Well, fair play to Columbia Pictures. No, really. I can't quite envision the table of reactions at the Friday afternoon meeting when one voice piped up "Passengers a sci-fi movie… why don't we just release it six days after Star Wars?", nor the ensuing discussion which saw that idea get signed off. But it clearly happened. Fair play.
Set in a future time of commercialised off-world colonisation, Passengers is the story of two prospective settlers who wake from cryo-sleep 30 years into their 120-year journey on the starship Avalon, and have to figure out what's brought them round early, and how they can avoid dying of old age before the ship reaches its destination. All the best science fiction works on an allegorical level, and Morten Tyldum's film seems to be a metaphor for two people waking from cryo-sleep 30 years into a 120-year journey and having to figure out what's brought them round early and how they can avoid dying of old age before the ship reaches its destination.
Loneliness, destiny, purpose, the weight of responsibility and the isolating vastness of space. Precisely none of these themes are properly explored in a film which is the cinematic equivalent of candy floss; very pretty to look at, but almost entirely without substance or nutritional content of any kind.
I didn't hate Passengers, but the plot felt so staggeringly linear that I began to wonder if I was missing something huge. If that's the case then I continue to miss it.
The first act belongs to engineer and everyman-archetype, Chris Pratt (largely playing Chris Pratt™), on his own in the ship and slowly losing the plot as his 5,300 sleeping peers manage to doze through his escalating breakdown*1. The whole thing plays out like a retelling of I Am Legend, overlaid with a child trying to explain the premise of Red Dwarf. Jennifer Lawrence arrives soon after as a borderline unlikeable writer*2 who'd been on 'a journey' to 'find herself'. The thing which apparently upsets her most about living out the rest of her life in space is not being surrounded by people telling her how great she is (#23rdCenturyProblems). And then after a while, Laurence Fishburne arrives in an officer's uniform, being the only one trained or qualified to drive the story forward. Throughout all of this, Michael Sheen periodically supports as an android bartender, the one role where that weird grin of his actually feels appropriate.
With a couple of very minor exceptions, this is a cast of four people (with the addition of Andy Garcia laughing all the way to the bank). Which is fine. Pratt and Lawrence make the most of what they're given to work with, Sheen arguably has the most fun and Fishburne is chewing the scenery and thinking about the money. Which is fine.
The film as a whole? Not fine. And not fun, either. When did starting a new life on the other side of the galaxy, investigating a mystery on-board an ostensibly deserted spacecraft and fixing a reactor-core by opening an airlock using a door as a makeshift flame-shield become so boring?*3. The super-generic on screen displays and minimalist interior of The Avalon look like they're from a screenplay written in the 1970s which has been waiting for the effects-industry to catch up. And everything looks Nice™ here, but an incredibly bland way. Notwithstanding that the trailer actually mis-sells the premise of the movie*4, anyone hoping for a third-act reveal is going to be disappointed. Generally speaking, I enjoy the work of all the cast*5, but their performances just aren't enough to carry the weak screenplay.
Passengers at least does some of what it says on the tin.
I didn't go 'on a journey', but I do feel like I was taken for a ride…
Level 2: Let's go for an easy one, Jennifer Lawrence was in X-Men: Apocalypse alongside Rose 'Dormé' Byrne and Oscar 'Dameron' Isaac.
*1 They sleep throughout the whole thing. At one point I was worried I was going to join them.
*2 And after the film features some of her 'desert island prose', this is a term I use very loosely.
*3 Doesn't it bother anyone else that when the gravity fails on the ship, previously static items in the various rooms begin to drift around - indicating that the film-makers are aware that the forward thrust and corkscrew motion of the ship would act upon these objects -, yet when our heroes step outside for a tethered spacewalk, they're not immediately yanked back into the craft's slipstream? We're told it's travelling at approximately half the speed of light, and while gravity won't apply to them outside the ship, momentum and inertia would. Maybe it's not a documentary...
*4 This is Mystique & Star-Lord: The Stalking Years. Every bit as creepy as that sounds and nowhere near as dramatic as it could (would) be.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
This is your spoiler-break. The block of leader-text designed to act as a buffer between you clicking (or tapping, as it's sometimes called these days) on a review of Rogue One and realising it's rammed absolutely full of the worst (or best) kind of spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie, don't read the rest of this post. I mean come back later when you have, obviously, but don't be reading past multiple occurences of the word spoiler and then going "Well I didn't know any of that beforehand, so thanks a bunch". I mean, the film's been on general release for over a week now, but I know not everyone's been able to catch it yet. Look, I'm doing you a favour, here.
On a side-note, I have to say that the IMAX 3D at Leicester Square (formerly the Empire, now under the stewardship of Cineworld) is so much better than regular 3D it's unbelievable. No ghosting whatsoever, the increased resolution of IMAX and greater colour range make it almost like watching a new movie. Outstanding work.
Okay, that's enough stalling.
One of the more considered criticisms leveled at Rogue One, is that there's an overall lack of emotion to the film, considering how monumental the events are for its characters. Short version: 'Character X died and I didn't care'. If it's the bad guys having their tickets punched, maybe that's not such a big concern, but if it's a goodie you're meant to be invested in, it's a fair point.
Now personally, my advice would be to watch the film again. Rogue One is densely packed, but moments of insight and character development are there. They're just fleeting glances rather than long gazes out into the sunset. My hetero-lifemate wasn't overly enamoured the first time he watched the movie, but got a lot more out of a second-pass.
It's also worth reiterating that this is a heist-movie. Previous excursions in the Galaxy Far, Far Away have been based on the Hero's Journey, a classically-structured narrative centered around one character, building sympathetically and emotionally outwards. Luke, Anakin and Rey have all adhered to this template, and it's through them that we get to know the heroes and villains around them, sharing in their victories and losses along the way.
Rogue One doesn't follow that path anywhere near as closely. It's an action movie about a group of insurgents stealing data in the middle of a brutal and desperate civil war. While Jyn Erso is undoubtedly our protagonist, this film introduces eight (arguably nine) crucial characters in two hours; more importantly, the film decides to kill them all, too. That, combined with the involved plot-mechanics, is a lot to cram into the run-time. Emotional pondering is a luxury the screenplay can't really afford, so is distributed sparingly and accordingly.
And despite everything I'm about to go on and say, let me state that I'm unequivocally delighted with the writers' decision to Do All The Killing. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemingly reticent to give its main characters anything more than a paper-cut, it's great to have a sense of consequence to a movie. And while it's easy to say "Oh, but they have to die, because we don't see them again later", that's clearly not the case. Star Wars might feel like a small galaxy occasionally, but there are reasons for tucking characters away for future use. That said, I was worried that the more sympathetic players in the story might be surreptitiously and miraculously spared the Reaper, much like Dash Rendar's best-of-both-worlds salvation in Shadows of the Empire.
But no, the casualties in this film are as final as final can be. As Rogue One unfolds, explosions and debris come directly into shot with our last glimpse of characters, others hit the dirt having taken their final blaster bolt, and we literally see the light disappear from the eyes of one unfortunate. No-one is going to talk their way out of a fix once the film cuts to another scene, no-one is left ambiguously hanging around off-planet, no-one gets to make it to the shuttle just in time. While I'm certain there will be novels, comics and games detailing the earlier adventures of the heroes and villains we meet here, they're gone by the time Darth Vader steps into the hallway of the Tantive IV. They're not coming back*1.
Although as I recall, we saw Darth Maul get chopped in half and fall down a well back in '99, and even he managed to swing an invite to the reunion party. I'm not expecting Jango Fett's head to be sewn back on anytime soon, but never say never, right?
But just to be an argumentative bastard, did they really need to die?. It's fine that they did, but how much of the body-count was narrative-necessity and how much was over-zealous housekeeping?
So without further ado (and I think we can all agree that the adoing here has already gone further than any of us anticipated), here's a look at the mainstays of Rogue One who bought the farm, in the order that they had their mortgage applications stamped, and wondering if that purchase was justified...
Name: SAW GERRERA
Who's there for the... Being the hardline guerrilla fighter who is the Rebellion's link to Imperial scientist, Galen Erso.
Pointlessness of death: Utter. Having been drafted in from Season 5 of The Clone Wars where he was schooled by the Jedi on how to aggressively resist the occupation of the Condeferacy of Independent Systems on the planet Onderon, Saw's character adds some much needed depth to the Rebellion. His presence shows early on that they're not a completely united front and that some branches of anti-Empire activism cross their line of justification and into extremism. Then, after hooking up Jyn Erso with the information she needs to help locate her father, he decides he can't be bothered any more. Over twenty years of furious survival, voluntarily invalidated with two lines of dialogue: "There's not much of me left" and "I'm tired of running". As an outspoken outsider of the Rebel Alliance (more a mercenary, if anything), he's hardly likely to be raising flags throughout the Original Trilogy by his absence, so it's not like he 'needs' to be disposed of by the story. Not without due cause, at any rate.
The rest of his gang are all legging it to their ships (although whether they make it isn't specified), the newly formed Rebel strike-team are actively helping him towards theirs... but Saw can't be arsed. He's not making a moral stand by hanging around in the doorway on Jedha, nor is he making a sacrifice which will help others. He's just giving up, which is precisely what you'd expect from a freedom-fighter who's only recently learned that his movement now has the means to strike a damaging blow to the government he's been raging against for two decades, right?
Name: GALEN ERSO
Who's there for the... Being the guy who brought the Death Star plans to full, mechanical fruition.
Pointlessness of death: None; justified. Despite working on the planet-destroying behemoth that is the Death Star ostensibly against his will, Galen's character knows he bears a narrative guilt that can't be assuaged simply by building a glaring flaw into his project. His death on the landing platform at the Eadu research facility might have been from Rebel ordnance, but Galen knew it was only a matter of time until he was caught in the moral crossfire, if not the literal one.
More importantly, this gives Jyn the nudge she needs to fully commit to the Rebellion, helping to execute the final part in Galen's penance - destroying the destroyer. That he dies in his daughter's arms brings Galen peace and Jyn determination. He is the jointly the mentor-archetype in Jyn's Hero's Journey and unlike Saw Gerrera, his death passes on the torch of destiny and redemption. Galen didn't have to die on that landing platform, but he did have to die for the story to work.
Name: K-2SO
Who's there for the... Technical analysis, precision combat manoeuvres and sarcasm.
Pointlessness of death: Fitting, but avoidable? K-2SO spends the film unquestioningly helping those around him and being an invaulable part of the team. Unbound by human uncertainties about death, the droid knows the Scarif control room will be his last stand, his selfless actions will help to buy precious seconds in transmitting the Death Star plans to the fleet above the planet. We see him fight in the Jedha marketplace with lethal efficiency and know that the only way he'll leave the control room on Scarif is either by winning or losing the battle outright.
And it's debatable that this is all in his programming of course; that K-2SO's commitment to galactic freedom is no more or less than that of your toaster's toward heating bread. But we've come to know the droid over the previous two hours, and he's arguably the most human of the entire crew, since his newfound sentience has him thinking of Cassian as a genuine friend, rather than owner/master. His new 'programming' is the same any human's - learning from past experiences, reactive to his surroundings and hopeful for the future. With only a single blaster for protection, K-2SO does as much as he possibly can to keep his companions safe and dies in a hail of blaster-fire, his place among the heroes well-earned.
Name: CHIRRUT IMWE
Who's there for the... Bromance, spirituality and hitting people with a stick.
Pointlessness of death: Fairly. A former Guardian of the Whills, Chirrut is that odd and previously unexamined creature: one who can read and feel The Force, but not control it. Attuned to a higher level of consciousness, Chirrut's blindness is a physical limitation only, and he's able to not only incapacitate a squadron of Stormtroopers armed with only his staff, but also walk across a live battlefield unharmed.
Which is exactly what he does for this team's 'release the master switch' challenge to open the communications-channel and allow the Death Star schematics to be broadcast to the waiting Rebel fleet. Guided by The Force, Chirrut walks in measured steps to the control bank. His hand finds the lever and pushes it to the 'open' setting, as blaster bolts whizz all around him. And it's this serene and poignant action that underlines his apparent stupidity in not immediately hitting the deck while the Rebels and Imperials continue to slug it out. Instead, he's routinely zapped and falls to the ground; even The Force can't repair blaster-burn that severe.
As one of a dwindling number of Force-sensitives in the galaxy, it's understandable for the story that he doesn't live to see the sunrise over Yavin IV when Luke's celebrating his voice-assisted victory. But is there a reason his concentration suddenly slipped while armoured troops were shooting at him? Did The Force leave Chirrut, his destiny fulfilled? Did he just take his eye off the ball, delighted with having completed his task and securing victory for the Rebellion? Was it just good old-fashioned bad luck? The film doesn't tell us, maybe the novelisation will shed some light on it?
Name: BODHI ROOK
Who's there for the... Information he can bring to the Alliance as a defecting Imperial pilot.
Pointlessness of death: Fairly, but unavoidable. Brash and enthusiastic (exactly the kind of personality who wouldn't last ten minutes in the service of the Empire), Bodhi is essentially a Rebel waiting-to-happen. Despatched by Galen Erso to find Saw Gerrera and deliver information to the Rebellion, he's every bit as much the Macguffin as he is the messenger throughout Rogue One. Trained to fly Imperial craft and understand their procedures, he's the perfect addition to the team.
But by the time he's explained everything to everyone in short bursts which will keep the audience up to speed with the film's proceedings and transmitted the stolen Death Star plans to Admiral Raddus' cruiser above, he's redeemed of his ex-Imp ways and the character arc is complete. Like any of the Rebel strike team, they're essentially waiting to die on Scarif anyway, so Rook's moment in the sun is capped where a detpack happens to be thrown into the hold of the ship he's transmitting from. Bodhi Rook dies because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his character had nothing left to do.
Name: BAZE MALBUS
Who's there for the... Bromance, heavy-weapons and mopping up anything that Chirrut's stick doesn't finish.
Pointlessness of death: Entirely. The pint to Chirrut Imwe's chaser, the yin to his yang, Baze Malbus is an intriguing and boisterous counterpart. Also an ex-Guardian, Baze hasn't stopped believing in The Force, but he's stopped relying on it. Far handier with heavy-weaponry than metaphysical concepts, he and Chirrut form a symbiont-duo who look out for each other in a city which is rapidly going to the massiffs. Throughout the film, Baze gently mocks Chirrut for his continued trust in The Force, although never maliciously and always with the respect of someone who used to be that guy himself. By the time Baze watches his best friend get gunned down by Imperial forces, he's very almost back on track himself, repeating their shared mantra aloud as he strides across the battlefield, taking out Deathtroopers one by one.
Which is the stupid bit. Other than as an act of revenge (which isn't his style, irrespective of the Guardians Of The Whills stance on the subject), there is literally no point to his apparent sacrifice. The comms-switch is flipped and all that remains is to hold off the surrounding Imps. A feat of no real effort, given that Malbus has shown his prowess for the last two hours with his signature chain-gun. Even though he isn't instantly cut in half by the troopers, sloppy work from Baze (which would have been avoided had he taken them out from a distance) sees him come face to face with a ticking detpack. The surrounding Deathtroopers are no more by that point, but that says nothing of the other ground forces he could be defeating.
Name: ORSON KRENNIC
Who's there for the... Being the put-upon project co-ordinator of the Death Star project.
Pointlessness of death: None; satisfying. Even as a member of the management-team, it makes absolute sense that Orson Krennic is no longer around by the events of A New Hope. Underappreciated at best by an organisation that can be politely described as 'coldly efficient', Krennic is frustrated at every turn that his efforts in bringing the Death Star to functionality are written off, if not outright stolen by his contemporaries. The only man we've ever seen backchat Tarkin, he doesn't want the glory of sitting at the Emperor's right-hand, only the recognition that he's helped the cause. Krennic doesn't see the Empire as outright evil, he just knows that you can't make a galactically-secure omelette without breaking some insurgent eggs.
And when things start really going south, Krennic doesn't run to a command-shuttle and watch the ensuing battle from the bridge of a Star Destroyer; he unholsters his pistol and goes steaming into the archive complex, in an attempt to personally stop the Death Star plans being retrieved. And while it's true that he gives a speech to Jyn while holding her at gunpoint on the gantry, it's less about gloating and more about ensuring that she knows she's lost. This proves to be his downfall of course, literally, as he's slotted in the back by Cassian. But he doesn't go out like a punk. Lying on the walkway, as Krennic lifts his head and sees the Death Star just above the horizon, he knows it's only there for one reason. This is checkmate, the poetic irony that he strived so hard for the completion of a weapon which will now end him; the monster, returned to kill its creator (perhaps more ironic since it's now 'Baron Frankenstein' who's in charge of it). Angry and bitter in defeat as he was in life, Krennic gets a good death.
Name: JYN ERSO & CASSIAN ANDOR
Who's there for the... Being the determined vessels of righteous galactic retribution.
Pointlessness of death: In narrative terms, poetic. In practical terms, ridiculous. Now naturally, Cassian couldn't end his run being spanged in the back while he climbs the data-tower, even if it is Krennic himself who lands the shot and even Andor does hit every beam on the way down, like a more dashing Homer Simpson. No, Cassian meets his end with Jyn, in a moment of well-earned peace and grim acceptance on the shoreline of Scarif. The Death Star schematics uploaded to the Rebel fleet, their part in the relay-race is over, and although they know they won't live to see the Alliance's victory, they've done their best and earned a place in the history books. With the Death Star parked just outside the atmosphere and shrieking green fury to the planet's surface, it's unavoidable. Except, hang on a minute...
Earlier, in the data-archive, K-2SO informs Jyn that the planetary shield has closed. "So we're trapped?" she asks. "We can still beam the data out!" the droid replies, "But it's the size of the files that's the problem. The shield has to be taken down!" (although why he barks this at her is beyond me; Jyn is in about as much position to disable the shield generator as anyone else below it, but there we go). Anyhow, two Star Destroyers are wrecked, the shield-gate destroyed and the plans can be safely beamed to the fleet. But then, so can anything else. K-2SO's insistence that the shield was stopping the data-transfer was a side-point of that conversation. With the shield removed, there's no reason that Jyn and Cassian can't commandeer an Imperial shuttle in the confusion and escape off-world, right? E-mailing the plans back to the office is a nicety, and certainly something you'd do as a failsafe, but Jyn's got the hard-drive right there, on her. The Imperial forces might have noticed the upload (indeed, we know the did), but those two Rebels and their previous data could easily slip away and be 'lost in action'.
So, instead of limping along the beach, exchanging glances that look like they were going to be kisses in another cut of the film, maybe the two of them could have at least tried to get out of the atmosphere. Y'know, in case the Empire noticed the transmission and went to kick the crap out of the ship which received it? For Jyn and Cassian, it's a fitting, bittersweet end to their brief alliance; but Kyle Katarn wouldn't have accepted the end so readily ;)
But as I said at the top of the post, I'm actually very happy that the film-makers killed them all off…
All of The Star Wars.
Yep.
It does.
It's a strong showing.
Nope.
Yep.
Level 0: It is Star Wars.
Although if you really wanted to go the long way round with it…
Rogue One stars Mr Forest Whitaker, who also appeared in Taken 3 with Liam Neeson of course, who took to the skies in Non-Stop, a film which featured Lupita Nyong'o, who provided voice-work for the recent remake of The Jungle Book, as did its director Jon Favreau whose vocals guested in the 'Two Weeks Without Food' episode of Robot Chicken starring Seth Green, who rocked up in the 2005 movie The Best Man, as did David Oyelowo who appeared in The Last King of Scotland, along with Forest Whitaker, who's in that Rogue One…
*1 Of course, watch me be proved wrong about this in the future as the singed sim-card of K-2SO is recovered from the smouldering ruins of Scarif, and he gets ret-conned into the shell of IG-88, or somesuch...
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Okay, this is your spoiler-break. That first section of text which will be picked up by some web crawlers and preview-generators, and which will potentially appear in front of the eyes of people who haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to be annoyed when they're just browsing through their social media platform of choice (and quite right, too). There are no spoilers in this bit. They all come after the image, below. You shouldn't read the main body of this post unless you've seen Rogue One, as it details key plot points, dialogue and character appearances. And apart from anything else, it won't make sense if you haven't seen the film yet.
So, this is my third viewing of Rogue One within a fairly concentrated period of time, and I'm still loving it. Picking up more background detail with each watch, and the stylistic differences that separate the film from the Saga episodes are becoming less jarring. What follows is a sort of 'thoughts as I go', roughly in the order of occurrence and separated by location for your convenience. This sort of review would work far better with accompanying stills, obviously. But as we all know, there's no way to get those until around April when the DVD comes out. In the meantime, you'll have to make do with remembering the bits I'm on about...
Still here? Smashing…
GALEN'S FARM
• Is this only the second planet we've seen (cinematically, at least) in the Galaxy Far, Far Away with rings, after AotC's Geonosis?
• So wait, the Imp shuttle overtakes Jyn as she's running home, but she's down the stairs, through the door and into the living room for three minutes before it's landed? It's hardly a densely populated area where you'd drive around the block a few times to make sure you're at the right place, but okay then.
• That maintenance droid of Galen's. What's he going to do when he gets back to the homestead and no-one's there? Mind you, I'm guessing Lyra's just been left out in that field, so that should give him some idea...
• Blue Milk™ in the homestead. Slightly heavy-handed visual reference as it also happens to be centre-shot with a slow-zoom, but still - nice!
• His opening sarcasm to Galen Erso aside, I think Orson Krennic might be the most sympathetic Imperial character we've met properly. There's a frustration to him that suggests he genuinely doesn't see the Empire as evil, just a slightly inefficient organisation which does bad things for the right reasons.
SPACE
• And to put it out there, I'm not a fan of that title-card, or the accompanying fanfare from Giacchino. It feels like one of those commercially produced parodies which try to be as close as possible to Star Wars™ but have used a different typeface and music to avoid legal repercussions (fan-films tend to just directly reference the logo and use Williams' score). I'd rather the film had gone completely different, or not featured a title at all.
RING OF KAFRENE
• This is the first time we've seen location-cards in a Star Wars movie, although I've no doubt that's necessary because of the sheer number of words we visit here (especially during the first act) when you want to cement the idea in the audience's mind that we're skipping around the galaxy, not just one globe. It's also notable that two planets in this film aren't named though, the first of which was the setting for Galen's, farm earlier. I still haven't finished the lead-in novel Catalyst yet, so I don't know if it gets a mention in there.
EDIT: Galen's farm is on the planet Lah'mu, as indicated in DK's Visual Guide book. Why it isn't captioned in the movie? No idea. Maybe it wasn't something they wanted to open with, as the planet is part of the first scene.
• For all Gareth Edwards' tight direction that I enthused about earlier, the over-acting coming from Daniel Mays here is incredible. He could power three screenplays with his energy alone. If anything, it distracts from a fantastic bit of character-building for Cassian Andor.
• The industrial setting here and patrol Stormtroopers remind me of the fan-film I.M.P.S. The Relentless. And I mean that as a compliment to both.
YAVIN IV
• I love the dynamic between the reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO and Rebel Intelligence Officer Andor. The latter is always patient and respectful in his instructions to the droid, but it in turn calls him 'Cassian'. Not Master, or even Captain Andor. It shows that whatever the practical reality of their relationship, the droid clearly thinks of him as a friend and companion.
JEDHA
• I know it's been around eighteen years since the end of the Clone Wars, but I notice Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera neither looks, sounds nor acts like the insurgent we met on Onderon, being trained in guerilla warfare by Anakin Skywalker. Although his character is coming to the Rebels TV series soon (set around five years before Rogue One, so I guess we'll see how that progression is coming along.
THE DEATH STAR
• Wilhuff Tarkin. I shall talk about this in a future review...
JEDHA
• Dilapidated B'Omarr monastery! Nice!
• Okay, I know Kyber crystals are extremely powerful, but using gems you can hold in your hand (even crates full of them) to contribute towards the running of something the size of the first Death Star feels a bit like a Formula 1 team preparing for the upcoming season by syphonning petrol from cars down one street. It certainly lends more weight to the theory that Starkiller Base is built around the planet Ilum, due to the amount of raw, naturally occurring crystal there. It's got to save time messing about transporting handfuls of the things.
• K-2SO's acerbic quips throughout this film are magnificent; he's like Marvin, the Paranoid Android before the despondency overtook his disdain at the world. But even with all his great lines, my favourite moment is where Jyn hands him a bag to take back to the ship, he waits until she's ten steps away and then just drops it without a single shred of concern.
• What the hell is going on with Gerrera's pet truth-monster, other than being the most Freudian creature we've met in the GFFA since the Sarlaac? And when he says that those subjected to its talents 'tend to lose their minds', how come Bodhi Rook seems to come out of it like he's shaking off a hangover?
• …so that's Dr Evazan's signature catchphrase, is it? Like, everywhere he goes? Okay then. I'm also going to assume that both he and Ponda Baba were on their way to the ship to pilot off the next dustball planet, not least because that street's going to be flattened in about twenty five minutes…
• Chirrut Imwe's ability to take out a squad of Stormtroopers with a stick makes me realise that the Ewoks' subsequent attack (and victory) on Endor maybe isn't so far-fetched after all.
• That RA- series droid has a new (read: previously unseen) eye/visor configuration. Nice!
• Saw Gerrera's coterie of misfits are playing Dejarik with physical pieces, instead of the holo-version we know from the Falcon. Nice!
• Is that Cham Syndulla sitting at a table in Saw's gaff, too? If so, see my previous comment regarding Walrus Man and making his way calmly to the exit…
EDIT: No, according (again) to the Visual Guide, it's a Twi'lek named Beezer Fortuna, who's a cousin of Jabba's majordomo, Bib. Although Cham Syndulla gets a mention in Beezer's write-up, anyhow.
• Galen Erso's holo-message. Beautiful. For almost forty years now, people (including me) have been rolling their eyes and taking the piss out of such a blatant design-flaw in the Death Star.
The ret-con? Of course it's deliberate...
• Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus have the most intriguing relationship and backstory of the whole film. As former Guardians Of The Whills who have lost their purpose in life now the moon is under Imperial occupation, one has become hyper-spiritual while the other has concentrated his efforts on the acquisition and mastery of military ordnance. Yet they're completely inseparable and read each other like only best friends can. What's also intriguing is Chirrut's connection with The Force. Although he's not a de facto Jedi, his survival skills in combat and the line later, "The Force moves darkly near a creature that's about to kill" show that he can feel and react to The Force, but not actively control it. A bit like someone who can read and understand fluently, but can't hold a pen to write. Along with the Dark-Side-but-Not-Sith Kylo Ren, this has big implications for the scope of Star Wars storytelling and the nature of The Force.
• There is absolutely and categorically no actual need for Saw Gerrera to not get on the ship, here. I shall return to this in a later post.
EADU
• I notice Cassian is aiming that sniper-rifle with his eye about ten inches away from the range-finder. That's normal, yeah? I mean, he's only looking at a small, dark, murky close-up image of the landing pad while the floodlit surrounding base and its systems bleed into his surrounding vision, so I'm sure that'll be fine.
VADER'S CASTLE
• The second of this film's locations with no location-card, which this time feels more significant. Although there's no title, the 'molten-esque' setting heavily suggests that it's somewhere on the planet Mustafar, indeed Pablo Hidalgo from the LFL Story Group has as good as confirmed this. Although even with the entire planet to choose from, you can picture Vader being shown round and saying to the estate agent "Ooh, a lava-feature! No, I like it! That doesn't bring back any bad vibes at all…"
• Why does Vader's helmet seem different in this film? The neck-piece looks wider here, although that could be because his cloak and fastening-chain are underneath the flared-bottom throughout, rather than over the top like they were onboard the Tantive IV in ANH?
YAVIN IV
• Love how the council-scene is populated largely by craggy-looking middle aged white guys, to channel that whole Ep IV aesthetic. Almost like this branch of the Rebellion is the Home Guard or something. Which would explain Daniel Mays' presence, earlier.
• Sure it's a heavy-handed reference, but I like the insistence that Bail Organa definitely was on Alderaan when it blew. It would have been easy to ret-con him to survival for some future use. That said, Mon Mothma makes specific mention of recruiting 'his Jedi friend', what actual use is Kenobi going to be, in practical terms? Worst thing is, that question hadn't even crossed my mind before Rogue One…
SCARIF
• Yeah, I'm still not sure how I feel about palm trees in the Galaxy Far, Far Away...
• Baze calls Jyn 'little sister' before they separate into battle. A touching moment, but does it seem a little forced when they've only been hanging around for a day or so?
• I like how K-2SO's "I've got a bad feeling abo--" is truncated, in the same way that the film's Wilhelm Scream was earlier.
• It's Artoo and Threepio! Nice! Not even remotely subtle, but who cares? Their inclusion in Rogue One (or the lack thereof, to be more accurate) was one of the things I worried about most with this movie. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see them here.
SCARIF
• Is that the first time we've seen an R5-series astromech navigating an X-Wing? I've only noticed them in Y-Wings before when they're not trundling around and catching fire.
• The 'find the master switch', 'use the ships to cover the ground troops' and 're-align the antenna' sections in this battle are all pure Battlefront. I'm not complaining, I like that. Speaking of which…
• There's a serious amount of damage done in this movie with detpacks. Not the more commonly seen and rollable Thermal Detonators, but the cornered models which were the standard fallback of the Dark Forces and Battlefront game-series through the years. Bravo! Although I must remember to look out and see if anyone's carrying a Bryar pistol the next time I'm watching…
• So presumably the Empire increased the shielding for the standard AT-AT models after the defeat of the AT-ACTs on Scarif? Because the folks in the X-Wings here aren't messing around with cables and they're having no problems at all. Let's not forget, the second A of that name stands for Armoured…
• Liking how we get re-engineered footage of Angus MacInnes and Drewe Henley, to place their characters here at Scarif and later around the Death Star. It's a nice indicator that not everyone outside of the Tantive IV carks it. Yet, anyway.
• I like the way an organisation has the tech and industrial prowess to build a moon-sized battle station, but their data-archiving still relies on the right box being manually moved from the right shelf. Some would say this is a security measure, but I've got a funny feeling it's an administrator not wanting to automate himself out of a job.
• And I'm going to assume they only made about twelve of those Death Troopers, on account of none of them showing up for subsequent duty-parades on either the first or second Death Stars.
• Something tells me what when Bodhi Rook was working for the Empire, his actual title was "Captain Exposition".
• I like the way an organisation has the tech and industrial prowess to build a complete planetary-shield, but no-one seems to have considered that the whole thing can be disabled by just driving into the gateway with Something Much Bigger™. The Rebellion literally ram-raided their way to the Death Star plans (although I'm also fairly sure the crippled Star Destroyer would be within the planet's gravity-well when its engines go down, even without a nudge. But let's not get into that right now).
• So, the fight above Scarif shows us why the call-sign Red-5 was assigned to Luke in the Battle of Yavin. And it's not because there were previously only four pilots in the squadron. Feels a little cold handing his mantle over before the embers of the guy's X-Wing have even cooled, but that's war I suppose.
• Is Admiral Raddus wearing a badge/brooch of the ion cannon we later see on Hoth?
• The entire sequence with Vader kicking ass first and worrying about taking names later? Yes. Yes.
• And the final shot of the film aboard the Tantive IV? Less is more, LFL. Really, less is more...
All of The Star Wars.
Yep.
It does.
It's a strong showing.
Nope.
Yep.
Level 0: It is Star Wars.
Although if you really wanted to go the long way round with it…
Rogue One features the fine vocals and mo-cap work of Mr Alan Tudyk, whose name can be found attached to 2014's Tell alongside that of Katee Sackhoff, who lent her voice to 2011's Batman: Year One, as did Grey DeLisle, a performer who also worked on the TV series of Avatar: The Last Airbender with Jason Isaacs, who cropped up in 2015's Justice League: Gods & Monsters along with Dee Bradley Baker who is a regular on Phineas & Ferb, as is Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who starred in 2015's Maze Runner: Scorch Trials with Alan Tudyk… from off of Rogue One.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
So, another run at the new Star Wars movie, within twenty four hours of the first, brought a few advantages. The first was the freedom from polarised glasses and their subsequent light-loss. I've long been on the fence about 3D in live-action films, and while the desired effect was certainly 'there' in the midnight screening I attended, it wasn't calibrated brilliantly so there was ghosting all over the shop*1. Anyhow, the 2D version of Rogue One is every bit as immersive and spectacular as its showboating counterpart. As you'd expect, of course.
The plot-mechanics made more sense this time, too. Not that the film's needlessly complicated at all, but the first time I saw it I was overwhelmed with The Everything Of Star Wars™, including new planets, new locations and looking out for Easter-eggs and callbacks. So with all that (or most of that) 'out of the way', I could sit and concentrate on the whys and hows of the story. Smashing stuff, a little 'convenient' in one or two places, although nowhere near as much as I'd expect from a 'slot-in' movie.
The real gain from re-watching the film is seeing Gareth Edwards' work come together like this. The thing about film direction is that when it's good, you're not supposed to notice it. Well, except for the geeks. We notice it. Rogue One is an incredibly lean movie. The story hares along barely pausing for breath, there's little in the way of downtime or reflection, and we're introduced to eight new central characters. But everyone is pulling in the same direction under Edwards' auspices, and the result is a slick, tense adventure movie.
However… even though the crescendo is incredibly satisfying (no mean feat given that the audience know the outcome of the story before they start watching it), it'd be a fair criticism to say that the film lacks an emotional depth. The amount of time spent with most of the characters (Imperial and insurgent alike) on an individual basis means that any potential setbacks or casualties (this is a spoiler-free review, remember) don't resonate as deeply with the audience as they would normally.
But at the same time, this isn't a chin-stroking, emotional thought-piece, it's a heist-movie. And I defy anyone to not be grinning like an idiot when [REDACTED] goes [REDACTED]ing through the [REDACTED] to get the [REDACTED]. Because that's what we've all been waiting for.
Well done, Mr Edwards; bravo sir.
All of The Star Wars.
Yep.
It does.
It's a strong showing.
Nope.
Yep.
Level 0: It is Star Wars.
Although if you really wanted to go the long way round with it…
Rogue One stars Ben Mendelsohn of course, who's due to appear in the upcoming Ready Player One alongside Simon Pegg, who provided voicework for 2011's The Adventures Of Tintin, as did Daniel Mays who rocked up in the second series of Life On Mars, which also features an appearance from Ralph Brown, who is in the imminent biopic Jackie, headed by Natalie Portman who was the lead in Jane Got A Gun, in which she supported by Joel Edgerton, who turned up in Exodus: Gods And Kings, as did Ben Mendlesohn… who stars in Rogue One.
That's how we do it.
*1 Although at least the 3D is screen 1 of my local is projected at a brightness which makes it watchable (still too dark, but watchable). The projection bulbs in the larger screen 5 are either on their way to the bin, or are out of calibration for the size of the auditorium. I only mention this here in case someone from Didcot happens to be reading and would like to maybe have a look at that. And while you're on, if you could look at the bulb in the projection room which shines a glare of light out across the top of the screen permanently so that every dark scene in a movie is affected, that'd be great. I've only mentioned it to the front-of-house staff twice now ;)
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Name: SAW GERRERA
Name: GALEN ERSO
Name: K-2SO
Name: CHIRRUT IMWE
Name: BODHI ROOK
Name: BAZE MALBUS
Name: ORSON KRENNIC
Name: JYN ERSO & CASSIAN ANDOR
