Rogue One The Official "List Your Complaints about Rogue One" Discussion Thread

Watch it again soon.

 

My only real complaint about Rogue One is that it’s hard to imagine any new Star Wars movies topping it. I have a feeling it’ll remain at the top of the heap for a long time.

 

No complaints here. It's about as perfect a SW movie I've ever seen. Riveting, gritty, emotional, and exciting from beginning to end.

Maybe wish it was a little longer though. A special edition with 15 or 20 minutes of additional scenes to flesh out the characters more in the beginning would be cool.

 

Rogue One is probably my 3rd favorite SW film, after the first two. Maybe 4th favorite. But in my opinion it is not even in Empire's league. But that is more a statement on Empire's greatness than any fault of RO, which is a wonderful film.

 

Having rewatched ESB and RO last week, I actually think RO is much better (sacrilege, I know). ESB is still #2 on my list, but the space slug plot-line, and the overlong shootout on Bespin, are just not that compelling. Whereas I find every aspect of RO compelling. With a few tweaks to those story-lines, though, ESB would be tied with RO for me.

 

- I feel like Jyn's character isn't fleshed out enough in the early part of the movie. Not sure I could really put my finger on what exactly I think is missing. I guess it's just that I don't get a sense of who she is or what she's thinking for the first part of the movie, despite being the protagonist (whereas Cassian I immediately understand from his first scene). Maybe it would have helped to see something of her survivalist lifestyle before she gets arrested, so that there would be more of a sense of a full arc when we see her transform into a self-sacrificing idealist.

- I don't like the gunfire patterns of the turbolaser batteries when they're shooting at the rebel fighters over the Imperial refinery base. Either they're nowhere near hitting or they're getting direct hits. It reminds me of a computer game that uses random chance to determine hits or misses rather than physics with predictive aiming.

- Chirrut's taking out the Tie Fighter was too much. I don't think the handheld weapon he used should have done that much damage, and I feel that him being able to accurately aim a weapon at a fast moving ship while blind goes beyond what he should reasonably be able to do, even with the Force. At that stage he might as well be a full-fledged Jedi. Also I think it undermines his last "miraculous" moments by showing beyond a doubt earlier on that he has supernatural powers.

- I would have preferred if at the end of the movie the Tantive IV had been waiting at a distance to receive the plans rather than be physically parked inside the cruiser.

 

I respect your opinion, however it seems they gave her quite a bit of backstory right up front.
Her father Galen worked for the Empire, somehow got away, but was captured by Krennic, Jyn's mother Lyra having been murdered in the process. All of which she witnesses as a young child. After hiding, Jyn is rescued and raised by Saw, until he too abandons her at age 16, apparently for her own safety, after her connection to Galen becomes to big of a liability for Saw to carry with him any longer.
She is later imprisoned by the Empire after having committed many crimes herself. She is an opportunist who loathes the Empire and has disdain for the Alliance. She is a loner, out for herself, as evidenced by how she attacks the Rebel soldier rescuing her on Wobani. Later, on Yavin 4, she shows flippancy and disdain for her Rebel interrogators, only coming around when they guarantee her freedom. In the hangar bay, she acquires a blaster, through theft, no doubt, and continues to stand up for her rights and so forth. She is independent, free thinking and a fighter, most definitely due to the difficult and painful life she has led thus far.

 

Yeah, intellectually, I understand all that, and I actually do like her character quite a bit, but some of that stuff you are only able to fully grasp after the fact, if you know what I mean. Like you don't know her backstory with Saw until we finally see them talk. I guess it made me feel like I didn't really know who she was (as an adult) until that scene (in contrast to Cassian whose introduction I thought was concise and effective).

 

I understand what you're saying, however, there are a lot of characters to establish in R1 and they were probably trying to keep the run time down. Not that anyone should be required to read them, but there is a lot more detail about Jyns' character in the trade paperback and the novelization. There are a few panels of her training with Saw, for example, and also including her war of words with this alien who threatens her life.



And if we recall ANH, there is not much backstory about Princess Leia for example. Jyn has quite a bit more, tbh. Even Hans' character isn't really developed right away. Only through his words, which I think Jyn's is also.

 

Don't get me wrong, overall the film does a great job at introducing and fully utilizing so many cast members. Thinking more about this, I guess it's less the quantity of backstory for Jyn that threw me off and more that, up to when she meets Saw, she felt like more of a stranger/unknown quantity to me than Cassian did. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that, but it felt a bit odd because we started the movie following Jyn, and so in my mind I had placed her as the pov character. Like, you're right that we don't get much backstory for Han or Leia in ANH, but they're never pov characters so it doesn't feel like we need that information because we know as much about them as Luke does. That's probably what was bothering me on a subconscious level, was uncertainty about who the pov character was. Perhaps my feelings on the matter will change when I get around to re-watching it again.

 

@Torib
You make a good point here and I understand what you are saying regarding POV character.

As I think I mentioned in a post here yesterday, the only "complaint" I can think of about R1 is that I wish it were longer lol. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes more exposition.

And I'm still thinking about what you mentioned regarding Chirrut Imwe in your earlier post...

 

Totally agree, would love to have seen what they could've done with a bit longer run-time (for the earlier sections anyway, I think the whole Scarif sequence is just the right length). One of my favorite movies is Seven Samurai (also an ensemble cast film) and one of the things that really benefits that movie is its 3 1/2 hr run-time that really gives space for scenes to breathe (though that would probably have been a bit too long for RO, lol). Still, it's remarkable how some of the less important characters like Baze and Body still manage to be quite memorable despite how little screen-time they actually get.

 

Yeah. It's one of the most economically told stories I've ever seen on film. While still being completely satisfying. The only place I would add a few minutes to is the prologue and Jyn's prison time on Wobani.

 

I agree with comments above, I'd also add few more minutes. My dad watched the movie, loved it but said the same thing.
I would've loved to see Cassian at the council meeting (we know he was there in the novel, in the background, but it would've been much better to also have that on screen). And the scene between Jyn and Mon Mothma, right before the meeting. "I won’t forget what we did to you" these words would've been perfect for the movie and for that moment, because I think Jyn really needed to hear them after losing her father. As I said, I wouldn't change a thing about the movie, but these two scenes would've made it more wholesome.

 

Main characters totally fall flat for me. Too many tropes.The worst is Jyn who just has no personality whatsoever, the problem is probably the way it was edited, it seems like they cut so much of her dialogue and just left in the simple one word or one line responses to keep the story going but after 8 or 9 watches I still couldn't really describe her as a person. She's good in action scenes, but I find all her dialogue so stilted, hackey and painful to watch.
Of the new cast K2so, Krennic, Raddus and Chirrut are superb, the rest are totally forgettable or just plain bad for me. The story is kind of by the numbers and only really works as a prequel...I know that's what it is but it should be able to stand on it's own terms better. It's fine, but not anything special.

Nothing needs to be said about the visuals, score, action (very broad terms I know but I'm lazy) etc...basically everything I haven't complained about is wonderful. But I find it a tough watch at times with so many dry, lifeless, tropey protagonists.

Saying all that though, it's still a really good film by any standard. I'm not having this current trend of deyifying it though. people calling it the best Star Wars film or the best since ESB....Give me a break!

 

"people calling it the best Star Wars film or the best since ESB....Give me a break!" @DarthCatbeard - It's okay to have your own opinion and I certainly won't try to change your mind, but I wouldn't be dismissive towards other people's preferences. We all search for different things to enjoy in media and many fans found something in RO, which is why some of us rank it as the best or in top 3. Again, I won't try to challenge your view on Jyn or some aspects of the movie. Yes, it's flawed. I'm a fan of this movie, but I acknowledge it. It's still my personal favorite.
I've seen people rank TPM or TLJ as number one, both movies I didn't enjoy personally. But to each their own, right? That's my point. ... I'm not gonna judge anyone for it.

 

I’m a pretty committed film buff, and take the medium very seriously as an art form. And I think RO is, on a visual, narrative and character level, better than ESB, which has stood for 30 years as my favorite SW film, and one of my favorite films. RO has a subtlety to it, and a naturalism, that’s simply very consistent with my aesthetic and storytelling sensitivities. What you see as bland, I see as artfully understated.

I also know that the film stands perfectly well on its own, as my cineaste wife (who has never watched the OT) not only perfectly understood the story, but really loved it. In fact, a lot of serious film aficionados who don’t like the pulpy, action-adventure silliness of the other SW films, enjoy Rogue One’s war film approach a lot. It may not be for you, but there’s little justification for mocking others for enjoying it.

IMO, it’s not just a great SW film. It’s a great film. Period. Just slightly above ESB and ANH. IMO.

 

I've been away for awhile and now I'm back. On the subject of a "lack of character development" in Rogue One I've been reading reviews for the very first Star Wars movie from 1977 and they mirror the negative reviews of Rogue One. The reviewers back in '77 said things like the movie is way too fast-paced to really get to know or care for the characters and the characters are boring or bland. I feel vindicated by that. The same tired pretentious crap that know-it-alls spewed back 40+ years ago is being echoed with Rogue One in the present age. I just find that so deliciously ironic and amusing!

 

1) I can't think about a single unforgettable quote.

2) The line "I hate you" / "I know" was childish and annoying.

3) Connected to 2) , every second it seemed they were trying to tell the audience " do you remember that moment in the OT ?? "

 

Oh, I'm very sorry, I misread.

 

Its brilliant. But not as good as Solo.

 

delete

 

RO is a masterpiece and the high water mark of the Disney SW era. Set the bar very high for Solo, whose faults are only more glaring when compared to RO. Hoping Edwards comes back for more, he earned it, even with the production troubles.


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What did you think was better in Rogue One? I do not understand the praise for that movie.