Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been out for some time now, and even though the majority of the people love it. I have some issues with it. That being said, there are some thing about it I love nonetheless. Obviously be warned, as there are huge Spoilers ahead.
1. The Huge Space Battle at the end of the movie
Huge Battle Fleet with a calamari admiral? Check please. Some people have said in IMDB forums and Youtube videos, that the first two-thirds of the movie where boring, but worth the wait for this colossal skirmish at the end. I personally wasn’t bored throughout the movie, but I cherished when the Rebels light-sped Scarif to assist the Rogue One crew. The intense space collision reminded me of my youth, when I got a Gamecube with the Rogue Squadron game as a gift. Relieving those glorious moments was a huge plus for me, and I thank this movie for giving me that.
2. Planet Jedha and the Jedi Lore
I love the mystic mystery of The Force, and apparently other people too. So I love expanding on that part of the Star Wars mythos. the desert planet Jedha (sounds like Jedi. Oh, you clever writers!) was a nice addition as place where the Temple of the Whills resides. This moon boasts a large quantity of the minerals known as kyber crystals. These crystals were attuned with the Force, and where and integral part in the production of lightsabers.
The Fallen statues littered throughout the landscape reminded us of a time long lost, reflecting the decadent state of the Light Side of The Force, which is waning with the rise of the Empire.
It would’ve been great if we could see more of this planet. Sadly it looks like any generic poor/desert planet like Tatooine or Jakku (Star Wars love barren planets apparently). C’mon guys, you’ve got Millions to spend and Creative people by the buttloads, can you make mesmerizing worlds?
3. K-2SO: The robot with spunk
First of all, I’d like to say that I found K-2SO enjoyable. I didn’t love it, but I sure appreciate his presence. He brought spice to the cast. And that’s a weird statement: the robot character giving spice to a ensemble mostly made of humans. What I mean with bringing spice is that it brings a personality that this movie seriously lacks. I don’t mean characters have to be quirky or stupid or Jar Jar Binks to be memorable. But this is one of the few that is gonna be remembered.
No one is gonna say, “boy, I sure liked when the Pilot deserted did ______” or when the guy who was with the blind guy did _______. Because they didn’t have any scene noteworthy. K-2SO was a robot who didn’t follow orders for weird reasons, for example he went to the Holy City in Jedha, not because he was programed to help the heroes, but because he was bored. Also, it was a very reliable ally, deflecting grenades and shooting with more accuracy than most stormtroopers. If the Empire had more of these bad boys on their ranks the Rogue One Rebels who stormed the beach wouldn’t have accomplished half of the things they did.
4. The Dark Side of the Rebels
Forget about Han Solo shooting first, have you seen this guy, Cassian Jeron? He shoots panicked informants on the back! I didn’t have a problem with Han nor with Cassian with stuff like this. But it sure makes the Rebel cause to be a little darker than when they debuted in 1977. Some rebels had to do unpleasant things; things that people like Cassian had to do for the freedom of the galaxy and to stop an oppressive regime.
We’re shown this new facet of our classic heroes…and I kind of like it. Everything is not as black and white as the Jedi and Sith claim it to be. It’s not about Light Side of Dark Side, it’s about each individual’s belief of what they can do to help the galaxy. The question is, will we see more thing like that in future installments of Star Wars?
5. 1977 revisited
Some movies like the 2000’s Star Wars prequels did it wrong. They did a backstory about the world of a Galaxy from far, far away, and they added even more technology. They had more robots, less buttons and more touch-screens, more cloning, definitely more cloning, actually, more of everything. This movie did it right by respecting the original trilogy’s fashion, technology and effects.
Yeah, some people didn’t like CGI Leia or Grand Moff. But I didn’t mind it. Maybe in a second viewing I’ll notice those things more. But I didn’t mind them at all. But they did the costumes right, the control panels right, the look of Darth Vader was also made to look like better, etc. In essence, they got the feel right. If felt like the Star Wars world.
And that is always a plus.
6. Darth Vader show’s us how ruthless and intimidating he is
How many people orgasmed when Darth Vader turned on his lightsaber? According to the polls 8 million people. Twice. Nah, Thats not a true poll. But man that was a cool scene.
It kinda feels like the final Vader scene was only shown for easy badassery points and nothing more. But thank the Force it was here. You could feel the Rebels distress and anxiety as Vader cut their numbers. Most importantly: it was short and sweet. If it was any longer, it may had lost its appeal.
7. Galen Erso’s Brilliant plan
My favorite and most respected character in Rogue One is the original Rogue: Galen Erso. If it wasn’t for his strength, the Empire would’a won. This guy is forced to build a doomsday device by the people who killed his wife and challenged is morals. He doesn’t even know if his daughterm little Jyn Erso is alive and well. All that pretending isn’t easy, but he prevailed with the help of the idea that permeates the whole movie: Hope.
His plan came to be with a revelation amidst all his tragedy. He realized the Empire would do everything in their power to complete the Death Star, with or without him. So how could he save the galaxy and enact his revenge? Join them and help them in making the most destructive weapon in the galaxy. With a twist. He would design it with a hidden flaw that would damage the entire station. Something so tiny that no one else saw the flaw. The only problem was how to send the information to the rebels. Easily. He “inspires” a cargo pilot for the Empire to defect and betray and put himself in harm to deliver a message.
He did a lot of important stuff, most of the time alone. So Galen Erso deserves my respect.
8. Jyn and Galen’s Relationship
This movie doesn’t have a lot of great character development scenes, nothing memorable anyways. But one idea permeated above all: A father and daughter’s love, stronger than politics and objectives. Jyn Erso wasn’t the most expressive of characters, but when she cries at the scene where his father dies, you just feel it. It’s great that Jyn gets inspired by his fathers resolution and sacrifice, and ends up finishing his goals of sending the schematics to the Rebels.
9. Everybody dies!
This is not the Happy Star Wars Ending that your Grandpa and Granny watched when they where little tykes. In this movie the heroes die. All of them.
No, there are not little hairy Ewoks Braiding Leia’s hair while everybody parties. No medals for the human heroes with a screaming Chewie on the side. Everyone that made it this far dies, one by one, till the two lasting heroes are left waiting for their demise by the very weapon they’re trying to destroy.
And yet I didn’t feel sad. They completed the mission. They were heroes. They helped in a project bigger than themselves. Each characters arcs resolved. The Empire lost, just like Jyn told Krennic at the end, making the end a satisfying conclusion.
10. The Jedi Wannabe
Donnie Yen is a great martial arts actor. and putting him on the role of Chirrut Îmwe, a blind Force believer monk was weird for this type of darker Star Wars movie, but fun nonetheless. There were things that I didn’t like which I’ll talk about tomorrow.
_________________________________________________________________________
Tomorrow I’ll post about the 10 things I hate about the new Rogue One: a Star Wars Story. And boy I had some issues with it. Till next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment