Rogue One Is Rogue One an 'Adult' Star Wars Film?

Ok so i got into a debate over language with a guy a while back for he said Rogue One is the first 'Adult' Star Wars film.

I argued with him that he was misusing the tern Adult for many things classify as Adult, but that doesn't make them, smart.

I argued Rogue One while diving into definitely morally grey areas and theme was just a smart well written movie but i feel to classify it as Adult seems to de-grade the Original Six films (Well A New Hope, Empire and Sith at least)

But do you think, is Rogue One the first 'Adult' Star Wars film, or was my friend miss-using the term.

 

Nah, Not really to me, but that being said it is one of, if not the most adult targeted film. But I don't think its a ADULT film... Although I saw it 3 times, don't recall seeing but maybe 2 or 3 kids in all..

 

Definitely targeted for an older audience than, probably, all of the other Star Wars movies, but not necessarily "adult" in itself.

Thinking about it, I don't even know what an adult movie is supposed to be, if you're not talking about porn.

The themes in Rogue One are a bit different than in the other movies, but I don't think there's anything inherently adult about them. I think the effect you are describing has more to do with moral ambiguity and subtlety than anything else.

 

Ha ha! So true. I've always felt the word "Adult" is a pretty meaningless term myself, so many things can be considered "Adult" like Fifty Shades Grey (That doesn't make it good)

vncredleader I'd like to hear your take considering you and i have discussed how we never wanted a R rated Star Wars films.

 

Definitely depends on what you mean by adult film, but it's the first SW film that I've thought is too intense/morally grey to let my daughter see right away. It certainly takes the stories to some places that the OT didn't go to quite as much, but I don't know that I would classify it as more "adult" in terms of straight-up complexity.

 

Well, IMO, R1 is definitely not a kiddie film.

 

Well all Star Wars film can be watched by "kids" in one form or another.

That's why i again state the term adult doesn't hold much weight when you get right down to it.

Jedi, TPM are definitely the most Light Hearted Star Wars films of the Franchises TPM escpially

ANH and strangely Ep 7 i think balance a light and dark tone

Empire Rogue One and Sith being the Darkest....Sith and RO battling it out but SITH does have the advantage of seeing a man get BURNED ALIVE!

 

I most certainly do not want an "adult" SW film based around what qualifies as an "adult" film (mainly nudity and gore). If we are talking adult in terms of genuine maturity and a complex theme bieng handled well then yes RO is certainly adult.

 

While RO does follow a darker tone it shows enhanced amount of comic relief (K-2SO) too. It´s on par with ANH, ESB, RotS and TFA for me.

 

My 10 year old son and his friend loved it, ranking it near the top. But they are both pretty big SW movie fans, understanding a lot of the themes, etc... and the more kid-oriented things like Rebels don't appeal to them much at all.

 

Well, I would say it is MORE adult than other SW movies for sure. But no, not entirely an adult movie. The other SW movies really targeted the whole family, so little 7 year old Johnny would like it too. R1 was more targeting adolescent and older.

I think you could break up what adult means- there is the sex violence aspect, but then there is also the deeper, more involved themes that go beyond good vs evil, which SW does not. I don't mean to say that is all there is to SW, but it doesn't require an adult to really be captivated by its core meaning. Other movies, which may or may not have sex or violence, have themes and plots that the mind of a kid is too simplistic for; they either wouldn't understand it, or wouldn't appreciate its depth enough to be entertained by it..

 

I'd say it definitely wasn't for the majority of under 10's or kids who are sensitive to the stuff in R1 - personal choice for parents to make I think.

For this reason I think R1 box office performance is amazing, I wonder how many family viewings this missed out on.

 

Our eight-year-old, also a big fan, loved it too.
The way I think the film reviewer on BBC 6 Music put it, he wouldn't take an under-6 to see it. Some think the bar should perhaps be a bit higher - I guess every parent has to decide based on their knowledge of their own kid. Technically the official rating (12A in the UK, PG-13 in the US) suggests possible unsuitability for under-12s/under-13s, but this wasn't the first SW to have this rating - and in practice it's a fairly unhelpful category unless you're taking a very conservative approach or have a very sensitive child. E.g. most of the Marvelverse movies are fairly unproblematic really, whereas some of the recent DC films are much less suitable for kids (I haven't let ours see B. v S. or The Dark Knight - nor Suicide Squad although that was a '15' in Britain anyway so is a different category for us).

 

I don't know if it's that much more dark or violent than the other films, though it's definetly up there.

I think humor is the biggest factor in making it more "adult". There's no silly/childish/annoying characters and/or humor like the previous 7 movies. There's no young Anakin, jar jar, 3po, bb-8, or finn.

Now don't take that as me bashing the other movies, as I love them, just the biggest difference I noticed between them. Doesn't necessarily make Rogue One better or worse just different.

 

Honestly though I feel like a lot of commentators need to go back and watch the original trilogy as the memories they have off its tone seem to be rather off and seemingly mainly consist of the lighter moments in ANH and ROTJ. The reality is those films are for the most part much more serious in their tone than your typical blockbuster, much more akin to Jacksons LOTR films than they are to the Marvel universe. Empire especially for me is actually a darker film than Rogue One, very similar settings with the odd bit of banter thrown in but a more depressing ending(yeah the heroes die in RO but having accomplished there mission).

 

I think it was more for adults than most of the other films, star wars fans have aged over the years and this seemed to please that group

 

I think that's rather harsh on 3PO in the OT, he's camp rather than overly sarcastic but I think most of the comedy around him is pretty similar to K2SO, verbal exchanges(with him more as a setup for Han's wit) rather than physical pratfalls(only ones that come to mind are one leg in ESB and legs sticking out of the sand in ROTJ).

 

Yes... as usual, many critics have fully displayed the fact that they need to watch all the other SW movies again.

Yes, I think it's telling that the funniest character in RO is K-2SO. I think he's hilarious, but he's hardly silly or childish.

 

yes. I would say prior to this ROTS was. And by adult I assume he means tone. Movies designed for kids to be able to enjoy too usually have a more cheery tone. Take the Marvel cinematic universe. Most are designed with kid audiences in mind, in fact IMO 1st Winter Soldier was targeted to the 18-45 demo, where as the other movies try to be 4 quadrant with a little something for everyone (a little romance her, some crude humor there, references to historical events, etc) . Dr. Stange is another I felt targeted to the 18-45 demo.

ROne is targeted at the 18-45 demo, and while others will enjoy it, they are not the target. Being Star Wars will automatically give it appeal outside of the target audience of the film itself. I took my 6 year to it, and I took her to TFA a year ago. TFA held her attention much better even though she was just 5 then. ROne did not have much for her besides Laser guns and Spaceships, KS2O is funny if you get his jokes, but a 6 year does not for the most part. He is definitely not cute and cuddly like BB-8. I honestly BB-8 versus KS2O made a huge difference alone. Add in Chewy and other elements and TFA was just better for her. I liked KS2O, but I remarked to my wife about how since they had to get it all in one film they made KS20 Chewy (co pilot and bashes people on the head, and voices his displeasure), 3CPO (smart mouth and translates), and R2D2 (gets into trouble and accesses imperial networks) all in one.

TFA was 4 quadrant, you had Kylo Ren and Rey which appealed to teenagers and young adults, Harrison Ford for the older crowd. Poe which kinda had the classical hero thing going on which would play well older audiences, he is hot and dashing which plays well with teenage girls to younger women (and cougars). There was plenty for the 18-45 in TFA, but it was not a targeted film.

 

Honestly though I think teenagers and perhaps even younger children are often more willing to take sci fi/fantasy seriously than adults are. The lighter tone of the majority of modern blockbusters is I think not there for the kids benefit but rather for the adults(or perhaps older teens) who desire a fairly light viewing experience that doesn't come across as too "geekish".

 

I don't think that R1 is an adult film per say, it is different than the rest of them though. R1 is a tragedy interlaced with hope. It is a bit like ROTS. The themes are dark, but, they are not as dark enough to warrant a every day adult life kind of thing/event. In ROTS, a galaxy falls, evil wins, a heroine dies, a hero turns to evil. Despite all of that at the end there is hope. Same thing with R1, everyone that went to Scariff die. From General Draven, to Admiral Graddus, and the entire team that stole the plans. Heck, the stormtroopers for once were very effective and scary. Same thing at the end there was hope.The plans were obtained and Princess Leia got em which leads to Episode 4

 

RO is probably the 3rd darkest SW film after ROTS and ESB, respectively.

And not suitable for kids, in my opinion. But maybe that has to do with the fact that on my 2nd viewing, there were around 7 kids sitting next to me, constantly screaming, shouting and imitating laser shooting sounds during the action scenes while failing to comprehend any dialogue, character moment or dramatic scene happening on screen.

 

You have to be 15, or it's just recommended? In the US, the movie (like ROTS and TFA) is PG-13, but that just means "parental guidance suggested for children under 13". For most movies that are PG-13, that seems to be a stretch too; most kids who are younger than 13 are fine with most PG-13 movies (but not really little kids). It's become kind of the default rating for most movies with any decent amount of action these days.