Movie of the Week: Rogue One

Alexa: “Rogue One” was a bit of a gamble for the “Star Wars” franchise. It’s the first “anthology” film of the series that doesn’t fit neatly into the Skywalker saga. But if Disney was hoping to prove the potential of an expanded “Star Wars” cinematic universe with a wealth of unexplored territory, “Rogue One” was the perfect place to start. It’s clearly a part of the “Star Wars” world we all know and love, but it has its own unique tone and aesthetic. It’s peppered with some charming comedic moments, but at its heart it’s a true war story. It doesn’t sugarcoat or gloss over altogether the consequences of war or the sacrifices people make for the greater good, which is refreshing for a major tentpole movie. The cast is fantastic, and the characters every bit as expertly crafted as those in the flagship series. The strongest part of the movie by far is the third act, the actual mission to retrieve the Death Star plans. Some of the best performances occur during this sequence, and the action and special effects are top-notch. Really the only thing that looks off visually is the digital recreation of Tarkin and young Leia, but I think it would be weirder if they didn’t appear at all. And without giving too much away, I respect that in the age of countless sequels, “Rogue One” commits to being a one-off venture. If the other “Star Wars” anthology films are as fun and impactful as this one, then I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Joel: Oh, like I’m going to say anything bad about this movie. Honestly I’m suspicious that Chris just chose this one because we’re getting to the end of the year where we do a year in review of everything we watched this year and Chris just wanted to pad his selections a little bit before we tally them all up. Still, suspicions aside, There is a lot to talk about with Rogue One.

When it was first announced that Disney bought Star Wars and that the franchise would be continuing we knew that it meant that episodes VII-IX (and possibly more) would be coming out, but we didn’t know what it meant for the “other” Star Wars movies. Rogue One is a lot of firsts for the Star Wars franchise. It’s the first movie that doesn’t focus on a member of the Skywalker family. It’s the first movie to start without the traditional crawl at the beginning of the movie. It’s the first movie without a Jedi in it. Rogue One is a “different” Star Wars movie and honestly that takes a little getting used to. In the first act of the movie one of the characters who we’re supposed to be cheering for shoots someone in the back killing them just to be able to get away. This isn’t a movie that necessarily fits the good guys vs. bad guys feel of original trilogy Star Wars. There isn’t a clear line between light side and dark side. We have a band of characters who are in some ways broken and lost. The entire movie is packed with morally gray characters and morally gray decisions. The first half of the movie hinges on whether or not Cassian is going to kill Jyn’s father and whether or not it’s the right thing to do. It’s gritty and it’s complicated, but as the movie eases us into this previously unexplored territory of the Star Wars universe is gradually starts to feel more and more like Star Wars.

Like others have said, the final act of this movie is one of the best extended action sequenced ever put on film. The whole thing is pulled off magnificently. Star Wars loves to intercut between action sequences for the climax of the film. You have Luke vs. Vader and the escape from Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back, Battle of Endor (both ground and space) and Luke vs. Vader II in Return of the Jedi, the Naboo space battle, the Gungan assault, Retaking of the Palace, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan facing Darth Maul all at the same time in The Phantom Menace and so on. Rogue One takes this idea and builds on in masterfully. We start with our entire unit in one place and watch the battle unfolding like a spider web, continuing to follow each new thread as the group splits and then splits again trying to overcome each obstacle as they arise. The entire sequence is masterfully composed and incredibly well directed as each new event plays into and builds on what came before it. It’s clear that Rogue One took a rather bold step in a different direction from the established Star Wars story, but it helped to ensure that for the movies, Star Wars could exist as a franchise outside of the Skywalker Saga.

Chris: The more I think about Rogue One the more I begin to believe that it might be my favorite Star Wars movie with the last 45 minutes being almost perfect. The only real complaint I have is Saw Gerrera. There really was no point in him staying behind as everything was blowing up around him and to be honest, all the Gerrera moments before that felt like the story had reached a full stop. Those Saw moments were really the only points where I found myself checking my phone or just generally disinterested in the movie. Other than that, not enough can be said about the assembly of characters and how well their chemistry was together. I love how this gives a serious, thoughtful answer to one of the most laughed-at questions about Star Wars: “Why did they have a tiny open hole that led to the Death Star’s one weakness? What a dumb design flaw!” Of course, the moment everyone wants to talk about is the Vader scene at the end where we see the viciousness of Vader that has previously only been seen by younglings.

One of the greatest joys I've experienced lately was attending a panel earlier this year at Star Wars Celebration that was a look into the production of Rogue One. Seeing what all went into making this movie and as well as getting interesting little Easter egg bits of information. In all the shots of pilots in their vehicles, the crew basically built a simulator surrounded by LED screens to get proper lighting and reflections. The slap K2 gave Cassian was improvised by Alan Tudyk and if you watch carefully, you can see Diego Luna's genuine surprise in the movie. And of course, my favorite, the sound editor talked about how the addition of music and sound effects makes a huge difference with how the audience perceives a scene. The example he provided was Vader's rampage at the end with only sound effects and screams, no music. The end result was terrifying and made me realize that I really wanted a Star Wars horror movie.

Jason: I love Star Wars. Now that that is out of the way, I’ll try not to nerd out too hard for this review.

Rogue One has done some interesting things for the Star Wars franchise. It is a first in several areas. It is the first film in the series to not be numbered, first to not have an opening crawl, first to not be paired with music written by John Williams, first to feature no Jedi whatsoever, and (most interestingly IMO) first to features character who made his debut in the animated series. (I am speaking strictly about the live action films. We can go ahead and forget that the Clone Wars animated movie ever happened.)

I have differing thoughts on these points. No one does movie music like John Williams. And his name is unbreakably linked with the Star Wars franchise. Michael Giacchino did a great job composing a score that fit with the feel of the movie and the universe but I still would have liked Williams to have been at the helm. I’m a traditionalist, I suppose. As for the opening crawl, with this not being a numbered entry into the series and with the story falling in between two well known points in the history, I do not think it needed the expository text as much. There was a big hoopla about it when the film first dropped but I think jumping right in was the right thing to do.

There are some small, nitpicky details in the story itself that were overlooked or not developed quite enough for my taste. The biggest of these is Jyn’s crystal necklace. The casual drop of the term Kyber Crystal is one of many nods to established canon that appear throughout this movie. The crystal Jyn wears around her neck is obviously one of these Force attuned Kyber crystals, as Chirrut is able to sense its presence. This one small scene is all we get about the powerful artifact she just happens to possess. This is a small issue but it picks at my brain. There are also small continuity issues. Like how did Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba get all the way to Tatooine to be at the cantina the day Luke and Obi Wan were there? Jyn and Cassian had time to get all the way down from the coms tower and hobble out to a beach before the shockwave overtook them.

Could they not have used that time to find some random shuttle and gotten off world instead of dying? As I said, little things.

Everyone else will probably touch on the issue of Tarkin’s and Leia’s digital faces but I want to focus on the other big CGI character: K-2SO. Compare the physical interaction between K2 in this movie and that of the Battle Droids in movies 1-3. The difference is literally astounding. He feels more grounded and real. He feels like a physical presence. And he might just be the most developed character in the entire film! The technology used to produce this character has come so far in the last 15 years. I think that we will look back in years to come at Tarkin’s uncanny valley of a face and think the same thing. We will get there but we had to start somewhere. And for what it was, I think is was an awesome place to start.

Ok, I’m gonna quit now. I could keep going but I don’t want to write a novel. Needles to say, I love this freakin movie. I cheated and didn’t watch it on Netflix. I watched my Blu-Ray copy (better picture and sound). So sue me. Star Wars is the best.