geek'd
Rogue One is not Star Wars as you know it. It looks vaguely familiar, but that is where the similarities end. At it’s core, this movie seems to serve as a Disney experiment in expanding the mythos and marketability of the original trilogy by way of war film. And this is where our review splits into 2 parts. This is necessary if you, the geek’d reader, is to understand and realign your expectations. Because you will undoubtedly see this movie, but you may come away wondering why this was called ‘Star Wars’ at all without a little prep.
Part 1: A very interesting war drama
Bleak and tense, ‘Rogue One’ paints a more down to earth picture of the struggling rebellion. The characters seem gritty, and the heroes shoot first. And in the back. There’s a desperation here not found in any of the other movies, and the stakes seem high. This disjointed band of misfits are thrown together as the worlds they know are literally destroyed by the Empire, driving them to risk it all for a chance at stopping the Death Star.
Part 2: Why bother calling it Star Wars?
It’s hard writing this part of the review. As a ‘Star Wars’ fan I was not a fan of Rogue One, but desperately wanted to be. For those long-term lifelong fans, they’ll probably like the movie. As a fan of cinema and storytelling, there is a lot that just doesn’t work. Choppy editing, overblown music at the start of each scene transition. In fact, where the hell is ANY of John Williams score? The original music itself is a main stay character, and is discarded intentionally to tell us this isn’t your typical Star Wars movie, but at great cost to the final result. What am I supposed to relate to if it doesn’t even sound like the iconic films of the past?
I was not prepared for this tonal shift. Which is a fair complaint because Star Wars is definable. There are characteristics to adhere to as to be recognizable as a SW film. If I wanted different, I would have seen a different movie. At it’s core, this series is a franchise. Which means its formulaic. And being that, I want what I LOVE about that particular world in a movie that I’ve paid to see. Hope. Charm. Charisma. Adventure. Rogue One has none of this. A few quips by a robot provide the majority of the comic relief, but to little effect. This movie has more in common with ‘The Dirty Dozen’ than anything in the Star Wars universe, and for all of it’s third act violence and battle scenes, does little to make me feel I was on an adventure. No single character evolves. The crawl is gone. The score is gone. The joy is gone. This movie takes itself too seriously and runs too long. I’d rather have a 20 minute fan film that hits all the notes than a 2 plus hour movie that really wants to be something it’s not: which just happens to be a Star Wars film.
Saving Graces:
Vader is a total badass. Again, under utilized, but make no doubt the Dark Lord is on full display here for about… 1 minute. More Vader please.
Did I hate the film? No. I’ll see it again and this time be prepared because I love Star Wars. But the marketing campaign did little to prepare me for what this is. It’s not your daddy’s Star Wars. And maybe that’s what Disney needs to do to sustain the new franchise. But for this fan, I’m eagerly awaiting a film that resonates the film’s original fun, action and drama and I hope for Disney that is what I get in 2017.
