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

Nahhhhh, they snapped there starched collared necks!

 

Tone-wise, it seemed pretty consistent with the other films to me.

 

Props on a great post!

Han and Luke do the exact same thing with an inspection team on the Falcon.

You know they must've stashed the bodies in the hidden compartment they just got themselves out of in the first place. Wonder who had the task of unloading said bodies once they got to Yavin 4?

 

Interesting post. Haven't seen MBTS but am interested to hear your opinion on a few movies I would consider "Adult"

The Usual suspects
Millennium trilogy (GWTDT, GTPWF & GTKAHN)
Godfather trilogy
Shawshank Redemption

 

yep it is. at least nothing for the very young kids, they are bored by it.

 

Its certainly true that a lot of cinema does follow the forms of "adult drama" without actually having very much of interest to say at all, basically depending on the genre and links to real social/political issues to fain depth. Often the advantage of sci fi/fantasy is exactly that it removes these potential crutches meaning films need to stand on their own far more.

 

No I don't really think so. An adult film would have had Storm Troopers helmets being smashed in and knocking them out compared to being punched with bare hands and kicked and hit with sticks. Jyn and Cassian would have also got their gear off quicker than K-2SO did ;-)

I think it pretty much kept the same bar as all SW movies.

However killing the entire cast is a pretty rare thing and indeed thats quite new for SW. I saw RO with my nephew a few weeks back who is in his early teens and he commented that he thought it was really sad. TFA didn't have that impact on him with Han which I thought he would find upsetting so maybe the concept is quite adult.

When I was a kid there used to be a show called Blake's 7 which did the same and I remember being really, really upset by it for quite some time. As a child it is quite difficult to seperate a fictional story from being real.

 

I certainly think in terms of its overall tone Rogue One is definitely geared toward the 'older' Star Wars fan. For example, I couldn't imagine many young kids finding K-2SO to be particularly funny and endearing. Or the moral grey area of the Rebellion and the extremist element of Saw's faction to be understood..
I could cite others also. Such as the dynamic between Krennic and Tarkin, Vader's involvement, and so on and so on. Which in no way is meant in a condescending manner. It's just the story requires you to invest a certain level of emotional involvement in the protagonists so that you really feel their ultimate sacrifice in the epic end battle.

 

It felt like an adult movie to me, no silly character in the movie stepping in doo-doo. In fact I can't think of a silly kid-friendly thing that happened in Rogue One at all. The movie's tone was very war-like & mature all the way through.

 

It felt like it was meant to be the Ode to the Fan movie, even more so than TFA was. TFA was fun, true, but it didn't quite resonate with the OT fans in the way RO did. It was meant to be a movie for the older fans. The ones who knew a time before the PT.

 

I'd argue that RO had many prequel influences, but in a good way. It's definitely a movie for diehard fans of the saga, and I love it for that.

 

Oh without a doubt. I think "diehard fan" would be a more appropriate word for what I meant. RO had all these references that only the fans would understand. This was definitely a film done to please the fans, and please it oh so did.

 

Diehard fans were definitely given a ton of references. This film really delivered for them.

But IMO, RO was also one of the most accessible Star Wars films for audiences that don't respond well to the normal cornball cheese of the franchise. I heard many a "definitely the best one" from lots of cineaste adults.

 

Again though I think Rogue One keeps the more indepth references in the background, if you only remember the basics of the plot of ANH then you'll easily be able to understand it.

Where I think Red Letter Media were totally wrong was the idea that the film is built on constant references in terms of the design/setting as well. Yes obviously being set just before ANH it has a lot of the same setting but honestly how many scenes depend on nostalgia for their impact? Personally I see ALOT more of that kind of thing in TFA where as I think Rogue One generally makes sure it can support itself without nostalgia. You look at the Deathstar for example and theres barely a single shot that depends just on the basic design , pretty much every one has something uniquely interesting visually to offer.

 

You actually don't have to be familiar with ANH at all to fully understand the film.

 

True you could definitely understand it, I think it benefits from knowing ANH but really the films so well known that's surely not a negative?

 

RLM means absolutely nothing. They probably liked RO but are acting contrarian for the sake of being contrarian, or to "prove" that they weren't paid off for their TFA review. It's clear they don't know what they want from the SW franchise. I still enjoy the Plinkett PT reviews, though. Those are funny.

 

I don't know, if a reviewer says they don't like something, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt that they don't, even if I don't agree with their reasoning.

 

WebLurker, you'd think that, right? The reasons they hate RO are contradictory to the reasons they enjoyed TFA. I mean, I could honestly care less about what they think, but their opinion is mindlessly parroted by so many online.

Also, same WebLurker from the Technodrome Forums? Cool!

 

Yeah I'v always had more time for them than any of their imitators due to the personality they bring.

The issue I suspect is that TFA was made so much along the lines they and others like them had been suggesting for years beforehand than another new SW film made in a different fashion was viewed as a threat. The problem for me is that whilst I agreed with some of the flaws they picked out in the PT its then IMHO a big stretch to claim that this same analysis provides the blueprint for creating OT quality SW films, TFA does a lot of the basic things they highlight but still for me is lacking relative to the OT and Rogue One.

 

I didn't see either (I don't enjoy their style of review very much), but I was actually under the impression that they didn't like TFA, either. I will say from experience that one can like the way one thing handles it, but not care for the same thing in a different project, so maybe that was the case for them? Not sure why RLM became such a go-to for fans, thought. Are they "professional" reviewers (as in people with backgrounds in film studies) or just normal movie goers sharing their opinions?

Yep, that's me. You hang out there, too?

 

WebLurker, RLM has a background in film school and are an entertaining group. The Plinkett reviews clearly show an understanding of film. They generally produce quality content that caters primarily to SW fans.

Yeah, they loved TFA. The complaints for RO made almost no sense and they had to make 3 different damage control videos to elaborate on their "criticism".

 

Okay.

Wow, they got that much flack over it?

 

I believe the backlash against RLM came not so much from their review, but from when they started attacking and mocking people for liking a movie they did not like, using manipulative tactics as basis for their arguments. It’s when people started realizing that they are still just a bunch of fanboys who have their bias and want their Star Wars be a certain way and they seem to have a severe problem with people who don't agree with them.

 

Very much this. I wasn't personally offended, but they have a snide sense of self-importance that looks down on anyone who disagrees with them. It makes for a funny video, sure, but a weak argument against the movie.