Star Wars Rogue One MASSIVE SPOILERS BY BERKUT

[celedhring]

I thought TFA did a better job of establishing more interesting characters and their relationships. I wish Rogue One was more successful in that, it would have given us the first great Star Wars film since 1983. As magnificent an spectacle as the last 30 minutes were, I wish I cared more for the characters in it.

But after how safe and same-ish TFA felt, this has given me hope (pun intended) that there might be an actual really good Star Wars film in this new batch.

[Habbaku]

Rian Johnson (PBUH) will not disappoint us. Amen.

[celedhring]

I love Rian Johnson's work, but the action scenes in Looper were godawful. I hope the ginormous budget helps.

[Habbaku]

That sounds heretical.  You watch your ass.

[Berkut]

My ranking of all movies:

1. Empire
2. New Hope
3. Rogue
4. Jedi
5. Force
6/7/8. Whatever

[Drakken]

I thought TFA did a better job of establishing more interesting characters and their relationships. I wish Rogue One was more successful in that, it would have given us the first great Star Wars film since 1983. As magnificent an spectacle as the last 30 minutes were, I wish I cared more for the characters in it.

Why invest so much in characters and their backstory, when [spoiler]everybody dies in the end?[/spoiler]

[grumbler]

Why invest so much in characters and their backstory, when [spoiler]everybody dies in the end?[/spoiler]

Because that's good storytelling?

[Berkut]

Yeah, the fact that everyone dies in the end works a lot better if the viewer *cares* that everyone dies at the end.

I kind of cared about Jin. And the robot. And the sacrifice of the others was meaningful in that I knew I was supposed to find it meaningful, but it could certainly have come off better than it did.

Still, a strong flick overall.

[HVC]

It was a good film. Uncanny valley Tarkin was a bit off putting though.

[celedhring]

Is it okay to post spoilers in this? I guess we might, since it's a separate thread and all (we might want to indicate it in the thread title).

My main issue with the film is that the characters aren't that interesting, although I think the potential was there to develop them more. The actual antagonist (not Tarkin or Vader which are just "there") was also really weak.

People compare it to the ending of ROTJ, and even though this one is certainly more spectacular (plus no Ewoks), it doesn't have such an epic character moment like Luke facing the Emperor and the redemption of Darth Vader. Had the filmmakers managed to build towards such a moment in Rogue One, then it would have been genuinely a great Star Wars film. Instead, Jyn facing Krennic is kinda whatever.

[MadImmortalMan]

They're getting pretty close with the CGI character thing. I almost expected Tarkin to do a Frozen-style smirky sideways smile but he didn't. Leia was not quite as good but still impressive.

[celedhring]

They're getting pretty close with the CGI character thing. I almost expected Tarkin to do a Frozen-style smirky sideways smile but he didn't. Leia was not quite as good but still impressive.

It's weird though, because I would have thought it's easier to deage a living actor (Carrie Fisher) than working from old footage of Peter Cushing.

Still, those dead eyes. I would have just recast Tarkin. They recast Jan Dodonna and Mon Mothma, after all.

[Tamas]

Spoiler alert added to title.

I am having trouble finding the will to look for weak points. This is the first Star Wars movie that achieved the same kind of awe and excitement in me that I felt watching the original trilogy as a kid, on VHS tapes.

And not just as a Star Wars flick, but also as a sci-fi action/war movie as well.

[Delirium]

I still think the plot was weak, the script too hastily done, directing too impatient and characters bland.

But after some more thinking, I believe I have come to the conclusion that Rogue One is probably as good as we will get out of any new Star Wars movie for a 21st century audience that need explosions every five minutes. With expectations this low I think it was original enough to warrant a high ranking in the series: I put it down as #4 after the three real Star Wars installations.

[Syt]

I went in expecting something like The Guns of Navarone in Star Wars and wasn't disappointed (if much lighter on the moral ambiguities). If I had a main gripe after first viewing then that it felt a bit breathless (then again, that might be the point).

It was fun to have Tarkin, but I think he would have worked better as a hologram with some distortion/blur. Vader's scene in the end was great. And I loved that they dug out archive footage of Gold and Red Leader. The run in with Pona Baba and Dr Evazan - with Ponda Baba seemingly trying to keep Evazan out of a fight - reminded me of the Robot Chicken skit: https://youtu.be/6qc6zfoxlJU?t=43

The movie makes an effort to tie into the new canon - Saw Gerrera appeared 4 years ago in the Clone Wars cartoon as a resistance fighter on Onderon (Republic and Jedi went there to train insurgents against the Separatists). The Hammerhead ship shows up in the Rebels cartoon who based it off Knights of the Old Republics's cruisers. And there's a call for "General Syndulla" in the Rebel base which might either refer to Hera Syndulla or her father, also from the Rebels show.

It was a fun ride. Some of the minor characters could have needed a bit more to do. And it seemed strange that the shield gate launched what felt like 3 times more fighters than the Death Star does in A New Hope.

I cared about the character deaths in the end, but I also find it kind of refreshing that they closed the door on any sequels to this. I'm sure there'll be plenty of spin off novels and comics, and I expect some of the characters to show up on Rebels.

The overall tone of the movie was what I would have hoped that the (canceled) Star Wars: Underworld TV might have.