{"id":26451,"date":"2016-12-16T02:15:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T10:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=26451"},"modified":"2016-12-16T09:14:19","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T17:14:19","slug":"rogue-one-review-prestige-fan-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/reviews\/rogue-one-review-prestige-fan-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogue One Review: Prestige Fan Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
This is a Spoiler-Free Review: i.e. no major plot points, no plot recap. If you\u2019ve seen the trailers and put the pieces together, then you’re safe.<\/div><\/div>\n

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story<\/em> is the first of the many Star Wars “sidequels”\u00a0promised by Disney when it\u00a0bought the Star Wars property from George Lucas in 2012. Suggested by ILMer John Knoll (story and visual FX supervisor credit), Rogue One<\/em>\u00a0tells the story of what really happened when the Rebels got the \u201cstolen data tapes\u201d of the Death Star to Princess Leia, i.e. the plot device that propelled Episode IV into our mass consciousness back in 1977.<\/p>\n

So, yeah, we\u2019re back there again: Prequel Land. Considering that last year\u2019s The Force Awakens<\/em>\u00a0jump-started the whole series forward again\u2014back into unknown story territory\u2014it\u2019s an odd choice to be taking audiences back into an\u00a0old Star Wars story where we already know the ending. But you know, nostalgia and built-in fan recognition and all that. And Darth Vader. (He\u2019s in the trailers.)<\/p>\n

While The Force Awakens<\/em> did indulge in fan service, Rogue One<\/em> ratchets it up to another level. Aside from Darth Vader, there are cameo appearances (and more) that use the latest motion capture technologies and CGI animation to satiate\u00a0devoted Star Wars fans. But will they feel sick afterwards? I think Star Wars fans want all-new material\u00a0rather than gimmicky homages that pull you directly out of the storyline.<\/p>\n

\"Rogue<\/a><\/p>\n

D<\/span>irector Gareth Edwards (Godzilla<\/em>) has in some ways the\u00a0unenviable task of making another Star Wars prequel, navigating the Disney marketing demands\u00a0and raising a non-episodic Star Wars movie beyond the level of Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure<\/em>\u00a0and the Star Wars\u00a0Holiday Special<\/em>. That\u2019s a low bar, for sure, and Edwards\u00a0goes way beyond it, with the aid of some of the best dialogue writing in the series from Chris Weitz (About a Boy<\/em>)\u00a0and Tony Gilroy of the Bourne series, who was brought in later, presumably for his\u00a0prowess with intrigue and\u00a0twisty action dialogue.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there are also moments of dialogue\u2014in particular a parting\u00a0speech from the mysterious Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and what is meant to be a rousing speech from main character Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones)\u2014that feel clunky and\/or just plain cheesy.<\/p>\n

Oscar-nominated Felicity Jones pulls her weight in the movie and offers up a convincing portrayal of the now\u00a0predictably standard Star Wars heroine who\u2019s both mostly strong and sometimes vulnerable and who has a tragic family past. With an ability\u00a0to produce sincere\u00a0and complex emotions, she might even be one of the best actors in the entire series. Interestingly, her controversial \u201cI rebel\u201d line from the trailers has been conspicuously dropped\u00a0from the actual movie.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s face it, people, her Stormtrooper disguise is not fooling anybody.<\/p>\n

Diego Luna is solid in a somewhat underdeveloped role as Captain Cassian Andor. Memorable supporting performances are turned in\u00a0by\u00a0Nightcrawler<\/em>\u00a0actor Riz Ahmed as an Imperial pilot defector and the Ip Man himself Donnie Yen as a blind protector of the Kyber Crystal temple.<\/p>\n

\"Rogue<\/a><\/p>\n

Ben Mendelsohn, who plays baddie Director Orson Krennic, not only gets to wear a cool Imperial cape, but he brings a unique approach and some interesting mannerisms that make you wish he was used in the new sequels.<\/p>\n

Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, although prominently featured in the trailers, is sadly not given much of a character. His part feels like it\u2019s been re-written and re-edited multiple times because his motivations are unsatisfying and the end result is a head-scratcher. The pressing question, however, of why he\u2019s bald and not bald in the various clips from the trailers is indeed finally answered.<\/p>\n

Similar to BB-8 in\u00a0The Force Awakens<\/em>, the Iron Giant-esque, reprogrammed Imperial security droid known as K-2SO (or simply “Kay”) really steals the show. Voiced by Alan Tudyk\u00a0and written with panache, this character\u00a0feels like a breath of fresh air in a story that is frequently hemmed in by all the mythology. He is the most convincing and fun CGI character in the whole movie.<\/p>\n

Because the overall\u00a0cast is very strong, Darth Vader and the handful of\u00a0surprise cameos end up\u00a0more distracting than satisfying, although their appearances are intended to\u00a0tie the storylines together. In his brief screen time, Lord Vader doesn\u2019t feel real at times and occasionally comes across as a CGI-created plastic toy. (David Prowse\u00a0was not invited to participate but James Earl Jones does lend the iconic voice.)<\/p>\n

The Rogue One<\/em>\u00a0design team has created\u00a0some cool-looking\u00a0Star Wars landscapes that don\u2019t feel like rehashes of previous Star Wars locales. The vistas of Jedha, the rocky spires\u00a0of Eadu, the Icelandic backdrop\u00a0of Jyn Erso\u2019s childhood home and the coastal jungle of Scarif still\u00a0feel part of Star Wars but also new and exciting. There’s also a scene involving\u00a0prequel planet Mustafar, which may sound like a bad idea, but it\u00a0gives a chance for some awesome old Ralph McQuarrie concepts to be finally realized on screen.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now well known that Rogue One<\/em>\u00a0is the first live-action theatrical Star Wars movie not scored by John Williams. Instead the job fell to Michael Giacchino, a frequent collaborator of J.J. Abrams. Giacchino\u00a0is a fine composer in his own right, but the score comes across as a “lite” version of\u00a0Williams. The\u00a0opening title card\u00a0feels goofy\u00a0with its short TV show-style musical cue, sans the traditional Star Wars fanfare. In the end, a more contemporary-style score by the likes of Alexandre Desplat (who was originally hired but bowed out due to scheduling) might’ve helped stake out a unique musical identity\u00a0for\u00a0Rogue One.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Rogue<\/a><\/p>\n

Full credit to Edwards and cinematographer Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty<\/i>) for their visceral,\u00a0guerrilla-style battle sequences, which are real highlights of the movie. In a good way, gamers who\u2019ve played Star Wars: Battlefront<\/em> and its recent expansion pack Rogue One: Scarif will enjoy how the action scenes recreate moments from the game. Yes, we\u2019ve now come full circle in that the movies imitate the games that were inspired by the movies.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the filmmakers weren\u2019t content with ground fighting and returned to the formulaic space battle\/ground battle\/personal battle third act that has become such a standard for the series\u00a0since Return of the Jedi<\/em>. We even get\u00a0Admiral Ackbar\u2019s greenish cousin<\/a>, but he lacks a meme-worthy moment. Fans will have to continue to wait for the smaller scale action\/weightier drama of The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u00a0in some other installment\u2026 maybe Episode VIII<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Because the story\u00a0lacks the spiritual and dramatic weight of The Force\/Skywalker elements\u00a0from the main episodes, Edwards and team have given Jyn Erso, Captain Andor, Saw Gerrera and the other rebels a generic\u00a0mantra of \u201chope\u201d as motivation\u00a0to defeat evil against\u00a0impossible odds. The Force is mentioned in the movie, but its relationship to the Rebellion is not clear. While Edwards and team\u00a0are trying to point towards “A New Hope” of Episode IV, there’s never a\u00a0cathartic moment that ties in the theme as we had\u00a0at the end of the original movie like, \u201cThe Force will be you…always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogue One<\/em> is an entertaining movie but it lives solely inside the Star Wars universe and doesn’t resonate beyond that. Unlike the original Star Wars movies which\u00a0had an enormous cultural impact, Rogue One\u2019s<\/em> impact is contained to its fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first of the many Star Wars “sidequels”\u00a0promised by Disney when it\u00a0bought the Star Wars property from George Lucas in 2012. Suggested by ILMer John Knoll (story and visual FX supervisor credit), Rogue One\u00a0tells the story of what really happened when the Rebels got the \u201cstolen data tapes\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1621,1620,1622,102,37],"class_list":["post-26451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-gareth-edwards","tag-rogue-one","tag-rogue-one-review","tag-splendiferous","tag-star-wars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26451"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26464,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451\/revisions\/26464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}