[Movie] Star Wars: Rogue One

[Deleted]

I honestly have to disagree. I mostly got any starwars knowledge I have from battlefront 2... which i played the fuck out of. The writing of the motivations and just characters themselves was very bad.

Every character had a motivation, even if it was as simple as "Empire = bad", they may not have been particularly good or fleshed out motivations, but they were there.

I have read that excuse of "plot driven, not character driven" before, and I dont think its good. You cant have a good movie without a bit of both. The plot should move the characters and the characters should move the plot. The fact they die means maybe they should have given them more weight. It brings more gravity to their sacrifices and without changing the scenes themselves, makes the scenes more impact.

I'd argue that if you were fully invested in every character and then they all started dying off one by one, each of them with the full weight of emotion behind it, it would have felt forced after the 3rd or 4th death. Like Dray already mentioned, it has a very war movie feel, character dies, and we move on. I felt something for every death bar three (the Pilot who I honestly didn't even realise he'd died it was over that fast and Jyn/Cassian because I thought they were both quite bland characters).

I'd also argue that in a film where you know the entire main cast is going to die, developing them is simply a waste of screentime.

[GennGreymane]

Every character had a motivation, even if it was as simple as "Empire = bad", they may not have been particularly good or fleshed out motivations, but they were there.




I'd argue that if you were fully invested in every character and then they all started dying off one by one, each of them with the full weight of emotion behind it, it would have felt forced after the 3rd or 4th death. Like Dray already mentioned, it has a very war movie feel, character dies, and we move on. I felt something for every death bar three (the Pilot who I honestly didn't even realise he'd died it was over that fast and Jyn/Cassian because I thought they were both quite bland characters).

I'd also argue that in a film where you know the entire main cast is going to die, developing them is simply a waste of screentime.

(bold)And then they wasted a ton on a character who actually didnt matter, like an hour or so. Also a few other plot threads.

I dunno, people really like game of thrones despite everyone dying. Honestly developing them and killing them is better than not and doing the same thing. It makes it meaningless if you have little investment in the character.

Personally "WHY DID THEY FUCKING KILL THEM!" Is better than "meh"

[draykorinee]

Game of thrones is tens of hours long, plus they don't all die, there are plenty left living, even some that shouldn't...

[Deleted]

(bold)And then they wasted a ton on a character who actually didnt matter, like an hour or so. Also a few other plot threads.

I dunno, people really like game of thrones despite everyone dying. Honestly developing them and killing them is better than not and doing the same thing. It makes it meaningless if you have little investment in the character.

Personally "WHY DID THEY FUCKING KILL THEM!" Is better than "meh"

Can't really compare it to Game of Thrones though, they literally have hours to develop characters before they die.

Which character had wasted development?

[GennGreymane]

Can't really compare it to Game of Thrones though, they literally have hours to develop characters before they die.

Which character had wasted development?

Never watched it because I got bored after 2 episodes. Also I wouldnt compare saving private ryan to this either since that is loosely based on real events (so some of the emotional impact may come from, wow shit like this kinda happened) and this is a space fantasy

[Deleted]

Never watched it because I got bored after 2 episodes. Also I wouldnt compare saving private ryan to this either since that is loosely based on real events and this is a space fantasy

I'd compare this to Saving Private Ryan because they are both war movies, the setting doesn't really matter.

That said, the characters in Saving Private Ryan, with perhaps the exception of the titular Private Ryan, were pretty well characterized imo.

But, which character are you talking about they wasted an hour of development on?

[GennGreymane]

I'd compare this to Saving Private Ryan because they are both war movies, the setting doesn't really matter.

That said, the characters in Saving Private Ryan, with perhaps the exception of the titular Private Ryan, were pretty well characterized imo.

But, which character are you talking about they wasted an hour of development on?

In rogue one? That black rebel crippled guy. Everything with him kinda went no where.

[Deleted]

In rogue one? That black rebel crippled guy.

Forest Whitakers character? How did they waste an hour on him? He's barely in the film for 5 minutes.

[GennGreymane]

Forest Whitakers character? How did they waste an hour on him? He's barely in the film for 5 minutes.

the first hour kinda built up to his sub plot and it kinda went no where. I wasnt sure why he was using a tentacle monster to assault the pilot... he was apparently too rebellious, he trained Jyn (the only character whose named I remembered) and that didnt actually matter, and all this other stuff that just felt pointless.

Honestly take him out of the movie and most of his crap and things would flow better. I think his stuff was what was edited out. Felt that way.

[Deleted]

the first hour kinda built up to his sub plot and it kinda went no where.

What sub plot?

I don't think he had a sub plot at all, he was part of the main plot, he had the pilot, the rebellion needed the pilot, thats the only reason he's in the film.

I'll also mention, that he's another legacy character (from one of the animated series I believe), so perhaps thats why so much time was spent on building him up.

Did think it was a moronic way for him to die though i'll agree to that.

[Skizzit]

Can't wait until Disney buys Netflix so we can get a gritty Star Wars show. Maybe a bounty hunter show. Or maybe one following around an Imperial unit or a smuggler during the Civil War that might only catch small hints of the stuff going on in the movies like the Marvel Netflix shows. Wait, maybe a resistance group like Saw's on the outskirts of Imperial territory, one thats not tied to the Alliance.

And don't like there isn't a possibility of Disney buying Netflix. Especially all the ABC and Marvel shows keep doing well.

Why would Disney even have to buy Netflix for that to happen? They had to problem making a bunch of Marvel series with Netflix already. I could easily see they making a Star Wars series at some point that would follow the same basic model. Have the movies be the big universe changing stories and have the netflix series be smaller scale stories. Like you say, things like following the lives of some Imperials at a backwater outpost or something.

Right now, they seem to be pretty content with making one movie a year and the Rebels TV series, but there is really no reason for them to limit it to just that. I think the Star Wars universe is big enough to support more varied stories than just what they could tell in the movies.

I like episode 2 and 3 but Hayden Christensen makes me loathe 75% of the time when he gets to speak. I actually watched the prequels at work this week, the CGI looked cartoonish but I was also watching in SD. Some of Lucas's story decisions were quite odd too. It was his to take it where he wanted but it seems like he fell out of touch with the universe that he created.

Killing of Maul in 1. And obvious mistake, just see how big Maul is in both cartoon series.

Midichlorians. I accept it but I think most were find with the Force being some sort of mystic/supernatural force of nature that you tapped into. The Midichlorians sort of take away from the specialness of being a force user IMO. Now it seems like all you need is a high midichlorian account and you're good.

The tragedy of Vader was stifled by Christensen's acting and Lucas's storytelling, it was much better told in the cartoons. In the movies Anakin came off as whiny and a guy who couldn't get over his first girlfriend. And when he gets his suit we only see crippled defeated Vader, theres hardly any hint of the legend to come. Almost nothing in the movies (for me) hint of the legend of Vader. Cartoons, plenty, movies, not so much.

I honestly don't blame Christensen all that much. I mean, you had really solid actors like Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee, and Natalie Portman and they all came off as emotionless blocks of wood. I completely believe that it all boils down to Lucas having no clue how to direct actors nor does he have any idea how to write believable dialog.

The Midichlorians were terrible on both fronts. They both made the force feel less special and somehow also too special. The Force was no longer some mystical power that anyone could tab into with enough training although some people had a natural affinity for it to make it a bit easier. Now it was completely depended on how you were born. You either had it or you didn't. Just a stupid idea all around, especially for something to be introduced in a prequel.

Yeah, another big issue with the whole prequels was Lucas failing and storytelling 101. Show, don't tell. We get to hear character talk about how Anakin was this great Jedi and got to listen to Obi-wan and Anakin talk about these adventures they went on, but never got to see any of it. At least not in the movies. The Clone Wars TV series serve as a better prequel than any of the actual prequel movies. We get to see Anakin rising to be the great Jedi and leader he was always said to be. It also brought us the greatness of the clone troopers. The way they were handled really was simply brilliant. Captain Rex and Commander Cody are my two favorite characters in any of the prequel material.

[GennGreymane]

What sub plot?

I don't think he had a sub plot at all, he was part of the main plot, he had the pilot, the rebellion needed the pilot, thats the only reason he's in the film.

I'll also mention, that he's another legacy character (from one of the animated series I believe), so perhaps thats why so much time was spent on building him up.

Did think it was a moronic way for him to die though i'll agree to that.

Oh hes a legacy? Once again, battlefront 2 is all i got. (and it being referenced for like 40 years)

I dunno, I felt like they were trying to build him up, but gave up half way.

[Deleted]

Oh hes a legacy? Once again, battlefront 2 is all i got.

I dunno, I felt like they were trying to build him up, but gave up half way.

Eh I think he was essential in that we got to see that Rebellion wasn't just all one big happy family, and that there were splinter factions and "radicals" within the Rebellion, perhaps seeing them do something super shocking like a suicide bombing would have helped push that instead of simply attacking the Empire, which we've always expected the Rebellion to do (this being the first time we've seen the rather passive Rebellion that existed inbetween ep 3-4). That said we did also see that when Cassian executed the informant at the start and then when we saw the big roundtable discussion.

But I don't think his time was wasted, we got a bit of Jyns backstory from him, got to see some of the rebellions more questionable actions (got to see some weird ass octopus thing which is probably my only negative in the film, like what the hell was it, where did it come from and why is it there).

I'd also disagree with your assertion that the entire first hour was building up to him, a meeting with him may have been the goal, but its not like they were simply just talking about him, we saw plenty in that first hour.

[PACOX]

Oh hes a legacy? Once again, battlefront 2 is all i got. (and it being referenced for like 40 years)

I dunno, I felt like they were trying to build him up, but gave up half way.

They weren't trying to build him up though. At least not to me. His purpose was to show what actual insurgency looks like. He was on the same side as the Alliance but the Alliance didn't like him because of his methods. He was a bit of an extremist from what they did show - felt like they cut a lot of his stuff for time/to keep their rating though. His men had no problem attacking blowing up a market full of civilians to kill some stormtroopers. They lied about the pilot. They tortured the pilot. We know that he used at least 1 child soldier, Jynn.

The good guys aren't always good guys. The only who didn't have dirt on their name were the two Asian dudes.

[Trumpcat]

Won't be entering the scene-by-scene discussion, just want to drop a post to say how much I loved Rogue One: very much! :P So I will be seeing it at least one more time on cinema. This is the Star Wars movie I've been looking for and I would really like to forget Ep.7 exists. It is not the work of George Lucas (I like 1-6), but it is made by people who love the saga and did their best to live up to expectations without doing a bad remake like Jar Jar Abrams did.
Rogue One blends so well into the story of the other movies. Jyn was great, very well played.

If anything, the final 5 minutes are perhaps some of the best in the entire saga.

[Shadowferal]

Tragedy, a common enemy, and witnessing the power of the Death Star is what brought them all together. Escaping a giant rock tsunami sort of does that to people.

Yup...Seeing imminent doom coming at you? Is that your ship coming in? Then you're my best bud!

Chirrut and Baze didn't have much to live for after their temple got raped and pillaged and then the city destroyed. But they apparently still wanted to make a difference fighting the Empire.

[Deleted]

planning to going to see it today! Wish me good luck, hope it will be worth it

[Sierra85]

planning to going to see it today! Wish me good luck, hope it will be worth it

i think you'll be pleasantly surprised. it is a good movie, better than force awakens. its just a solid romp

[Tackhisis]

Just to give you a taste of bollocks you gonna see:
Imagine the Important Evil Empire Archive. It consist of streamer tape cartridges (!) inserted into a huge pillar within a shaft. To access said cartridges a manipulator controlled by clean room-style handles is used before the window giving a view of a small segment of the pillar. It is unclear how the operator is supposed to access the rear side of the column or lower or higher tiers. The shaft has a hole on top leading to outside, no hatches, not even a glass cover. There are several huge doors yawning right in the nowhere in the shaft.
And that is not a stupidest thing you'll gonna see.

[Elim Garak]

Just to give you a taste of bollocks you gonna see:
Imagine the Important Evil Empire Archive. It consist of streamer tape cartridges (!) inserted into a huge pillar within a shaft. To access said cartridges a manipulator controlled by clean room-style handles is used before the window giving a view of a small segment of the pillar. It is unclear how the operator is supposed to access the rear side of the column or lower or higher tiers. The shaft has a hole on top leading to outside, no hatches, not even a glass cover. There are several huge doors yawning right in the nowhere in the shaft.
And that is not a stupidest thing you'll gonna see.

Yeah, that was ridiculous. Obvious plot device is obvious.