Ah...now...quite a big one...for anyone who even hopes to consider themselves a Star Wars fan at least...the first stand-alone spin-off from the Star Wars universe we know so well...this is it...Rogue One. Having seen that there are quite a few films currently out that I fancy watching, I saw this one a few days ago and unlike some fans I was not building up to seeing it hoping against hope that it would not cast a horrific slur on the Lucas legacy, and whilst unlike some other fans, my world was not shaken after having seen it; I was overall quite pleasantly surprised.
Firstly, some important and marked differences and novelties. By and large - this is an all new story (running parallel/just leading up to the original Star Wars saga of the 70s) with all new characters (with a few scattered but welcome familiar cameos which we'll come onto later). All new characters, mostly all new actors and all new stories. And no Jedi...
That was one of the most negative points for me, leading up to and seeing this film, and it hasn't changed. To me Star Wars needs at least a healthy smattering of the Jedi, and whilst we got a brief injection of red lightsaber-wielding Sith (in the form of a certain fellow in an ominous black mask and cape) other than that we did not get another sniff of any lightsabers or The Force, flowing robes, or kick ass sci-fi sword fights. I know that this was a deliberate move, and I know the story just about works without this element, but I still missed it, and thus the film did go down in my estimations, before it really began.
However, what we did get was still all the classic elements of Star Wars that audiences fell in love with decades ago, drawn back, revamped and stripped down to bare essential in a sense, then given a whole new story and set of characters to sprinkle on top in a bid to make it fresh. But be advised, if you haven't seen any of the other Star Wars films; if you are a novice - DO NOT start with this one. There is still such an influx of mythology, insider knowledge, Easter Eggs and in-jokes that you do need to know your stuff, at least to a certain extent, and thus enjoy.
So, we lead with Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, daughter of the man behind the infamous Death Star. She is initially a reluctant fighter with the Rebellion but the plot flows through and culminates with the idea of her (joined by a small band of others) trying to find and capture the original plans for the Empire's planet killer, in order to set up for the events of 1977's A New Hope, where eventually said planet killer was destroyed suspiciously easily (thanks to a fault placed in the design of the weapon by Jyn Erso's father Galen -played by Mads Mikkelsen).
Now, Star Wars aficionados will know of course, that this problem of the "easily destructible Death Star" has plagued the minds of fans for years - for the climax of the original that first enamoured us to this world, it sure did seem pretty easy for the reactor core to blow...
Well, in essence this film attempts to answer that, or at least shore up the action with a bit more theory. And it basically attempts to do that for 133 minutes. Do not get me wrong, I am sort of glad they did it, and mostly pleased with how they did it, but that is my second major gripe with this film - no matter what positive points it has, it does not lose that whiff of afterthought I'm afraid. It is a tad sad, as I could clearly see the effort that had been made throughout to make a sure, honest, standalone film. But stripped down to its bones, this film still seems like the idea of some irate producer or writer (or probably several of them) who had got sick and tired of die-hard, passionate yet excessive fans questioning just why that bloody Death Star blew up so easily, and had decided to make a movie to try and shut them up.
Add to that the nagging sense at the back of your mind that this film, if you're being cynical, is surely just another ploy by Disney and Lucasfilm to get you to part with your money whilst waiting for the newest "canon" film in the form of the yet to arrive Episode VIII, and the overtones and less than positive running themes of this film do not bode well.
I'm afraid this idea of a Death Star saga/Star Wars stop-gap drips down into the cast too. Oh in terms of names, ability and performances, in many cases it is stellar. Felicity Jones is powerful, vulnerable and watchable as the lead, the great Forest Whitaker plays an eccentric but brilliant character in Saw Gerrera, Danny Yen is impressive and cool as the nearest we get to a Jedi, Alan Tudyk as new droid K-2SO is inspired, and Ben Mendelsohn as the chief villain is compelling and evil enough to match any Star Wars antagonist.
There are some poor pieces of casting/performances in my view too. Whilst he clearly had the panache and presence on screen, I sadly just did not believe in Mads Mikkelsen too much during his scenes, and Riz Ahmed as the Imperial pilot turned good just came across as so clichéd to me and not that believable too. Yet the most infuriating and disappointing cast member for me by far and away was Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, the supposed male lead of the piece. Disgustingly self-absorbed, verging from woefully wooden, more robotic than the droids on screen, to swanning about with a horrible swagger that he does not deserve - his was a disaster of a casting selection and subsequent performance to my mind.
Yet good cast or not, brilliant or bloody awful, by the end of the film almost every character newly introduced into this film had the same problem - they all seemed expendable, indeed pretty much all of them had expired (some of their demises feeling quite rushed and last minute).
Now I know that on the one hand, this is supposed to intensify the drama and sadness that the crew of the Rogue One all perished in a last, incredibly valiant, against-the-odds battle of resistance against the Empire, and yes I do feel that - the amount of emotion you do get to invest in a handful of these characters is certainly amped up when you see them heroically perish.
Yet again, I just feel that not having any of your main characters survive past the credits does seem like, yes it is all wrapped up in one stand-alone flick, yet to me it also shows that you didn't really have that much faith in them to begin with; especially not compared to other Star Wars characters (a la Solo, Kenobi, Yoda and the Skywalkers) that have thrilled and held our interest for decades.
Also of course, it was not just a crop of new faces - as said we had a heavy influx of old faces. Now this again suggests to me that the new characters (even if they were all perfectly performed, which sadly they weren't) were not deemed enough to carry this film through. And in fact, it was seeing some familiar faces that elevated and perhaps saved this film from more negative vibes, for me and I'm sure for other fans and audiences too.
So, who returned with a bang? Well - the biggest triumphant return was everyone's favourite Jedi corrupted by the Dark Side - yes Darth Vader was back and I like everyone else jumped for joy. The cape, the mask, the breathing, the wonderful voice of the wonderful James Earl Jones, and a KILLER lightsaber rampage scene and seeing Vader make a return was damn near perfect.
We also got a few bit cameos of C-3P0, R2D2, and the likes of Bail Organa and Mon Mothma respectively, which while brief were very welcome all the same.
We also were witness to two sadly deceased actors and characters being resurrected, and here I would briefly like to weigh in on this whole digital resurrection controversy that has stemmed from this film at this point. I agree with quite a few - they shouldn't of done it, they could have got away with not doing it, by and large it was unnecessary. But they did do it, twice...and in my opinion one hit, and one big miss.
It was surprising to see the late great Peter Cushing brought back as Grand Moff Tarkin, and to see him quite heavily used. But the likeness was so perfect (if just about discernible as not real) that it just about worked, and eventually you enjoyed seeing Tarkin aboard the Death Star once more.
To me what did not work, which jarred horribly, and what almost killed the mood right in the final seconds of the film, was a young likeness of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia - uttering one single word - "Hope" before the credits rolled. As Cushing's likeness was so realistic, it amazes me how Fisher's looked so plastic and animatronic. What's more (and this may have something to do with Fisher's recent tragic passing) to see a young Leia, or such a poor Leia likeness just slapped before the audience's eyes right at the end of the film just seemed to me a tad tacky, unnecessary and vulgar, and I'm afraid it did little to improve the overall tone and feel of the film.
So, a good idea I suppose, an interesting concept, but there is a lot not to like in my view with regards to Rogue One. And yet...and yet...if someone were to ask me - "is it a proper Star Wars film?" I would assuredly say yes.
OK there are a lot of things left to be desired, there are things you wish they'd added, and there are things you wish had never crossed their minds. But as I said what this film does is force us back to the roots of Star Wars, and once you can get your head around that, you find what they have done well, they've done very well. Inexplicably you do get a sense of the epic space opera Star Wars started out as, and what it was always meant to be. There are stunning pieces of music, brilliant visuals, enough good characters brought to life by enough good acting, and enough great moments that just about bring a huge smile to your face and render you with no possible alternative than to say - "yes! I just watched STAR WARS!"
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