Film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

[Esper]

For those of us lucky enough to have already seen it, what did you think of this new addition to the Star Wars movie franchise? Let's keep everything except generic comments all in spoilers for now.

Spoiler:

I've read some reviews that weren't really too impressed with the movie, but I thought it was a lot of fun. More than anything it reminded me of the Expanded Universe novels that I read except, you know, better. I liked that it fit in well with the established universe without feeling like they were abusing the parallels as was done in The Force Awakens. There were nods here and there (the two cantina thugs from A New Hope showing up, a pitcher of blue milk inside Jyn's family home in the beginning, etc.) but overall I didn't feel like I was watching a rehashed story with the same kinds of characters.

And I did think these were good characters. Sympathetic. I was sort of expecting that not many of them would make it out alive because of how the story continues on in Episode IV, but when they each were killed it was a bit sad, especially Bodhi (the pilot) who seemed pretty innocent like he was in over his head. Overall I think they did a good job of showing how the Empire were actually pretty nasty guys and why stopping the Death Star was so important that they'd all let themselves die for the chance to stop it. They could have just assumed you knew how dangerous it was, like was done in, for instance, Episode I with the emperor being all shadowy-behind-the-scenes but not really doing anything. Instead you got to see up close how nasty it was

I could ramble on forever though so I'll just stop with the worst thing about the movie, and that was the CGI Leia at the very end. Real uncanny valley material there.

Celebrating my 10,000th post here woo

 

[Her]

Spoiler:

Jyn & Cassian were the two most unwatchable leads I've seen in a Star Wars movie, to be honest. Like... when you go into the prequel trilogy today, you know it's gonna be a shitshow and you've been prepared for over a decade now. So yes, Young Anakin & co (Ewan McGregor-Kenobi excluded, fantastic addition) would be the worst leads but it's been so long since I've watched the prequels without viewing it akin to a John Waters movie, I don't remember how I felt about them the first time I saw them. So when I say that Jyn & Cassian grated me unlike any other leads so far, keep that in mind. Didn't remotely care for them in the slightest. But to me, they were the only real flaw which dragged it down to 7/10, compared to Force Awakens' 8.5/10.

I loved every single member of the supporting cast and I thought the writing was spot on. It didn't feel pasted into the franchise a la Dooku and encapsulated the desperation of the period quite well. The Death Star method of dooming them by laser was a good method of keeping the story self-contained, it was expected but felt natural. I felt like Vader was pasted into the movie similar to the way Wolverine pops up in the X-Men movies but it wasn't particularly egregious, just a bit forced. I was also genuinely surprised by Tarkin & Leia showing up - I suppose the slight uncanny valley effect was to be expected, but Tarkin looked 95% human and held a more enticing presence than the supposed 'Big Bad', Krennic. Leia was more subject to uncanny valley than Tarkin, but probably because Tarkin is nowhere as huge a cultural icon as Leia is and so he's not a consistent figure in one's mind. But her presence gave me the 'damn!!! they did that!!' feel they were hoping for.

Worth the money and the addition to the lore, don't get too attached to the characters.

 

[Sektor]

What, they saw Kylo Ren and how much people hated him because he's not a great villain and is whiny, so they had to dust off Darth Vader? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I hate all of Rogue One's commercials though, mainly Nissan's.

 

[Esper]

~spoilers~

Spoiler:

Agreeing with you on weak leads. Just glad they didn't try any overt romance with Jyn and Cassian or it would have felt pandering. I was definitely engaged because of all the other characters, particularly K-2SO who had the enjoyable cynicism of C-3PO but self-awareness of his cynicism that made him, I think, the most likable and audience-friendly.

I have watched the originals fairly recently and I would say that the difference in the leads here is that they're kinda boring rather than making me cringe. Well, except when Jyn tried to give her hero speech. That kinda missed the mark.

 

[EC]

I want to get into this series but have no idea where to start.

Do I skip the animated movies and TV show?

 

[Esper]

I want to get into this series but have no idea where to start.

Do I skip the animated movies and TV show?

If you mean start in on the whole of the Star Wars franchise there are a couple of ways you can go about it.

1. Chronologically by release date. This means starting with the original trilogy: A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Then you watch the prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Then you'd move on to The Clone Wars television series, the Rebels television series. In the middle you'd watch The Force Awakens and then Rogue One, though you could probably finish off all the existing Rebels episodes before moving on to the latest two movies and it wouldn't really make much difference.

2. In-universe chronologically. You watch them by episode number with The Clone Wars between 2 and 3. Rebels after 3. Rogue One after Rebels. Then 4 though 7.

3. Just the movies, with the two chronological options listed above.

There are benefits to each, and downsides. If you watch in release order you get the experience that most people had, though without the long waits. The movie special effects get better as you go along. The downside is the quality of the movies jumps around. You wouldn't have the same takeaway as longtime watchers though because we've had the original trilogy in our heads for a while when we went into the prequel movies so we were going in with one idea of what Star Wars "is" and the prequels didn't match up for a lot of us. You wouldn't necessarily get the same impression if you're watching all the movies within a relative short span of time.

If you start with the prequels you're in one sense getting the bad stuff out of the way first (personal opinion) so that you can end on better movies. The trouble there is that you might get thrown off by the big jumps in the ages of the films because you're going from early 2000s to now to the late 70s-early 80s, and then back to now again. And that's if you're just watching the movies. And you might like the prequels or otherwise think of them as your personal "original" movies. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm just putting that out there.

Whether you want to engage with the television shows or not is really up to you and how much you'd want to invest. The Clone Wars alone has like 100 episodes or something so that's a lot of time for something that you might not care all that much about. I would be pretty interested though in hearing from someone who hasn't seen the movies and decides to do it all by in-universe chronology. I don't know anyone who's done that so hearing about that perspective would be interesting to say the least.

There's also the option to not bother with the prequels. Lots of people consider them the black sheep of the franchise. Personally I think they're important enough if you want to see Rogue One (not necessary, but it gives you some context) and you'd have to see them if you wanted to watch The Clone Wars of course.

Of course you could always start with whatever seems most interesting to you. Personally I'd recommend that you at least start at the "beginning" of a trilogy: The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, or The Force Awakens. You'd be kinda lost otherwise.

 

[Eruption]

Spoiler:

I think this film was probably rescued at some point in post-production, a lot of people have noticed parts from the trailer that have been cut in the final film and most are good cuts.

Personally, I liked the characters. They all could have been fleshed out with more backstory but given its a 2 hour film, it obviously couldn't be done. It made a nice change from the usual central characters of Star Wars to be honest, with some level of vulnerability and grey morality for Jyn, Cassian, Galen etc. They did a good job avoiding the romance trap as some people have said above.

Overall, I think its a great standalone film. It probably ranks as my third favourite Star Wars film as of now, but it might have greater rewatch value than all of them.

I want to get into this series but have no idea where to start.

Do I skip the animated movies and TV show?

Watch the films in the order of their theatrical release imo, 4-5-6-1-2-3-7. It will still make perfect sense in that order and you're more likely to enjoy the series if you open with 4 rather than 1.

Personally I haven't watched any of the animated stuff and I don't think I would enjoy it based upon what I know so far.

 

[EC]

Of course you could always start with whatever seems most interesting to you. Personally I'd recommend that you at least start at the "beginning" of a trilogy: The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, or The Force Awakens. You'd be kinda lost otherwise.

What are your thoughts on "Machete Order"?

Simple, watch them in this order: IV, V, II, III, VI. You may notice Episode I is gone. I'll get to that in a second.

https://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/

 

[Eruption]

What are your thoughts on "Machete Order"?



https://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/

The guy puts forward a good argument and I think it could work. I personally see a few potential flaws in you following that order which he doesn't mention 1) If you read the full article, you've spoiled all the twists which is his strongest reasoning for his re-ordering. 2) You miss out on some of the fan culture by not watching The Phantom Menace. Whilst its far from the best film, if you're having a general conversation with someone about Star Wars then it probably helps to know who Jar-Jar and some of the minor characters are.

I have a third reason, but it's a spoiler itself so I'll leave it in case you didn't read the article.

Ultimately I think you'll probably be able to enjoy the films in any order providing that you start with IV, so the Machete order has a lot of merit. I'd say go for it then watch The Phantom Menace afterwards at some stage.

 

[Esper]

What are your thoughts on "Machete Order"?



https://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/

It's not a bad idea necessarily. It comes from a viewpoint that certain themes/plot points are central to the movies and this order revolves around that and, I mean, I can't disagree that they are central themes or anything, but they're not the thing that really draws me in to the story. So I guess I'm saying that it kind of funnels you into viewing the movies in a certain way that you (or me) might not come to on your own.

But if you're just interested in having a good movie experience and not to get into the fandom then it's not a bad way.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I don't really care about Star Wars, but saw this yesterday and had the same reaction as I have to all of the other ones: "that was pretty fun".

Nuanced, I know.

 

[Her]

Spoiler:

It's weird to me that CGI Tarkin was a better actor than Jyn & Cassian lmao

 

[Logan]

leia cgi was so cringe lmao

think felicity jones is a top actress though and really enjoyed her

 

[acatfrommars]

My god I loved this movie. Didn't really have too high of hopes going into it because all of the trailers I'd seen just had so much hype and I thought the story was going to be too rushed. Not going to give anything away but the film starts off slow and the last hour kicks your ass. I'd watch it again; I've only seen about 20 movies of 2016 because I've been so busy with school but I'd definitely rank this in my top 5.

 

[VulpixVixen08]

Just saw it with my family awhile ago today. They liked it, but not myself. I am disappointed & bored by it. I was falling asleep in the theater when watching it. Not kidding. Not trying to be mean. I just didn't like it. Sorry. No offense.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Rouge One in a nutshell:

Spoiler:

Just like the 2014 Godzilla film, Gareth Edward has directed a movie that split the fanbase. As an example, here are two different reviews of the film I've seen that conflict each other (both non-spoiler and spoiler talk). Having to see it myself on its first day, I will say, pacing issues and character juggling aside, it's currently the best prequel in the series for being a standalone film at its own right while tying up a few plot threads from the original Star Wars movie.

 

[Zeffy]

i legitimately enjoyed the film, although i felt that the main characters were a bit... lacking in one way or another

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

i legitimately enjoyed the film, although i felt that the main characters were a bit... lacking in one way or another

Probably part of this was because...

Spoiler:

we had to assume that all of the characters were going to die as none of them appear in Episode IV and beyond. I find that it's hard to create an emotional attachment to characters that almost have this rushed plot to them.

Also hi Zeff, long time no chat xoxo <3

 

[Purist of Black Water]

I was thinking at first. It'd be as bland and uninspired as the force awakens...
(I just think that movie is way below average)

I was lucky it was a gift from family to see.
I wouldn't dare waste money on seeing it...

Anyways... Rouge one was great in a lot of ways.
The dogfights in the x-wings, tie fighters were always a joy to watch.

It was surprisingly funny in a lot of parts too.
The most satisfying scene in the entire movie imo was

Spoiler:

When darth vader slaughtered all the rebel scum in the corridor/hallway

And not having seen Felicity Jones act in anything else, other than this film.
I was pleased with her conviction and final result.

 

[moon]

Spoiler:

I agree about the weak leads. I felt like Jyn was a bootleg Rey and Cassian was an edgy Poe/Solo mix, and I'm not disappointed to not see them in further installments tbh.

What I liked very most was the fact that you finally got a believable explanation for why, whyYY there would be a weird weak point in the Death Star, accessible seemingly like an obvious target in a badly designed video game level. It was purposefully put there. Thank you, Star Wars universe, for doing this haha.

But all in all, most of the movie had me go "cute, nice, ok" and the last three seconds or so had me go "BAWWWWWW". :D