Rogue One Reviews (With Spoilers)

lots of self-sacrifice mentality throughout. i thought that was interesting as well. we didn't have a single example of a character who wasn't totally ready to die for their cause. i thought the fact that the Alliance made no attempt to extract their own people was a tad strange. they were already turning to run before Vader got there.

i also feel like Leia's claim of being "on a diplomatic mission" is now rather disingenuous since we all just saw the ship fleeing from this ginormous space battle.

for that reason i was a little disappointed with the scale of the final battle: always had in my head that this was a scrappy band of covert rebels, not a huge in-your-face operation. but that's all right. i enjoyed the crashing star destroyers anyway, and was frankly surprised and delighted to see Vader at the end, though it's hard for him not to steal thunder from the others.

 

The shieldgate was closed and the rebels had to get out before Imperial reinforcements would arrive. Why sacrifice the entire fleet for 40 soldiers? Eventually of course the shieldgate got destroyed, but the deathstar had fired and the Citadel area was going ablaze. No rescue effort would reach the rogue one group in time. Furthermore, it would take quite some time for the rogue one group to secure a landing area and then assemble all the dispersed troops surrounding the citadel entries. This time military logic of the narrative prevailed.

 

yeah, i can see that. maybe it was the way not-Ackbar was just all: "May the Force be with you" and turned tail.
like no thank you or mention of their sacrifice. i dunno. it just struck me weird.
they took the initiative to do this and didn't even get a formal acknowledgement ~ which, granted, isn't the point, but it felt like an emotional hole for me.

maybe when i see it again next weekend i'll have a different perspective.

 

Seriously, it appears Rebel command doesn't seem to give a toss about its soldiers. When the admiral says: "ram that stardestroyer", you do it without hesitating. When the general says "bomb the lab" even when there are friendly troops literally on the lauch pad, you do it. I think that we should understand that for the Rebel command, the sacrifice of the Rogue One crew isn't more significant than the sacrifice of the Hammerhead crew or all the other soldiers who died in the Siege of Scarif.

 

Overall, I thought it was a really good movie. I think it does enhance ANH. I think reading Catalyst enhanced my enjoyment of the movie. The CGI did not bother me as Tarkin's overall performance was good and seeing Leia at the end was fitting. While the technology is not perfect, I am not one to knit pick those things. Vader was awesome. The tie ins of Red and Gold leader was neat. It was obvious that it was from ANH but it was so quick during an already frantic battle that it did not take me out of the moment. The movie seemed a little rushed for me at the beginning but so did TFA initially. The more I saw TFA the less rushed it seemed so I will withhold judgment until I see it more. I hated Saw's weird "truth" creature and I felt like Saw could have been better. Nothing memorable from the score but neither did TFA initially. That changed after repeated viewings so I will wait to pass judgement. I commend Lucasfilm for trying something new. I was glad that it was not as "dark" as some who initially saw it were portraying it to be. While I like to see conflict in SW movies, I also like there to be fun and wonder in SW. Fortunately K2 and Chirrut provided some lightheartedness. In the end the movie did what it was meant to do, and that was to tell a self contained story that took place in the SW timeline. It was not meant to build on the mythology of SW. The Force was actually a larger part then i initially thought it would be when the concept of the movie was first released. Because it is so different from the saga films I'm not going to rank it against them. It was good and I will be going back to see it again.

 

The exact quote from the private who ran to speak to Mon Mothma was: "He's returned to his ship. He's going to fight." Sounds to me like Admiral Raddus was still on Yavin 4, or in orbit.

 

Seems like the Rebel alliance has a big chain of command problem. First 40 commandos disappear with an impounded Imperial cargo shuttle, then Admiral Raddus decides he could very well go and fight his own little war and risk his entire fleet. It worked and I really like it...............but heads are going to roll.

 

eh. it's not behavior i want to see from the Rebels. had the same problem with Cassian in the grey. but that's just me. ultimately i think it works, i just wanted something more. i can literally hear my sister nattering in my ear (she hasn't seen it yet) saying: wait! they're leaving?

in that vein, i'm just not accustomed to ambiguity in Star Wars. on that level, i like this very much, just haven't decided whether i love it.

 

I've just returned from the cinema and I'm happy with how the film turned out. I liked the main cast, the score, cnematography, production design (especially of Jedha) and the ending sequence - it's definitely a pinnacle of the film. I apprieciate what they where trying to pull off with Leia and Tarkin - we are close to the moment when they appear real, bu tnot quite there. What I didn't enjoy as much was the first act of the film - it was sloppy and involved to much jumping from one place to another. Also, heroes' backstories and motivations were a bit lacking, especially in Bodhi's case. Also, I have no idea why they had to use this ugly CG tentacle monster. Couldn't they come up with something more real-looking? Overall, it is a worthy addition to other SW and it adds to "A New Hope." Now, just one more year until we get Episode VIII...

 

Don't get me wrong. I love it. How the rebels are portrayed in Rogue One is far superior to anything we've seen before. It suited this particular movie, though we might question whether this would be appropriate in a saga movie. In that case, I'm with you.

 

ironically, i've been saying forever i wanted more nuance in the portrayal of the factions in Star Wars--then, when we get it, i feel a bit oogie about it.
perhaps i was thinking it would be fine to see more Light on the Empire side (that flashback with the Erso family and Krennic was hardcore wonderful).
didn't consider how distasteful the converse might feel. but as i said, i'm working through those feelings.

 

The movie's specific genre demanded this, and to be honest, we have seen it before in comics (especially the old Darkhorse) and books. I like how Jyn is portrayed as the one who knows the divide between good and bad actions (she saves the child, wants to counter the deathstar etc). Her delineation of that divide ultimately causes the grey rebel Cassian to accept Jyn's morality: he does not fire on Galen and supports Jyn in her final effort to infiltrate Scarif even if it goes against the rules of military expedience (embodied by the 'necessary' execution of the other rebel spy). It was Jyn who reminded Cassian that if he just follows the logics of military expediency (following orders) he would be no better than a stormtrooper.

As for the theme of sacrifice and martyrdom: it is continuously stressed that the rebels are capable of selfless sacrifice. That is also the context of the "Rogue One, may the force be with you", moment. They cannot be rescued, its impossible, but their sacrifice will not be in vein. The narrative framing positions the motivation of the Rogue One crew in such a way that indeed everyone who joined knew that would ultimately be the case. This was going to be a one way trip and when the shield got closed they knew they were not going to be rescued. Nevertheless the continued to fight, despite their approaching end.

I don't think its distasteful. I think it would have been distasteful if the violence would have been nihilistic, but that was definitely not the case as I sketched above.

 

it's not that it's distasteful (maybe i used too strong a word). i just need to process it.
i love francis bacon's art, but objectively i know it can be a horrorshow for some people's sensibilities.
sometimes i can connect with what's horrible instantly (Darth Vader, Kylo Ren).
sometimes i just need a little more time with things that challenge my own sensibilities.

 

I saw the film Thursday night, I loved it, the 2nd act was ok at worst, it felt like it went a little too slow, but when we see Vader for the first time I loved it, I wasn't the biggest fan of the choking pun though. K2-SO is my favorite character out of this film. The ending scene of Vader massacring the Rebel troops was AWESOME. Overall I give the film a 8.1/10

 

It is certainly quite jarring at first to see the rebels as anything but "the unequivocal good guys"
But this is war. Even good people do bad things in war.

These kinds of things, staying on the orders to kill Galen, bomb the tower, kill Saw's men to save Jyn, kill the spy....these made it feel like a real war to me. Moral grey areas like that, give you that pause and make you actually reflect and think...it makes you understand why every single planet, race and group didn't rise up in unison against the empire...they weren't the shiny knights riding in to save the day all the time.

 

FN-3263827 is wise. Here, take a little green man!

 

What was Jyn's alias?

 

Lyanna Halik
(not sure about spelling)