Rogue One

[hils]

Went to see Rogue One last night and I have thoughts


Mixed feelings about it tbh. Some stuff I liked, some stuff I wasn't keen on.

To me the first hour or so of the movie was pretty boring. This should have been the time for us to get to know the characters, form an attachment to them, get invested in their stories, but it just didn't seem to happen.

In fact I really didn't care about anyone/anything that was going on until Chirrut arrived and it was only really when they went to retrieve the Death Star plans that I got invested in what was happening.

I went into the movie not knowing anything other than it was set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Once I realised it was about how the rebellion got hold of the Death Star plans I knew no one was making it out alive. I still cried at the end though.

So, really, my biggest gripes are the slow pace of the first half and the fact that Jyn and Cassian were both quite boring characters. In fact, I'm not even sure that's right. I just don't think we were shown enough of them. What happened to the awesome 'This is a rebellion, isn't it? I rebel' line that was in the trailer? And we get these hints that Cassian has done terrible things for the rebellion but, again, nothing much happens with it other than he sees the Rogue One mission as his chance for redemption. Except aside from him killing that dude in the first five minutes he doesn't really do anything to make me invested in his quest for redemption.

It was all just a bit blah.

To me the side characters of Chirrut, Baze and Bodhi were way more interesting. I'd have loved to have seen more of them and less of Jyn and Cassian tbh.

Oh, and the special effects were FAB. I had no idea they'd digitally created Peter Cushing's face, and Carrie Fisher's too for a cameo by Leia at the end. That was great.

But Darth Vader makes a pun while he is force choking someone. Just...no.

So overall it was okay. Don't think I'll go and see it again though.

Comments

[kerkevik-2014.livejournal.com]

Interesting comment about side characters.

It was side characters; or minor; sometimes recurring characters, and 'side' moments that made me a fan of Buffy, rather than the main characters; certainly in the case of the core Scoobies; excepting if you include Giles.

And can anyone say MAZ KANATA! :-)



kerk

[hils.livejournal.com]

Honestly, while I enjoy the main characters of the media I consume I quite often get more invested in the side or background character.

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

It was an enjoyable Star War for me, but I definitely didn't love it as much as The Force Awakens. I agree that I was way more interested in side characters (K!!!!! And Chirrut!!! And Baze!). I know Rogue One's history was rooted in the idea of a live-action television series, which I actually think would've been better. More time to let the plot develop, and especially most importantly more time to get to know the characters. There were obviously compelling characters there, we just didn't get the time to get to know them properly.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly. This could have been an awesome mini-series or something but as a movie it just didn't work for me. But apparently I am in the minority as most people seem to have loved it.