Rogue One Reviews (With Spoilers)

Did anyone catch the Watchmen tribute?

 

the reference is actually older than that:

 

1. ESB 10/10
2a. ANH 9/10
2b. R1 9/10
3. TFA 8.5/10
4. ROTJ 8/10
5. ROTS 6.5/10
6. TPM 5.5/10
7. AOTC 5/10

 

Hi everyone!!! I'm back and have had some time to gather my thoughts on Rogue One. If I can boil my thought down to one, single word it would be AMAZING! I LOVED IT! Sure, a few things I didn't particularly like but those were minor when compared to the overall feeling I had during and more so after. I was very surprised that I fell in love with these characters in the short amount of time that I did and how emotional some of their scenes made me. Not sure if everyone here has seen it so I won't go into spoilers but man, there was one scene that just had me very emotional and I was shocked that I was so...reminded me of T2. In the end, I loved this movie, maybe even a little more than TFA (and I love TFA). I just hope I can look back in five years and say that TFA was the worst of the new Disney films, because so far each subsequent movie is stepping-up the quality and the game. I just can't wait to see what's next!

 

My current ranking-

1. The Empire Strikes Back 10/10
2. A New Hope 9/10
3. The Force Awakens 9/10
4. Rogue One 8/10
5. Return of the Jedi 7/10
6. Revenge of the Sith 7/10
7. The Phantom Menace 5/10
8. Attack of the Clones 4/10

 

I may very well be overly excited by this new generation of Star Wars, but I absolutely loved Rogue One. Although I respect the opinions of those who did not feel as strongly about it as I did (or outright disliked it), I have a hard time appreciating the most oft-cited criticism:

(1) The characters were not well developed enough. I disagree. Anytime you have this kind of ensemble, group dynamic, you only get as much background on the individual members of the team as you need to serve the story. Obviously, we got the most background development for our lead hero, Jyn Erso (and her father Galen) and her morally-grey counterpart Cassian Andor. Loved that they explored the morally suspect behavior within the Rebellion. I actually think the did a fabulous job of developing (and evolving) their motivations within the two hour window the movie gave us. Same with Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus - two guardians with nothing to guard, one a true believer and one disbeliever, who is dedicated to his cause of protecting and looking after his companion. I loved their dynamic. As for Bodhi Rook, I thought his character, admittedly the least developed of the team, served its purpose. After all, he was simply the messenger from Galen to his daughter and the driver. Granted, they gave him more to do and in so showing, his character grew. At the end of the day, there is only so much character development you can do in this genre of assembled team heist/war film. But TPTB can still provide further character backstory and development in other media (comics, books) as the demand for it becomes apparent.

(2) The presence of R2 and C3PO on Yavin 4 and then the Tantive IV being docked with the Cruiser at the end doesn't work for the timeline: I completely disagree, for all of the reasons adeptly stated by @BobaFettNY21. The best interpretation was that the rebel fleet was still assembling near Yavin 4 and then jumped to Scarif together. After all, the "rebel presence at Scarif" did not refer to the Mon Calimari cruiser of Admiral Raddus, but of the Rogue One group themselves.

(3) The pacing was off and they jumped around too much during the first act: Again, this is necessary for the genre: assembled team heist/war flick. Think of it this way, each step was necessary to "pick up" another member of the team. I think of Ocean's Eleven and how that team was assembled from various locations. As far as pacing is concerned, I actually appreciate a slower initial pace that builds up to the climax. It is an art that has been lost in modern, superhero action flick fare. People complained about how fast and non-stop action TFA was (myself included), the fact that you never get a moment to "breathe" with the characters. I think that Rogue One hit the perfect balance.

(4) Why bother showing the CGI Tarkin and Leia if they are unnecessary to the plot: This is the argument that I can best appreciate, mainly because the CGI was not perfect. The initial bits of Tarkin were really well done, but the more we saw of him the less impressive it became. They could have perhaps limited it a bit (I especially liked his reflection in the window, which could have been used more), but I understand why they made him such an integral character, as it was necessary to lead to the demise of Krennic. As for Leia, I agree her CGI work was not as impressive as Tarkin, but I think her appearance and single line of "Hope" is the perfect lead in to Star Wars: A New Hope. If they can remaster her for the Blu-Ray release and kind of "un-soften" her glowing appearance, it would help.

Other than the 10 scale ratings you provide, this is pretty spot on to my own ranking. It is very hard to top the iconic ESB (10) and ANH (9), but I think R1 (9) is right there in the conversation. I would call it a 2B, as well. After seeing R1, I would actually rate TFA (8) a little bit lower, only because it could have been as great as R1 comparatively, but wasn't. Although I absolutely love the first 2/3rds of ROTJ (7), some of the silliness of the Ewoks always made it my least favorite of the OT.

This weekend one of my channels showed a marathon of Star Wars movies, and I was completely reminded of how bad the PT films were (compared to the OT and this new generation of films...). The unconvincing turn of Anakin to Darth Vader in ROTS (5), to the cringeworthy "Yippee!" of TPM (4), to the stilted, creepy love story of AOTC (2)... I was especially struck by how all of the PT's CGI elements have aged horribly. The entirety of AOTC, especially, just looks so cartoony that it doesn't feel real at all. Here is to hoping the CGI Tarkin and Leia in R1 hold up much better...

I agree with your sentiments 100%. I suspect that the highlighted portion of your comment above is exactly what is going to happen: Each new Star Wars installment is stepping up and is better than what preceded it. TFA (which I initially LOVED) pales in comparison (at least visually) to R1, and I cannot wait to see how far Episode VIII advances beyond R1.

 

though i disagree with your ranking on an emotional level (and your closing sentiments entirely), the front half of your post is all well articulated and, i think, spot on. in particular, i don't think the characters were underdeveloped at all--i just wanted to spend more time with them.
and maybe that's what other people are feeling too.

 

A friend just asked me: "hey was that Carrie Fisher at the end? Did they take that from ANH deleted scenes?"

Interesting. I wonder what percentage of the people watching the movie actually noticed the CGI work or thought it was unused remastered material.

 

I don't think TFA could have been as good as R1 without sacrificing major plot points set up for Ep8.
R1 is a confined movie. It has a start and end that are etched in stone. It's limited to it's two hour run time and this is it. So it does feel more complete. Probably the most complete movie since ANH. The characters here all serve the story yet you still care for them deeply by the end of the film.

TFA is one of three. It has two more movies to play out it's story and the first one was clearly a table setter. It was made to appeal and hook the general audience and bring them into the fold. It could basically spend the entire time with a generic plot and just use it to prop up the new characters and build them because it has two more movies to go out and dive into story, which I'm guessing is why a great story teller like Rian Johnson is hired to do it while a character oriented guy in JJ did TFA. By the end of TFA you are more enamored with the characters than the story but it leads you into a deeper story for the next movies.

In order for TFA to be as good as R1, it would have had to sacrifice some of it's open ended questions. We'd have needed finality to why Luke was gone and who Rey is. There would have had to have been a more final ending as well. Kylo's survival a little more murky. But that's just my take on why it couldn't have been for the sake of the next two movies.

If I went through and rated them the way I do most movies, TFA would indeed probably be closer to an 8.3 but I was rounding up for simplicity sake.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 19, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 19, 2016 ---

I would be willing to bet that outside the wonks like us on here and others who don't watch as many movies, plenty will have to stop and wonder for a minute.

I agree wholeheartedly. I feel cheated I didn't get more with Cassian, Jyn, K-2, Baze, Chirrut, Bodhi and co. But that's what makes the whole ending of this movie work for me. The fact that I do feel cheated I didn't get more...like how death actually is. It's final.

 

I can certainly understand wanting to spend more time with the characters, and I hope you are right that this is how most people feel. But this is also how a film like this conveys their sacrifice and the emotional gravitas the film needs. We have just started to care about these characters and want more, but...

Exactly.

I told my mom before the she saw it that I would be curious to get her take on some of the special effects. She watched the whole thing and declared that she, too, thought this was one of, if not the, best Star Wars films made. When I followed up by asking her about the special effects, she simply said they were incredible. I then asked her if she realized that the actor who played Tarkin had died decades ago, she simply said, "I was wondering how they did that." And then she admitted that, "Carrie Fisher obviously doesn't still look like that." I then explained the CGI recreation using similar looking actors, just the way they did Unkar Plutt. She probably wouldn't have even brought it up if I hadn't asked...

You are absolutely right about this... and it may not be until the entire ST is completed before we fully recognize how good each film, in their own right, really are. But I still say that each one so far is building on what has come before, is better than the last, and enhancing the entire mythos. Not sure how much that will be the case with the Han Solo anthology, but so far I am absolutely thrilled to be a Star Wars fan living in the here and now.

 

It's a wonderful time to be here for this.
I won't truly judge the new movies until I see Ep9 for the first time.

Movies designed to be trilogies like this honestly do need to be seen as one story. To me, TFA was a very long opening act. I expect Ep8 to be a heavy plot movie with some strong action and Ep 9 to be the third act and be absolutely wild in it's ways.

Being done this way also allowed TFA to play so heavily on nostalgia and bring in new viewers.

 

My Favourite Star Wars Films Ranked In Order 66

1. A New Hope (Ep IV)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (Ep V)
3. Return Of The Jedi (Ep VI)
4. Rogue One
5. The Phantom Menace (Ep I)
6. Revenge Of The Sith (Ep III)
7. The Clone Wars (Film)
8. The Star Wars Holiday Special
9. Caravan Of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
10. Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
11. Attack Of The Clones (Ep II)
12. The Force Awakens (Ep VII)

 

Lol I noticed that too! The actor does have quite a thick neck in real life, almost like a German.................but no offense.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 19, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 19, 2016 ---

Seriously not many people noticed. Whenever I ask people who the cgi character was they say the droid. I haven't seen any non-fanboy/girl identify Tarkin or Leia as CGI.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 19, 2016 ---

I totally forgot the Ewok movies..............but you didn't mention the Holiday Special!

 

I did! Look at 8th position!

 

Shhhhhh, don't tell them.

 

Great observation. I was never really pressed about if Greedo shot first, but when viewed from this perspective I agree with you, it's ok for Han to have shot first. People constantly evolve in the SW universe, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes they evolve several times. We see Anakin change, Dookou (well it's at least implied since he was a Jedi once), Luke changes, and Kylo, Finn, and Rey are changing. Change happens, it's ok not to be a finished project in the first frame of the film. Great post.

 

I want to know more about Deathtroopers. They look even better than the "new" stormtroopers from TFA, and that's a tough design to beat.
The aesthetic, the design, and muffled voices - perfect! I'm satisfied that they didn't die in a stupid way. They were beaten by a guy who had nothing more to loose. Too bad they didn't have a few extra minutes in the movie.
If the Empire invested more in training and expanding Deathtrooper squad they could've won the war without Death Star
Seriously, I hope sometime in the future we get a novel about their missions and adventures.

 

I believe that the Death Troopers are only part human. They move and sound lot like droids and have the same belt buckle Vader has.

 

Not sure about RO position, just watched once, but i think is this for now:

TESB - 10
ANH - 10
ROTJ - 10
TFA - 10
RO - 9
TPM - 8
ROTS - 4
AOTC - 3