Rogue One Reviews (With Spoilers)

Yay!!!

Just caught it for the first time on Friday night– What a good time!

I was hoping for the Star Wars I'd imagined as a kid, while playing with the toys— and that's what I got, practically right on the bullseye.

For my taste, it could've been a bit darker, but I'm quite pleased.


...A few viewpoints to share:

•In the beginning, the street/market scene just before Cassian and the informant/asset meet up, I had the thought: "this feels like a TV series" ...I'm not sure I can articulate *why* I had that thought- maybe it was the lighting(?) --just wanted to throw that perception out there in case anyone else felt similarly. It wasn't a bad thing at all, --in fact, it felt hopeful in regard to potential future expansion of the SW franchise.

•The "stepping back from cute muppets" - thank you.

•The "snap" sound of the blasters! Fantastic!

•K-2SO was utterly brilliant. ...A little bit of Sheldon Cooper happening there, hey? ...The perfect level of humour for this movie. Sad to see him go.

•My wife didn't know about Tarkin, and I didn't tell her. She didn't notice anything odd about him. Good enough for me! ...Leia was a little "glowy"... I didn't mind whatsoever.

•I caught the "General Syndulla", "T-15", "blue milk", "Ghost", and "I have a bad feeling..." moments. Again- fun! ...I totally missed seeing Chopper though, and I was watching for him! (Grateful for the previous "screenshot" post which showed him.)
I was probably distracted because...

•Mon Mothma is an absolute fox. I'm smitten. –Usually, I fall for the aliens.


•I wish they'd stepped UP Vader's brutality in the "boarding party" scene. Don't get me wrong- It was good enough, but the dose I received made me want *more*.

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Anyway that's all I've got for now. I'm very much relishing the perspectives of others- (agreeing or not).

Please keep 'em coming!

❤️

 

*insert THANK YOU meme*

While I do have some small problems of my own with R1 (half of which already went away after a second viewing), somehow people everywhere mostly tend to point out stuff that is not a problem at all if one pays attention during the movie (just like they did with TFA - oh the memories...)
Especially on Twitter I get the feeling that too many people are trying to be this year's Max Landis - get on the negativity train early on and dominate discussion with silly easily refutable arguments through sheer loudness and repetition.

 

Luke Starkiller/Skywalker was a General, Leia wasn't Luke's sister, Alderaan was Coruscant,

Thank you! I knew K2SO reminded me about someone, but I just couldn't realize who...That was the character!!!

 

Lol I noticed that too! He was so Sheldon!

Han Solo was a green alien, Chewbacca looked more like Zeb from Rebels, etc.

 

Another thing that just now popped into my mind, when Tarkin orders to "target the base on Scarif", why does the beam miss the base and hit the ocean some miles away from the base? Was that supposed to mean the Death Star is not yet completely 100% calibrated?
And for my former question I asked here (what the rebel ship was that crashed into Vaders Star Destroyer), it's just a GR-75 medium transport.

 

Beeing part of a franchise dosent mean the story cant stand on its own...

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 17, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 17, 2016 ---

The beam actually hit and destroyed the radio telescope.

 

And Han and only Han shot. And Wedge had a line in the Yavin briefing.

We can go on for days on this lol

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 17, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 17, 2016 ---

If they invaded Yavin on foot, and not annihilated the base from orbit via Star Destroyers, they may have found the plans in the remains of the Rebel base. They would have had to been a bit curious as to why it exploded. I guess it makes sense to investigate what exactly Rebels found out (although they had already figured out the attack plan during the Battle of Yavin).

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 17, 2016 ---

The eyes. They definitely don't have the eyes down yet. Tarkin was amazing - I think his face has more 'character' to it that the CGI artist can play with, so it actually seemed more human. Carrie's face is pretty plain (lovely, of course) so there's not much to shadow or render so it doesn't really work as well.

But even Tarkin's eyes don't move like a real person, that's the only thing that jarred me. Our eyes move around a lot, for different psychological reasons, when we speak. Tarkin's were pretty stagnant and a bit jarring.

But Leia was just a easter egg. Tarkin was otherwise amazing to watch on screen. I was just the entire time watching him....and: "You may fire when ready" Ahhhh!!!

 

First....why was Jalen appearing to farm moisture on a planet like Lah'mu (obviously tons of moisture in the air)? Am I missing something?

I was disappointed in the lack of character development. I didn't feel too sad as the character died off cause I feel like I never really got a chance to know who they even were.

Also the first half of the movie was very difficult to follow the dialogue and many different plot lines you quickly introduced to as the scenes rapidly changed. Anyone else experience this?

I'm glad they didn't have the beginning scroll story because this movie is not officially part of the series.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 17, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 17, 2016 ---

While somewhat enjoyable to watch it was mostly disappointing. It felt greedy....like a Disney money maker capitalizing on the empire of Star Wars fans, and not so much like a worthy embellishment to the series.
I'm not spending another $13 or so to see again in theatres that's for sure:/

 

I was watching the What The Flick review of the film and they were overall quite negative on it, describing it as a decently made action film but overall nothing special.
One of the reviewers however said that "this film is nothing more than for Star Wars fans to scream and cry over the sight of blue milk" and this really rubbed me the wrong way.
It's completely fine that they didn't like the movie, it's all subjective, there's no real right or wrong with this kind of thing, but when he said that it felt extremely demeaning and a major generalization. Give us a bit more credit than that. It was the off-hand way he said it, suggesting that if you like the film, it's only cause you're a silly fangirl or fanboy who'll love anything they're told to, and your opinion loses value. The attitude of that line really irked me.

 

The beginning was disjointed and jumping around a lot to set things up. Could've done with less of that or less significant characters in general.

The movie is stylish and gives a sense of scale and scope that was lacking in The Force Awakens, I'll give it that. It was just underwhelming character wise with a disjointed first act, a third act that went on too long and I didn't like the ending so I have to dock some big points from it as substance > style.

 

You thought Vader wasn't brutal enough? LOL, my goodness, I think that's the darkest we've seen him in personal combat since he slayed the younglings. I mean the light saber through the door (granted it's been done before in the video game cinema for Galen Marek) but I thought it was appropriately brutal to show how merciless and unfeeling he has become. He killed those men like he was mowing down grass.

 

Question folks, I've not been on this site for nearly a year, how do I like comments and whatnot?

 

Is it just me, or has anyone else found themselves chanting quietly, "I am one with the Force, the Force is with me"? At first I thought it was a little cheesy (as there is always a little cheese in Star Wars), but now I can't help myself...

 

I haven't done it myself, but I thought it was important for them to show that in addition to people that ardently believe in the force, and folks that are skeptics, there are those in the middle that seem to "want to believe".

There were moments where he seemed like he was convinced and in tune with the force, and other times where he seemed like he was trying to convince himself that there was a force and that he was in touch with it.

 

It was certainly enough (objectively) — but subjectively, the display left me (for my tastes) wanting much more. Seeing him begin to live up to his notoriety *on-screen* was an absolute thing of beauty.

 

Haha lol, I did exactly the same when I went with my mother today. She loves Star Wars, but really not on a deep ultimate fanboy level as I do. I asked her afterwards: "there is this thing about digital characters in this movie, did you see which one was digital?" She replied only with "the robot". Why would I break her experience by saying princess Leia and Tarkin were digital?

 

Watched this on opening night wearing my rebellion blazer (becouse its a rebellion isn't it). Was surprised there was so many empty seats. I cant wait to watch it again and get them details that I missed. And what a completely epic cliffhanger to end on for A New Hope.

 

We also see the emergence of staple criticism ( which is non-criticism) which consist of some classical "let's allow others to do our thinking". For instance:
1. The first act feels disjointed. The structure and pacing was the same as in many other movies. For example, Inglorious bastards does the same, so do many highly valued art-house type movies and even episodes 1, 4 and 7.. But someone dropped it and now everyone is saying it. I didn't think the first act was disjointed at all and it featured some very interesting and bold scenes.

2. I wanted to see more of this or that: let's take Vader. This is not Vader's movie, but some people wanted to see him more and well quite frankly everywhere. Some people were even disappointed he didn't slaughter the Rogue One group. But more Vader would have seriously distracted from what the movie was ultimately about: the characters and their selfless sacrifice. If Vader would have been shown slaughtering Jyn, Cassian, Chrirrut etc, his portrayel and presence would have overshadowed the characters the movie was ultimately about. This is NOT Vader's movie and I'm glad it isn't. His presence is functional. In the first sequence Vader is present only as part of Krennic's characterization. In the second scene, Vader's presence is necessary to tie up Rogue One with the first minutes of A New Hope (and also some serious fan service, which in this case I liked.)

3. Characterization: this is a funny one. People apparently want hours long exposition on character motivation. I think the first act told us everything I needed to know:
Bodhi Hook: a nervous fellow with a troubled conscious and past who on Galen's urging deserted the empire and now has to find new courage and a place in the Rebellion. He wants to make things right.
Chirrut: Spiritual Warrior but a Guardian with nothing to guard: no real purpose in life apart from an unwavering belief in the Force.
Baze: Baze another Guardian without a cause is Chirrut's binary. He lost faith and he's cynical and down to earth. But he's also Chirrut's guardian, like a brother and has to accept Chrirrut for what he is and what he believes in.
Cassian Andor: Someone who will do everything and go everywhere for the Rebellion. He embodies the moral grey.
Galen Erso: Oppenheimer. If you know him, you know what I'm talking about. He is also a father who will do everything for his daughter.
Jyn: the Jean D'arc archetype who begins as a closed and emotionally reclusive figure who does not feel the good fight is hers. She then identifies the good fight with the fate and mission of her father.
Krennic: Wants to be seen, wants to be noticed, wants to rise above his direct superiors and equals. In order to achieve this, he is the courtier who wants to be close to the warmth of his king, but fails to see that this warmth might burn him as well (literally eventually). As such, he will do everything to achieve that end: betray friends and even commit genocide.
Saw: A radical whose radicalism turned him insane. For Saw the fight has become a purpose in itself (typical for zealots and radical insurgants) and in that fight everything is permitted. The empire must fall: friends (Jyn) might be sacrificed (apparently he left her behind in a bunker when she was 16), collateral damage is permitted.
----------------------THIS IS JUST THE FIRST ACT!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't believe those criticisms are people's own reception. Someone wrote or said this on Youtube, someone who is ascribed a certain amount of authority, and they consciously or unconsciously copied it and made it their own. Indeed it was exactly the same as with Landis' Mary Sue comments. When you think and watch the movie, you know Rey can't possibly be a Mary Sue (SHE CRIES! lol). I always like to find out from where these 'rogue' staple opinions originate. The philologist always finds out! Come on people, be creative. If you critique a movie, come up with something original, something new we haven't noticed. Criticism can be positive and negative. Feel free to say something positive for starters.
#Angryjoe #Stuckman #HelloGreedo

 

Saw Gerrera in Rogue One (with green eyes, as in The Clone Wars)

 

LIES....DECEIT!!!!!! lol WOW, that looks nice. Guess I'll have to give Rebels a try after all.