speculation' to 'Spoiler' -jmjawors