I thought it was the best Star Wars film yet. (Off-Topic)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Tuesday, December 20, 2016, 01:52 (3062 days ago) @ Korny
edited by CruelLEGACEY, Tuesday, December 20, 2016, 02:00

Rogue One could have worked better as a miniseries, exploring each of the individual characters,

I totally agree with this.

and we could have done without the mind-reading animal,

and this

but in the end, this was the best film in the Star Wars universe,

Couldn't agree less on this... sort of... I think it is one of the least flawed movies in the franchise, but fails to deliver where it really counts (emotional impact of any kind)

and took a simple segment of the original Crawl, and presented it in a way that made sense and expanded the franchise in a way none of the films have before.

This is part of what I find so fascinating about this style of movie, and one of the big points that people's opinions of the film turns on. Rogue One is set right smack in the middle of the Star Wars timeline, and it connects directly to the movies before and after it. So it only makes sense that it leverages that timeline in certain ways, and hopefully enriches it as well. I think they delivered plenty of the latter, but not enough of the former. By which I mean I feel like Rogue One does a better job of adding context to and depth to the other movies (A New Hope in particular) than it does of leveraging the rest of the franchise to help make it a compelling movie to watch.

For example: Captain America Civil War is part of an ongoing series. It works well as a self-contained movie. Everything you need to know about the characters' perspectives and motivations is communicated within the film, their points of view are understandable and relatable, the tension and conflict all works. But if you've been following the Marvel movies from the beginning, it is even better. That familiarity helps create deeper investment in the characters, adding even more weight to the entire scenario. It leverages its place within an ongoing series effectively, but not at the cost of working as a standalone film.

Rogue One leverages the Star Wars films in purely superficial ways. The look and sound of everything (which is fantastic. Credit where it is due), the ships, the locations, the design aesthetics, etc. There are a few moments where R1 leverages the rest of the franchise in a slightly deeper way...

like when it comes to Darth Vader. We finally get a glimpse of Vader in his ominous prime, and it is by far the highlight of the movie. As a long time Star Wars fan, the final 2 minutes of the film had me thrilled. But at the same time, that scene sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the movie because if you take the "OMG VAAAADR" nerdgasm out of the equation, it comes completely out of nowhere, brings neither resolution nor payoff to anything that came before it. I read an interview with one of the filmmakers earlier this year, back when it was first confirmed that Vader would be in the movie. He said Vader's part would be small, but important. He also talked about how Vader is this mysterious figure to the rebels at this point. How they've heard rumors about this agent of the emperor who can supposedly do impossible things but nobody knows if its true or if he's even real. WHY IS NONE OF THIS IN THE FILM? Imagine how much BETTER than final scene would have been if it there had been any kind of dramatic lead up to it. It could have been the moment when Vader is truly revealed to the rebels, and they get their first real glimpse of who they are dealing with, and all the shock and horror that comes along with that. Instead, the scene is treated as masturbatory fan service.

Again, it's a great scene. But as it stands, it doesn't serve the movie at all. It serves A New Hope. And for a lot of fans, maybe that's enough? I guess I just need a movie to do more than remind me of how great a bunch of other movies are. But that's usually as far as Rogue One goes. Well produced action sequences set in a universe we know and love, glimpses of characters we already care about, and a new cast of characters that struggles to justify their own inclusion other than to fulfil their assigned plot devices.