Rogue One Rogue One Reviews/Reactions thread

I certainly think the overwhelming positivity Rogue One has received will have certainly been an eye opener for Disney. There had been a decades anticipation for TFA so the build up was akin to that of TPM. But R1 was only a year after Force Awakens, so it was reviewed without the nostalgia factor, and purely as a film first and foremost.

 

Honestly I tend to think a lot of the style of modern blockbusters(which I think TFA like ABrams Trek follows and indeed helped create) is about making maximum impact on first viewing. Perhaps a reflection of the way viewing has changed? granted were hardcore fans here and will see the films more than once at least but I think for the average cinema goer repeat viewings are much less common than they were even 10-15 years ago and vastly less common than in the 70's and 80's where big hits could stay at the cinema for months with vastly cheaper tickets.

Rogue One for me is definitely more of the old school, the characters and plotting aren't as broad and easy to follow IMHO plus the pace isn't so rapid with constant action/humour so there definitely is a benefit from multiple viewings picking up on the subtler moments knowing how they link together and the atmosphere generally.

As far as the Anthology films goes I think its tough to say for sure, I can see the Han Solo film being viewed as a bigger deal by Disney beforehand but perhaps because it has the potential to lead into its own series? I'm not sure it is really going to represent the way any other Anthology films might work though considering its going to feature two major characters from the OT, what else could do that bar perhaps an Obi Wan film? Rogue One for me feels like it might potentially be the blueprint for a hell of a lot of future films though, perhaps you couldn't link as closely into the OT again but really that's not the films main attraction, rather its having a lower level plot more centred on the rebels during the civil war, you could potentially have near limitless films along similar lines with new sets of characters.

 

Definitely feels like 3.9 to me. It is almost a detour while remaining on the timeline. The last 5 minutes really hammers that home for me as the two big Saga players (Vader & Tarkin) both show up to quickly wrap things up. The feeling I got was a reminder that why this big Skywalker/Palpatine saga was playing out, the universe and war was wide and included more "every day people" characters that weren't the level of greek heroes and gods, but could still play a vital role. But when those Greek heroes/villains show up, they quickly smack down the bit players (Krennic / Rebel soldiers). Almost like mom and dad let the children play until it got out of hand, then had to quickly administer some order.

Just in the last 5 minutes:
Jyn gets the plans uploaded (the children got out of hand)
Death Star shows up and obliterates Krennic, Jyn and Cassian
Vader shows up and obliterates escaping ships and the rebels scrambling to high tail it out of there with the plans
The shot of Vader's boarding party flying over the devastated and still mushroom cloud of Scarif was downright cinematic.

Now onto your talk about the next anthology. I'm much more worried about that because the big difference is the R1 anthology was set to an event. The HS anthology is set to a specific character. So that one just seems to be headed toward "here's Han's greatest hits before he hooks up with Luke and OB1". They can definitely make it work (the Han Solo trilogy novels were fun), but it seems to really box in the possibilities much more.

I'm really afraid we'll get:
Here's Han deciding to be the smuggler and hook up with Jabba. Let's save Chewie on the way and get a life debt. Time for some Lando gambling to lose the Falcon. Let's see what this baby can do. Time to shave off some parsecs. Are those Imperials trying to board us? Jabba's not gonna like this. Let's go cool off on Tatooine. Hey. It's digital OB1 offering me some easy money for a taxi ride. Let's go meet his friend CREDITS.

 

Not sure I agree with that, granted Vader and Tarkin are shown as more powerful than Krennic but they really do not drive the climax of the main story, its more of a post script to lead into ANH. I don't think it really feels like having the "greek gods" involved lessens the potential for still telling a good story.

I do worry about the Han Solo film for the similar kinds of reasons you mention though, going back to an existing character with more of an established(if still quite vague) history does seem to have the potential to turn things into more of a greatest hits and indeed to end up as a rather too broad action/comedy. The path to success there I think rests with firstly making young Han/Lando(and potentially whoever Emilia Clarke is playing) good characters in their own right and then also in making the setting have depth, the second I think being a bit more questionable as I'm not sure anyone involved has the same world building ability as Edwards. Still though I think the SW gangster culture does have potential for a good setting even if its not really been focused on seriously much since the OT.

 

Lord and Miller will not be doing the obvious route.

 

Watched it a second time. This time with the kids. Loved it even more. That Leia finale really choked me up even more. Heck, when Bail Organa just refers to her I had the feels.

Love this movie.

And my fourteen year old is still reeling from the shock of them all dying.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I thought it was excellent. I liked TFA, but I enjoyed R1 more (if it's a competition).

I thought it the right decision to kill the crew. That was the logic of the narrative and it was more powerful that way. I liked Vader's scenes and am glad he was used the right amount, not overused. I also think it right to keep the Emperor out of it, in line with ANH. Including him would have made the universe a bit smaller. The Emperor's appearances should be strictly rationed.

We took our 8-year-old and he loved it - although he somehow missed the fact that Jyn and Cassian had died and was slightly disappointed to be told this afterwards. But it didn't affect his overall enjoyment.

 

Celebrated New Year's Eve by watching R1 in IMAX 3-D again...on a REAL IMAX screen. (That 7-minute Dunkirk preview was cool--though I was annoyed at the fact the theater STILL included 20 minutes of trailers after that)

 

I just saw it a few hours ago and really liked it. I liked most of the characters and the pacing of the movie was much better than TFA. I didn't mind the use of the CGI for Tarkin especially since I feel his inclusion seemed essential. The war movie feel definitely worked well.

Overall, a vastly superior movie to TFA in my opinion which I thought was awful.

 

So, a question for you (and others with a similar opinion): are you now more hopeful for the future of Star Wars?

 

Not for the ST. The foundation laid in TFA has probably ruined the whole trilogy for me but I will reserve final judgment for after seeing 8 and 9. But I will say I am more hopeful for the other anthology movies.

 

Saw Rouge One for the first time yesterday. Superb - what an incredible film! Really enjoyed the OT homages/nods, as well as the dark, grim storyline. Pleasantly surprised that Disney had the ba!!s to kill off so many main characters; this added to the drama/realism of the film. I would have to say this is my 2nd favorite Star Wars film - it's right behind ESB for me; and, I grew up on the OT.

I will post a more detailed review later.

 

Oh god, the only thing more inessential than a "how they stole the death star plans" movie would be a ******* two-part "how they stole the death star plans" movie. Does this leave enough room for the trilogy about Lando's maneuver at the Battle of Tanaab?

 

You do realise that ESB and TFA are both pretty inessential, too, right? Both ANH and ROTJ pretty much wrapped up the story.

 

What an incredibly insipid argument. You really want me to believe you can't comprehend the fundamental difference between continuing a story, and going backward to explain a small detail with a whole new movie? I just don't think you're making that argument in good faith, so I'll ignore it.

Anyhow, seems no one has posted this yet:



Queue the usual chorus of

"I used to like her, but now she's just being negative for clicks!"
"It's a WAR MOVIE, so the basic tenets of storytelling and character development don't apply!"
"She needs to see the movie 5 more times because she had the wrong expectations!"
"She's just trolling, because no negative opinion, even one founded on basic ideas about drama and movie-making is ever valid where Rogue One is concerned!"

 

Again - Jim, your irony and self-awareness meter appears to be broken. We get it - you think R1 was a total failure. Fine. Now imagine your responses to people who feel the same way about TFA and do nothing but aggressively and hyperbolically slam it and the fools who have drunk the kool-aid. Tedious isn't it?

 

The point is this: a good story justifies its premise, no matter how insignificant it is on its face. Criticising a movie not for its attributes as a movie but for its premise is about as "insipid" as you can get.

 

Finally saw it for the 1st time today. Not sure what to make of it, but it was a great movie. Just darkety dark dark dark. We're not used to seeing SW movies like that. When people say ESB was dark, it's nothing like this. I commend Disney for allowing R1 to go that route. Can't really compare to TFA or the saga films because it's just so different. Apples and oranges. But I like it. Here's to more anthology films that are allowed to be themselves and ambitious SW films

 

I don't understand this post. Why, exactly, does this one video reviewer strengthen your argument against the film?

You know who you remind me of? Students in their, let's say, second year of film school. They know the "101 rulebook" of film-making and storytelling pretty well, but haven't yet developed the maturity to recognize when a filmmaker is breaking the rules for the better.

Come back in a decade, when your arrogance has cooled, and perhaps people will listen.

 

Ah-hah! 10 reasons why you liked this and shouldn't have? Really?

I've no idea who that even is, but it's pretty clear there is a whole youtube clickbait for views industry around Star Wars and it's like no other franchise in that regards. I mean i've seen uploaders who others seem to like make such ahem... superb videos like 'did Anakin have his manhood burnt off on Mustafar?' simply for the views as the youtube algorithm has changed to favor regular uploaders.

If youtube had been around since 1980, then every film since the original would have been trashed. If you take the opinion of others as sacrosanct above your own opinion then there has not been a good Star Wars film for 40 years.

 

Heck i know people today who could tear A New Hope (considered by everyone to be the Gold Standard of Star Wars) a new one with it's pacing issues, awkward dialogue moments, that middle half that's kinda slow. See....I'm doing it now

 

I have to admit I found that review much too annoying in its self satisfied kooky style to watch it all(maybe I'll try again latter) but I did get though most of the character arcs bit.

To start with I'd say it seems rather strange that she starts off talking about the supporting roles, whilst I'd agree she's correct these characters don't have greatly strong arcs would you automatically expect them to? there purpose surely is to support the leading roles. To me it seems like mentioning that first is an effort to build up some credibility before she makes some much more questionable statements about the lead characters.

Cassian shooting the informer for example doesn't really seem like a "on off" moment to me, maybe its his most ruthless moment akin to Han shooting Gredo that it references but still this isn't unique. We see him going along with orders to kill Jyns father whist using her to get access to him without telling her, seems pretty ruthless to me plus of course we see him being rather dismissive of Chirrut despite his being a natural ally. That seems like a fine arc to me all round, starts off very ruthless, gradually becomes less ruthless and ends up disobeying his orders to trust Jyn in a selfless mission.

With Jyn I would at least say I'd agree with could have done with a bit more of her earlier in the film establishing her character but still beyond the situation being a bit clichéd I don't see saving the child as a problem. Rather I think that as with Cassian its an example of a character arc not being simplistic and ham fisted, we don't see peoples whole personalities change over the course of a few days, rather we see hints at the people they are capable of being early on. She does care enough to save the child when its right in front of her but is still trying to deign following though on this and joining the fight against the Empire before her fathers message and then death.

Added to that you do also obviously have a strong arc within the rebellion itself moving away from the distrustful pragmatism we see earlier towards greater selflessness.

 

Get back to me when I start putting up insane arguments like the ones I see here, like insisting that someone who didn't like the movie just needs to see it again, because the weight of expectations something something drink more koolaid, or that they're only trolling for clicks and didn't actually dislike it, or that it's a war movie, ergo any normal criticism is invalid. Maybe check your own self-awareness meter.

Edit to add. This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Rogue One is perfect. No one can ever say anything bad about it without an ulterior motive around here.
P.S. The idea that Gareth Edwards is such a master filmmaker that he knows when to break the rules is just... yikes.

 

As I said, the movie has one flaw: It doesn't explain why they sent Cassian and Jyn to kill Galen Erso.

They should have debriefed, take all the information they had, and then send a well-equiped, handpicked strike team to Eadu. That was a very difficult mission, and they sent Cassian alone with a single droid and with a girl who would try to make him fail once she caught wind of his real intentions.

 

Hysterical much? Perhaps I gave you the reaction you wanted though. If you don't think there are clickbait Star Wars channels on youtube I can't take you seriously.

This is obvious clickbait. I follow a ton of Star Wars channels on youtube and many of whom I follow didn't like Rogue One that much. None of them were obvious clickbait, just that persons opinion.

You are projecting. I rated R1 8/10. No film is perfect, but then you know that.