ROGUE ONE REVIEWS

‘Rogue One’ Review: Latest ‘Star Wars’ Entry Plays Like a Fan-Fiction Footnote

thewrap.com/rogue-one-review-star-wars/

>implying someone will click this shit
just post it

>disney shill

fuck off and die

Many of the recent comic-book and video-game adaptations have been defended with, “Well, it’s for the fans,” as though a) major movies are (or should be) designed with only the pre-existing audience in mind, and b) simultaneously pleasing fans and entertaining newbies was somehow impossible. (I enjoyed seeing the big window on Dr. Strange’s Greenwich Village crash-pad as much as the next comics reader, but that’s not all the movie had to offer.)

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is for the fans, all right, but in that expression’s worst way. Unless you’re thrilled by the idea of 133 minutes of sideways mentions, shout-outs and straight-up references to the original “Star Wars” (or “Episode IV: A New Hope,” for those born after 1977), there’s not nearly enough excitement going on here, much less character, plot or story. A direct prequel to “A New Hope” — it’s the story of how those blueprints for the Death Star got snuck out and into the hands of the Rebel Alliance — this is less a movie than it is an epic of fan-fiction, laden with “Easter eggs” that super-devotees can congratulate themselves for finding.

Viewers who had a problem with “The Force Awakens” for having too many callbacks to the original trilogy without creating enough new mythos of its own — look on any message board and you’ll still find them complaining vigorously — will find this go-round even more exasperating. And even if you’ve seen and liked the films but perhaps never read any of the novels or watched any of the Blu-ray extras, you may still find yourself underwhelmed.

(And if you are the sort who wants to go into this movie knowing absolutely nothing about the plot, stop reading now.)

>Many of the recent comic-book and video-game adaptations have been defended with, “Well, it’s for the fans,” as though a) major movies are (or should be) designed with only the pre-existing audience in mind, and b) simultaneously pleasing fans and entertaining newbies was somehow impossible. (I enjoyed seeing the big window on Dr. Strange’s Greenwich Village crash-pad as much as the next comics reader, but that’s not all the movie had to offer.)

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is for the fans, all right, but in that expression’s worst way. Unless you’re thrilled by the idea of 133 minutes of sideways mentions, shout-outs and straight-up references to the original “Star Wars” (or “Episode IV: A New Hope,” for those born after 1977), there’s not nearly enough excitement going on here, much less character, plot or story. A direct prequel to “A New Hope” — it’s the story of how those blueprints for the Death Star got snuck out and into the hands of the Rebel Alliance — this is less a movie than it is an epic of fan-fiction, laden with “Easter eggs” that super-devotees can congratulate themselves for finding.

Viewers who had a problem with “The Force Awakens” for having too many callbacks to the original trilogy without creating enough new mythos of its own — look on any message board and you’ll still find them complaining vigorously — will find this go-round even more exasperating. And even if you’ve seen and liked the films but perhaps never read any of the novels or watched any of the Blu-ray extras, you may still find yourself underwhelmed

Our protagonist this time is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones); we see her as a child in flashback, violently separated from her father, weapons designer Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), who has been dragooned by Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) to create the terrifying Death Star for the Empire. Young Jyn was raised by Galen’s friend Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), although as “Rogue One” begins, the two have not seen each other in years.

Empire cargo pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of”) sneaks out a message from Galen to Saw, and to find out what it says, the rebels send Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) to break Jyn out of prison to get an audience with Saw. Galen’s message lets Jyn know that her father is still alive and that he has secretly hidden that famous Achilles’ heel into the Death Star: the thermal exhaust port that will allow a proton torpedo to blow up the whole thing.

When the heads of the rebel alliance either don’t believe Jyn or don’t want to attempt to steal the heavily guarded plans for the Death Star, she goes rogue, with a team that includes Cassian, Bodhi, sass mouth robot K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk), a blind monk and acolyte of The Force named Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen, “Hero”), and Chirrut’s close friend Baze Malbus (Chinese actor-director Wen Jiang). (Just how close Chirrut and Baze are will no doubt provide fodder for much fan debate.)

Screenwriters Chris Weitz (“Cinderella”) and Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton”) keep the pace going along, and they’ve created exactly two characters of interest: the robot, a reprogrammed Imperial security droid with a sardonic attitude, and Chirrut, whose faith in the Force more than makes up for his lack of sight when it comes to fighting skills. (If George Lucas borrowed heavily from Akira Kurosawa’s “The Hidden Fortress” for the original “Star Wars,” then Chirrut is the series’ homage to the “Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman” movies.)

What the writers and director Gareth Edwards (2014’s “Godzilla”) don’t do is color in most of the main characters. Is Jyn in prison because she’s a criminal or because she’s a rebel? Does the fact that Cassian murders an informant within minutes of first appearing on screen make him dangerous? When the alliance leaders refer to Saw as an “extremist” in the rebellion, what exactly does that mean? “Rogue One” never tells us.

Instead, we get the further Muppet Babies-ization of “Star Wars,” with a lot of “this line means something because we know what happens later in the story.” The film’s boldest move involves using CG tricks to re-create certain elements of the 1977 movie, and while the technology isn’t quite all the way there yet, it’s very, very close.

There are some solid action moments, particularly a scene involving a marketplace and public square that calls to mind “Homeland,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and any number of other post-War on Terror movies and TV shows, and the otherwise blank Jones scores one moment of genuine empathy when she gives a speech about the need for hope in the fight against seemingly insurmountable evil. (Apply that monologue to current events as you will.)

Ultimately, however, “Rogue One” seems to want nothing more than for the audience to pat itself on the back because they know what Yavin 4 is: It’s a fun game to play at Comic-Con, but it doesn’t make for much of a movie.

Dr. Strange was a miserably bad, shitty movie so if this guy likes that then I don't trust his opinion too well.

However, Rogue One probably won't be good. Reshoots man.

Galen’s message lets Jyn know that her father is still alive and that he has secretly hidden that famous Achilles’ heel into the Death Star: the thermal exhaust port that will allow a proton torpedo to blow up the whole thing.
Fuck this movie

Am I reading this right? They made the only two Asians in the Star Wars universe a couple of twinks?

>Unless you’re thrilled by the idea of 133 minutes of sideways mentions, shout-outs and straight-up references to the original “Star Wars”

So it's just like TFA then.

> it’s the story of how those blueprints for the Death Star got snuck out and into the hands of the Rebel Alliance

Wow that's a gap that really needed to be explained. For our next movie let's go in depth about how moisture farming works on Tatooine. We have to follow someone actually shooting Womp Rats to be able to understand this crucial clue about the character of Luke. Maybe with a Tusken Raider sidekick so we get a view into their diverse and enriching culture.

>Viewers who had a problem with “The Force Awakens” for having too many callbacks to the original trilogy without creating enough new mythos of its own — look on any message board and you’ll still find them complaining vigorously — will find this go-round even more exasperating.

Why bother having a new idea or risking something when you can just milk the franchise by making the same movie over and over? It works for Marvel. Enjoy 20 Star Wars tie in movies in the next 10 years dumb fucks.

Seems like it lacks ambition.

>For our next movie let's go in depth about how moisture farming works on Tatooine.
I'd only watch this if it was filmed, edited and narrated like an actual documentary.
No hollywood shit.

The only ambition star wars movies have is the ambition to milk as much as possible from the manchildren that watch them.

It's funny, critics are suddenly mimicking what we said about TFA last year when they were praising it.

Looks like we were right again.

How is this a fucking shill post if the review is mostly negative? Fucking moron.

Disney Wars wants to eschew the manchildren audience though, and target the "lol I know that reference" milennials and "nostalgia bomb" baby boomers

I'm getting the feeling this thing didn't played out like the mediocre shit Disney has been shitting for years and that completely triggered the critics.
Might just watch this on a cinema with no-singles policy.

>Disney Wars wants to eschew the manchildren audience though

Only publically.

I will take back every bad thing I have said about Disney if this gets bad reviews but is actually good.

Then again it might be deliberate, but I would still like this film.

...

Narrated by Liam Neeson.

this
I've had the feeling for a while now that public perception of TFA is less than positive.

Indiewire keeping it real. It's an MCU formula, everybody go home.

Disney is a cancer that shouldn't be allowed to exist.

SAY IT WITH ME:

A GLIB FACSIMILE

>I've had the feeling for a while now that public perception of TFA is less than positive

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that but it's really not. Every normalfag I've spoken to likes the film (although they don't love it admittedly).

Oddly enough, the only repeated criticism I've heard from people in real life is that they didn't like adam driver as the bad guy.

The guy praises the MCU in it though. He criticizes non-MCU comic films.

>Every normalfag I've spoken to likes the film (although they don't love it admittedly).

Speak to them again and ask them what they remember from it.

I'm getting the prequel syndrome.

"The rolling robot was cool and.. we got to see Han and Chewie again and.. Well, Luke was there in the end.."

Nobody remembers much of anything new or important in the movie. Everything's bland and forgettable to the point they can barely articulate what they liked.

"It was alright I guess". Fucking hell the prequels were at least memorably shit.

All normalfags say is that they thought it was enjoyable but then when you attempt to discuss the movie with them, it's fairly obvious they forgot all about it because it's forgettable as fuck.

Disney fucked up BIG TIME with TFA. Atleast the Lucas prequels were memorable in their own ways. Some of the scenes and settings were pretty decent. In TFA, there is absolutely nothing memorable. Nothing exists that challenges the viewer or expands the SW universe. It's just ANH on repeat but with more skin colors to show how relevant they are to current year.

And TFA being shit is only now starting to backfire on Disney. Star Wars is already dying. It only took one Disney movie to wreck it far harder than Lucas ever could.

Does Vader kill anyone or not? Only reason I want to watch this.

>And TFA being shit is only now starting to backfire on Disney. Star Wars is already dying. It only took one Disney movie to wreck it far harder than Lucas ever could.
That's because, what ever you think of the prequels- they took risks.
A franchise will always endure if it's owners allow risks like Lucas did.

Please don't give Disney your money.

If you care about film at all as a medium, whether it's fucking capeshit or Kubrick, please don't pay for this movie.

>memorably shit.
They weren't shit though.
You fell for the meme.

...

>Atleast the Lucas prequels were memorable in their own ways

The prequels were boring as shit. They may not have been pumped full of SJW bullshit but they still sucked dick.

...

They were memorable and creative enough to feed the saga with new material to keep fans engaged. The Farce Awakens doesn't even do that. Disney played so safe that they focus-tested all the imagination away.

yeah jeez $20 is really going to make a difference. film is dead as long as jews run hollywood

>as long as it can

at this rate, it will be 5 years.

This is true, you need proof? Look at all of the great new Star Wars vidya and comi-... oh wait.

>boring
pleb alert

But that's how normalfags respond when asked about any movie. They spend half the time on their phones anyway, they just look at what the people look like and laugh at the quips and wait for action.

And no, 2nd user, although everything both of you say about the movie is true, they didn't fuck up the Star Wars. When normalfags go to the movies, they don't go to see Star wars, they go to go to the movies with their friends. The movie is irrelevant, they just pick the most recognizable one. And nothing is more recognizable than Star Wars. And no matter how shit and bland and forgettable the movies are as long as they're not a joke the Star Wars brand will remain huge, because Disney has huge money and a huge advertising system all over the world.

They can pump out the dullest, most formulaic movies in the world and they will still make a bajillion dollars each and there's nothing we can do about it.

>They were memorable and creative enough to feed the saga with new material to keep fans engaged.

new =/= good

I saw the movies as a kid once and never bothered again. Nothing engaging about them. Went back to watching the original trilogy on VHS even though I'd seen those movies over and over. There was never a moment as a kid, or even later as a teenager, where I felt the desire to pop in any of the prequel movies and give them another viewing.

>disney are all-powerful
>there's nothing you can do about it NO DON'T EVEN TRY TO CHANGE IT STOP

Fuck off shill.

>te] [Auto] 2 new posts
I was the opposite.
I had the OT and TPM (when it came out) on VHS.

I watched TPM more than the OT combined.

Fuck you. Sellout. You're the reason Luke Skywalker is a fucking cuck now. Note: I said Luke. Mark is pissed about it

We, Sup Forums losers, do not have enough power to change. And pretty soon, America won't even have enough power to change it because the Chinese movie market is going to explode and be a million times larger.

So the movies we will be seeing for the rest of our lives are going to be based on Chinese preferences.

>Fuck you. Sellout. You're the reason
WRONG

YOU, you who shat on him for 15 years, YOU are why he sold to the company he knew would fuck it up.

If Sup Forums can shitpost a president into power, we can shitpost Rogue One into flopping.

The Chinese movie market has been exploding for 5 years, and TFA only made $100m there. Rogue One won't even do that.

This movie isn't even going to make $1b worldwide.

But I liked the prequels when I saw them as a kiddo. George is a thin skinned loser. If he got raped to death by a Star Wars fanboy that has had enough, I'd beam a gigantic grin.

Chinese can't make a good movie to save their gook lives

Even if they bought out all the USA studios and just kept shitting out terrible movies eventually they would go bankrupt

people are really close to realizing movies have been shit for the last 2 years, the movie industry itself has been down lately

it shows how shit the industry is that utter turds like deadpool and suicide squad make a lot of money even though its just generic capeshit

MEMBER: THE MOVIE

But what if Rogue one is actually good?

And Sup Forums didn't actually shitpost Trump into power. They did, however, shitpost Pizzagate onto prime time network television, which is hilarious.

In another 5 years it'll be bigger than America and another 5 years after that it'll be so big America won't even matter

>wreck it far harder than Lucas ever could
How old are you? Do you forget what Lucas did? Do you forget The Force Unleashed, or Han Solo meets Jason Derulo? Or even the Han shot first debacle?
Disney breathed new life into the universe after it was despoiled of any magic by Lucas and his greed.

NICE TRY NEO-NAZI!

>How old are you?
Not him but I'm conducting an a little experiment.
I'd like to know how old you are.

The lows of Lucas were pretty low but Disney will never ever compare to the highs of Lucas, that is including the prequels. They are too dry and cowardly to convey a sense of wonder.

>Disney breathed new life into the universe

What's wrong with your FAAAACE?

>there are no Disney shills on Sup Forums

The most memorable thing about TFA was that stormtrooper mook with the baton

>tfw buying tickets to watch my waifus Movie

26.

I disagree with the second sentence, but yeah, it's doubtful they'll reach the highs of Lucas' era, even if the prequels only have about five great scenes between the three of them.

the TRAITOR!! stormtrooper?

pretty much.