Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

[Plain Old Tele]

May the Force be with you. 

[Haha]

Good movie that have some problems. 1 and 2 acts are not great or bad merely sufficient. The third act belongs in a much better movie and if the build up had been better it had really hit hard.

Action scenes are all good and the empire always has the upper hand. The rebels fights using ambushes and infiltration as they have to. The universe feels alive and big. 

 

The main problem for me in the first two acts are missing character development. Instead of characters interacting we get monologues and big speeches that feels out of place. The pacing is too fast for them to have the time to be flesh out. The movie jumps around a lot and it suffers from it. If that time had been  better used towards trying making the characters feel real and having them interact more together.We get embryos to really interesting characters in Donnie Yen and Jiang Wens duo and they play of each other well in the few scenes they get. If we only got some, not all but just some of there backstory. The droid has some moments that works really well and some moments that feels out of place (jokes that fell flat).  Forest Whitaker feels out of place. Ben Medelsohn really tries but has to few interactions with the rest of the cast. Gets throw around by Vader and CGI Tarkin al lot. Mads, Diego Luna and Riz Ahmed doesn't have much to do. Even Felicity Jones character feels unfinished. She does a good work with what she is given and improves the material. 

 

The score is perfect for the big actions scenes but feels wrong in the smaller ones. It's like it tries to make walking through a hangar into a glorious last charge.

 

Some unnecessary fan services like always and jarring CGI faces that feels wrong also took me out of the film but in never gets as bad as in the force awakes. Vader is used economical and effective.

 

 

[Jake Gittes]

First two acts are a mess of underdeveloped conflicts with characters who all look like they came to a funeral (no, I don't mean "Why can't she smile more?", I mean that the movie is mistaking seriousness for depth) and shout useless exposition at each other instead of actually being explored and developed in any meaningful way. (Then, by contrast, there's the robot whose EVERY FUCKING LINE is a sardonic quip. It doesn't help). It took an hour and change for me to really start caring about anything, which only happened once they actually decided to go after the plans. The third act is a solid, occasionally even fun, action movie with an ending that was genuinely surprising to me and actually could have hit like a motherfucker if the movie had properly built up to it. Thinking about it now, my preferred version of this would certainly be one that cut out most of the laborious set-up and devoted most/all of its runtime to the actual stealing of the plans and the resulting battle(s), swiftly developing the central characters along the way. I'm gonna go sleep on it now but I really didn't think this was especially good at all. 

 

P.S. The "additional editing by Stuart Baird" credit is... telling. And not surprising.

 

P.P.S. There's a special place in hell reserved for whoever let the CGI Tarkin and Leia on to the screen. 

[lolifofo]

Haven't seen it yet, but I swear I knew once Grace Randolph said she loved it that it wont be universally liked lol.

[Merkel]

5/10 from me too.

 

I thought the movie was frankly dull for the most part. The characters don't go anywhere. Somehow it didn't quite feel like Star Wars. Even the little things, like the planets' names appearing on screen (and there are a bunch of them), didn't feel Star Wars. It felt like a Tom Clancy type of thing

 

It's too cliché laden. The necklace given by the mother. The death scene speech. The hero that appears dead and reappears out of nowhere to save the other hero.

 

I think Giacchino managed to ruin every time he reprised one of Williams' original themes (except perhaps the Imperial Motif and the Death Star motif).

 

I know these are all scattered thoughs without eloquency, but I've just come out of the movie and I'm sadly dissapointed

I'm not sure if this is the worst of the decent Star Wars movies, or the best of the bad Star Wars movies

Edited December 15, 2016 by Merkel

[antovolk]

Almost definitely better than TFA for me. Really really great expansion and story, if a bit uneven at the start, but once it gets going it REALLY gets going. Third act is like everyone says amazing, there is a sequence that really made my jaw drop too (zero points for guessing). And really really strong finish.

Absolutely gorgeous cinematography and visuals, seeing it projected on 70mm film with the fine grain over the digital footage gave them that one final touch. Nice score from Gia too.

The story even with the reshoots and drama, it all works. It's not 'dark and gritty', it's just 'gritty' in this version anyway, they played it surprisingly upbeat. Doesn't feel like Godzilla, no. It's what you expect - Star Wars tone and feel but grittier visuals and (some) motivations. But what was great is all the shades of grey with the characters. It does start off uneven like I said, it feels the first act was really cut down for time, jumping around too fast everywhere (especially after the absolute masterclass in that which was the Dunkirk prologue immediately preceding this)

Performances - Felicity good, Diego Luna really surprised me, K2SO and Baze/Chirrut MVPs, wish Mendelsohn didn't have his strings pulled so much but he did awesome with what he worked with. Ahmed was nice in this too. But god damn Mads and Forest were built up so well...only to have them out so soon. Esp. Forest. Maybe if they weren't built up as much?

Also fucking Tarkin and Leia. hated their inclusion. Took me out of it, felt so forced. Although Tarkin just about works, considering the build up from Catalyst and all.

In any case, as an experience it's so so awesome. The final act elevates the whole thing so damn much and it's such a great ride.

4/5

ESB
ANH/R1
TFA
ROTJ

[IndustriousAngel]

8/10, A

A surprisingly good movie. It's the most SF-ish of all the SW movies - no princesses, no magic swords, prophecies or whatever - and it's extremely straightforward: no sidequests, no twists, not even a romance. There's little humour or funny one-liners, most of those thanks to K-2SO; I don't know if that's a good thing, have to watch it again someday if this droid doesn't get grating. This strightforward approach also means that we have little in the way of character development or political or historical background but I didn't miss those ingredients much, the move was so entertaining.

 

Production design and SFX are very good, the SW universe feels lived in and many characters and places have a realistic feel about them. The action sequence at the end goes on for maybe a few minutes too long, but never gets boring at least upon first viewing. And the whole story expands very nicely upon Episode 4's "history", probably makes watching the original "Star Wars" nearly a new experience.

 

In fact, I don't know why this movie is set apart from the "main" SW movies at all, it's not apart in any meaningful manner but should really be called something like "Episode 3.9".

[eXtacy]

For me this was the second best Star Wars. I don't hold the originals as holy as some here because by the time I saw them they were quite dated, still great movies. With that said I think this did a lot of things better than previous Star Wars. Without a doubt has the best action seen in the franchise and it has a much more down to earth feel. Those said it above this is a much simpler tale without any of the super gravitas of the episodes. The only downside is you probably won't care about the fate of the characters as you don't spend much time with any one. Many will say The Force Awakens is better but honestly I think people have their nostalgia glasses on. This was a great stand alone film

 

A- (87/100)

 

(Rankings: ESB/R1/ANH/TFA/ROTS/ROTJ/AOTC/TPM)

[rukaio101]

I've got to concur with what several other people on here have said. Rogue One is a movie with a fantastic, pulse-pounding third act... that would've hit so much harder were the first two acts not so muddled and lackluster. Now, there are many reasons I could list for this. Poor pacing. Questionable character arcs. Lousy characterisation in general. But I think, ultimately, all these issues lead from one major problem. The first two acts of Rogue One have way too much plot.

 

See, when it was announced, I thought Rogue One had a perfectly simple and useable premise. A group of rebels trying to steal the Death Star plans. Understandable, compelling and a solid foundation to build a movie around, right? But, if you think about it, that doesn't become the main story thread until the final act. The first two acts are about finding this Imperial pilot... or, no wait, finding Saw Gerrera so they can get the message from him about Galen Erso's location... or was it a message the superweapon? Or was it Galen Erso's message about the superweapon while finding out whether the superweapon exists... Agh, forget it. The point is, the main aim/plot/conflict of the movie keeps jumping about and about until it finally reach the conclusion at the third act (aka when it actually gets good) that 'Hey! Maybe it might be worth stealing those Death Star Plans there?' Which, you know, pretty much everybody already watching this movie knew from the beginning! The movie takes an overcomplicated and meandering path to something that should've been the aim from the very start. And that makes it suffer. 

 

See, one the biggest pitfalls I keep seeing in the lousier blockbusters this year is the misapprehension that more plot = more substance. The idea that the more elements you add to a story the greater it somehow becomes. I saw it in BvS, Fantastic Beasts, TMNT: Out of the Shadows, X-Men Apocalypse and now this. And it's just not true. If you add too much plot, then, unless you handle it very well, your story becomes weighed down and sluggish, it becomes harder to pace effectively, your audience gets bored of keeping track of all these elements and, most painfully of all, vital things like characterisation get shoved aside to make room for all the plot threads and side stories and exposition and etc etc. If there's anything filmmakers should've learnt from Mad Max: Fury Road last year (and there are many many things filmmakers should learn from that movie), is that sometimes a simple story is better for a movie than a complicated one, especially if you know how to tell it. Unfortunately, that's advice Rogue One didn't follow. Characterization for Jyn, Cassian and most of the squad suffered because the movie didn't have enough time to explore them because it was chasing plot threads. Which is a shame because there were some interesting tidbits there (especially Cassian's greyer tendencies). If I had to pick a personal favourite character (aside from Vader obviously) then it probably would have to be K-2SO. Not just because he was amusing (although he was (even if a few quips were hit and miss)) but because he at least had some kind of an established characterisation. Chirrut and Baze also had some level of characterisation and it's no surprise they were better characters for it. But when it came to Jyn, unlike Rey before her, she really didn't have much to speak of character-wise and her gung-ho switch to supporting the rebellion came fairly out of left-field. 

 

Not to say the movie is all bad mind, or even prequel bad. That third act is most definitely worth it and more or less makes the movie by itself. It's exciting, tense, fairly heartwrenching at times (even if it would've been a lot more heartwrenching had the film done a better job of making us care for these characters) and was pretty much everything I was hoping for from this movie. And, though Vader's time onscreen is brief, he more than makes us feel every second of it. And while I rail on the first two acts, they're far from being prequel bad. Plus, I do have to applaud the film for delving into the greyer aspects of the rebellion, from some of Cassian's more morally grey actions, to the idea of extremists and splinter factions. And it does definitively feel like a Star Wars movie, even without much in the way of Jedi antics. I don't know whether all that is enough for me to necessarily recommend it, but it's enough to make it worth a look.

 

For the moment I'd think I'd give it a  B-. Not unwatchable, but it's no Force Awakens (although it does have the space battle that movie was sorely missing.)

[Amadeus]

After the too much of too little that was The Force Awakens this takes three four steps in the right direction.

Yes, this too is much about seeing recognizable faces. But not for nostalgic reasons as in The Force Awakens and/or The X-Mas Special. This builds so much more upon history rather than nostalgia, and that is one big step in the right direction.

Unlike TFA (and the X-mas special) this also felt much bigger and more epic. Not only gave the editing the sense of its world being lightyears apart (remember how it only took Rey a few seconds to travel to Luke?), the editing also let the movie breathe and build momentum: before the big climax we had scenes which main purpose was to build tension and not the kind of tension of "Oh, it's another Death Star... So it's big...." urrrgggghhh

The third step in the right direction was that it had some good battles in it. 

My only problem with it was that it felt like it was two movies in it, fighting over space and screentime. But that didn't really matter as it felt quite different to much other blockbustery because of this reason.

Thus:
A+ as entertainment
B+ (remarkable) as a film







 

[bapi]

Too long, unsympathetic characters+boring actors but last 30-40 mins are very good. I think with different cast, 15-20 mins shorter runtime and more Vader it could have been great.

 

6/10

[Goffe]

Synthesizing the posts I made in the other thread. 

 

First two acts are bad, like really bad, a total snooze. Why? Main issue is Edwards total inability to add humanity to its characters, which was what doomed his previous film as well. Secondary issue is that the plot basically consists of we have to do this and this, we have to go from point A to point B. Feels like they are going through a checklist.

 

Back to the main issue, characters are barely fleshed out and character development is minimal, making them unappealing as humanly possible. I felt nothing when they all bitten the dust.

 

On the protagonist side, I thought Jyn the character herself was more of a problem than Felicity Jones. She barely had anything to work with. In the first two acts, she got a dream scene and her father's hologram scene, that was as far as the movie went to make her feel like a person. Diego Luna acted like a supporting character and the actual supporting cast were all superficial stock characters. Mendelsohn was a good villain, as expected, and probably the most interesting person in the whole affair.

 

Vader's last scene was Godzilla Atomic Breath scene of this movie.

 

TFA, for all its faults, and there were many, made you care about its protagonists. You were engrossed by their journey.

 

I would have seriously walked out if I hadn't paid for the tickets or hadn't the third act brought me back from the catatonic state the first to acts put me in. 

 

40/100

Edited December 15, 2016 by Goffe

[tilko]

I watched every SW (except E7) movie at least 100+ times. After first viewing this is my favorite movie of all time !!

[Dan9]

Not the best crafted but a highly enjoyable affair. The adrenalin inducing final act really does pull the whole thing up, but I didn't dislike the first two thirds as much as others. I like the robot and Donnie Yen a lot. 

 

And that Vader scene. Phwoaaaarrrrr. 

 

Not sure about rating at the moment as it's still a bit too fresh. A- maybe? 

[WrathOfHan]

When Galen Erso was about to reveal himself as the leaker of the Death Star plans, I thought about my favorite movies this year. Why did I like movies such as Arrival, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and Hell or High Water so much? It's because they had well written characters. I was deeply invested in Louise Bank's mission to translate the Heptapods' language, rooted for Mary Elizabeth Winstead to escape the clutches of John Goodman, and saw the sides of a story between two brothers and two sheriffs. These characters invested me into their respective movies and made me wonder where they'll go next. Rogue One left me with no such feelings.

 

The story itself is fine. A team of Rebels must unite and retrieve the plans for the Death Star. That's a really cool concept! However, Gareth Edwards does nothing to propel this concept and instead leaves us with a very bland procedural executed by poorly developed characters. Because I was not invested in these characters, I felt nothing when they all bit the bullet. To the director's/writers'/company's credit, that was a very bold move. This move could have been much more powerful and effective if, once again, THERE WERE GOOD CHARACTERS! It says a lot when Darth Vader is the best character with 3 minutes of screentime.

 

Now, is the movie well directed? Sure. Even when you take out the script's issues, the movie is very pretty to look at. The action is fine but forgettable save for that amazing Darth Vader scene at the end. Giacchino's score sounded very Star Trekkie and I liked the music when Galen and Jyn/Cassian were dying, but otherwise it's a serviceable score.

 

The worst movies are ones that leave no lasting impression. Say what you will about TPM and AOTC, but at least you can REMEMBER what made them so terrible. I guarantee I won't be thinking about Rogue One when I wake up tomorrow, and if I am, it'll be because of how let down I was. C+ | 6/10

[4815162342]

A high B+

 

Very shaky first 20 minutes. Solid if spotty next hour plus, and then a pretty darn good final act.

 

Some of the characters, such as Jyn, K2, Chirrut, were pretty good. Others were more along the lines of just serviceable.

 

Diego Luna's character was good, but the acting/writing didn't really lend him that well as a foil for Jyn since there was never a moment or two where the film stopped to let the characters have meaningful interactions with one another. Plus his sudden turn to gung-ho supporter didn't feel earned enough.

[Kalo]

I can't believe I'm the one who was saying this movie looked bad. and after seeing it, I think I like it better the most of the above posters. 

 

This movie really surprised me, I do agree it could have made more memorable characters though and the third act was the best part by far. that ending was just so powerful to me it kind of redeemed alot of it's shortcomings, I liked that it was a pretty serious film for the most part, the sets and planets were way more imaginative than TFA, and the action scenes were also much better. but yeah there was no "Rey" to hold it together. for now A.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Kalo

[Empire]

I like it overall, but the movie did have some big faults. Some CGI was really bad. Leia & Tarkin were so bad that I can't believe they made it in the film. Also, the 1st 2 acts aren't great and with how underdeveloped some of the characters are I had no emotional attachment to any of them. I didn't care much at all when any of them died. 

 

With that said, the third act was so great it saved the movie for me. Those battle scene were really great. Best characters were Donnie  Yen's and K2SO. 

 

I would give it a....

 

B(84)

Edited December 16, 2016 by Empire

[baumer]

12 hours ago, bapi said:

Too long, unsympathetic characters+boring actors but last 30-40 mins are very good. I think with different cast, 15-20 mins shorter runtime and more Vader it could have been great.

 

6/10

 

I pretty much agree with this.

[Valonqar]

Just got back. Saw it with my younger twin sisters. 80% full theater. 80% male. Few young boys but mostly adults, even teenagers were scarce. 

 

Trailers:

 

Logan - old trailer still great, most emotional thing shown tonight. I can watch it million times.No reaction.

 

POTC 5 - looks like shit. No reaction

 

GOTG Vol 2 - those colors on the big screen, awesome. Some laughs.

 

Movie: mixed bag. I was not bored despite choppy beginning. I think that it started to flow for me after Galen Erso was killed and Jyn and Cassian had an argument. Great acting by Jones here, the only meaty scene she had in the whole movie.

 

problematic characters - they are given backgrounds only but no personality or chance to genuinely bond. I do think that Cassian had his own character arc and was equal to Jyn. In fact, his arc was tad more interesting and had that suspenseful sniper scene. Bodhi had nothing to do but the guy is genuinely likable. Chirrut is totally ridiculous in a good way. He doesn't fit at all, is acting in a different movie but he's fun so who cares. he and Baze can be read as gay if you want or not if you don't. They let it ambiguous. Saw was awful. Like, WTF was he, a Rebel version of Vader or Dennis Hooper in Blue Velvet? Galen Erso was a plot device and his wife an idiot. Krennic was weak, ineffectual villain. Vader was total fan service without any meaning. His carnage scene was good but his bacta tank was overhyped, you could barely see him in the steam. Jyn and Cassian last scenes were earned and I suddenly felt a crushing sadness that they died. The scene resembled the last scene from Pompeii, lol. Droid was a badass 3PO.

 

CGI crap - wow, Cushing is spinning in his grave. They should have recast tarkin like they did with Mon Mothma. Harry Potter recast tDumbledore. Leia also looked like a wax figure.

 

Worth seeing for space battle, though. 

 

"Favorite" White Savior moments (lol, Hollywood will never get rid of this trope) -white pilot saves Asians, black chick wants to surrender the Rebellion but white chick makes an inspirational speech about fighting that later leads to change of hearts, white chick saves an Asian kid.

 

Edwards clearly more interested in the Death Star than the characters. he shoots the station real pretty. Third act has great action but nothing that contributes to character development. Eveyrone is going through motions cause plot dictates it to run, duck, run duck, shoot, jump, run, duck.

 

Tons of trailer shit is missing - Krennic's immeasurable powah, I rebel.

 

Didn't feel like a SW movie and is tonally different from ANH that's its direct sequel. It also doesn't feel essential. Nice companion but no more.

 

Lots of fan service. Obi Wan is mentioned, movie imminent. The guy who taunts Luke at the Cantina and gets his arm chopped off by Ben makes appearance, as does Jabba's belly dancing Twi'lek slave. 

 

Bad dialog, no iconic lines and no iconic scenes. Many pretty scenes but nothing instantly defining.

 

Score was just there. 

 

Vader rampage was fun services of the highest order, he could have sit this movie out. 

 

I think this will play much better with men than women and especially old school fans cause villains are as one-dimensional as they wan them to be, good guys are blandly badass, non-stop action without pausing for people to bond. My sisters didn't like it cause nobody was like Kylo or Bucky. 

 

I enjoyed it but won't rush to see it again til DVD release. There really isn't much to revisit save really fun space battle. Those pesky Bothans. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2016 by Valonqar