Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Meh, they're not scaring me off. I'm reserving judgement. Let everyone do their jobs. This stuff can happen...and nobody involved wants to make a bad movie.
 
I am really impressed at how dark they seem to be going with the story (from what I can tell from the trailers). Frankly, I'm tired of the "fairy tale" approach of the past.
 
From this trailer I have learned:

- There is going to be another Star Wars film this December.
- All Star Wars female leads are attractive petite brunettes with mildly British accents.
- The trailer companies are really good at making Star Wars trailers.

I reserve all judgements about the film itself for the actual release.
 

I'm loving the new one! (hope I got the embedding right) It just looks like an interesting story here.
 
Aside from how it seems as a movie...can we all just enjoy how gorgeous it LOOKS? This is the first time since Empire where Star Wars feels like ART to me. What a gorgeous image.
 
Reviews after the premiere were fantastic. People were freaking out, and not in the typical "it's premiere night" sort of way. Super stoked at this point. :)
 
I'm staying cautiously optimistic. I didn't like anything about Godzilla really other than the way it was shot. Maybe Tony Gilroy saved it, as he is rumoured to have done with the reshoots.
 
KyleProhaska said:
Reviews after the premiere were fantastic. People were freaking out, and not in the typical "it's premiere night" sort of way. Super stoked at this point. :)
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Wasn't that also the case after Episode VII? I enjoyed that one well enough at the cinema, but the more I think about it the worse it gets...
 
At this point I plan to go in with a blank slate. I accidentally stumbled upon a twitter feed noting that much of what was in the trailers is not in the finished film, and that this is a good thing. The guy loved the film and at that point I clicked away as I figured "I know I'm going to go see it -- I don't want to know any more." So I have no clue what that comment was about, other than the guy liked the film. Fine & dandy by me; I'll find out soon enough.

BTW, spoiler arter: They get the plans to the Death Star.
 
I just don't know how I'm gonna feel about a Star Wars movie without R2-D2 in it. It's my personal little theory that he (some insist she) is really the unsung hero. Who always seems to come through in the end and pulls the move that saves the day? R2, baby!
 
Mitch Gross said:
I just don't know how I'm gonna feel about a Star Wars movie without R2-D2 in it. It's my personal little theory that he (some insist she) is really the unsung hero. Who always seems to come through in the end and pulls the move that saves the day? R2, baby!
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It's not really a theory. George Lucas was inspired by Hidden Fortress, and the narrative conceit of telling an epic story from the point of view of two supporting characters of low social status (slaves in Hidden Fortress, Droids in Star Wars).
 
Oh, believe me I know. I just like to toss that one out there from time to time. Gets the fan boys going.

Next we can start with the various religious allegories, and then all hell breaks loose. Or at least the Dark Side. :-D
 
Ryan Farnes said:
I think this is going to be the best Star Wars film since 1983.
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It was indeed, maybe even the best since 1980. I'll have to let it marinate a little longer to make that call. Much like Godzilla, the last act was much better than the first two, but that wasn't enough to save Godzilla. The last 45 minutes of this shifted Rogue One from a merely good movie to a nearly great one. This felt more like an honest to god Star Wars movie than The Force Awakens did, a movie I'm less enthused with each time I watch it. I enjoyed a lot of it, but my initial gut feeling about TFA was that it felt like a really good TV movie version of a Star Wars film. This felt like a real film. Gareth shoots action with a good eye for scale and epic imagery. JJ is often too busy, whereas Edwards lets his shots play out so they carry more weight. The movie isn't perfect. The first 90 minutes are a bit too by the numbers, livened up only by good casting and intriguing new characters. And...

MEGA SPOLIERS




...the digital resurrection of Peter Cushing was a questionable choice. Considering how much screen time they gave him, I would rather it have been a real actor. This was a trip down uncanny valley lane that was mostly pretty creepy. Vader has one awesome moment at the end, but some of his dialogue scenes felt off, as did his performance. It's easy to underestimate how much David Prowse brought to the role with his physicality until you see another actor try to recreate it. I did, however, like how they used the original red x-wing squadron pilots, even if it looked like mostly recycled footage from the 77 film. I liked almost all the new cast members, with the Droid and Chirruh (Donnie Yen) being standouts, as well as a lot of the incidental faces we see. This was one of the great things about the original films. Sometimes you'd see only a glimpse of one character for a fleeting moment but their look was so iconic you wanted to know more. But it's the extended climax where this movie really delivers the goods, with cross cut battle scenes as thrilling as anything in the original trilogy.
 
I loved it!!!! It feels good to not be let down, I was really, really anticipating this one.

Spoilers...tread carefully!!!!

The final act is so over the top, jam-packed with action and great effects. I reckoned jyn and/or cassian would perish but I had no idea how DARK the finale would be. Did not see that coming and kudos to the story writers.

Batutta, all good thoughts. I did not know there was computer trickery with the moff Tarkin character. The whole time I was like "wow, this guy really looks like Peter Cushing". The Leia thing was awesome but that final scene played out insanely fast. I feel the pacing could have been just a touch slower before the credits started rolling. But damn...so cool.

It was mentioned that a lot of trailer footage isn't in the film. I will have to double back and re-watch. Certainly a lot of the trailer dialogue got omitted.

I'll definitely be seeing this again soon. Overall id say it was extremely ambitious and well executed for the light branding of "a Star Wars Story". I can certainly find some faults, but at this time I'm just going to revel in the awesomeness.


BTW: no crawl or main theme either! Now that was weird and off-putting.
 
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