Let's start here. With the exception of Jyn Erso, I don't remember any of the character names from this movie.
That's not terribly remarkable. I'm pretty dang terrible with names. I remember faces just great, but I have a devil of a time with names. That being said, usually after watching a two hour movie filled with specific characters, I can remember more than just the main character's name. Like the villain, for example. Heck, I came out of The Force Awakens with Finn, Rey, BB-8, and Kylo Ren all down pat. But Rogue One just left me with Jyn, and that may actually be because I watched a gameplay video on youtube of the Rogue One Battlefront DLC, which featured patently absurd numbers of "gin" puns.
Does that mean the characters aren't memorable? Not at all. There was samurai-monk-guy, pilot-dude, man-with-big-gun, droid-face, sketchy-intelligence-officer, crazy-azmathic, and the bad guy whom we shall call "Director Whitecape." So yeah, I remember them. But they're all a little underdeveloped. Aside from Jyn they're more like archetypes than actual characters.
Which is fine. There were a lot of them, and to fully develop that many characters in a single two hour movie would have cut into our action time. And considering how good the action was, that would have been a crying shame. The action set pieces were thoughtfully constructed and managed, and they worked well with the emotional thread of the film. And even though the movie was in many ways constant action, I never slipped into a sense of action-fatigue because we moved to a different planet about every fifteen minutes.
You might be reading this and getting a sense that I'm throwing down a lot of veiled complaints. And while it's true that stuff like "not being able to remember the character's names" and "changing the setting every fifteen minutes" might be major annoyances in most circumstances, the fact is I actually had my expectations properly managed going into this movie. I was expecting archetypal character development and a very rapid development of plot and setting. Both of these things are typical of the story type we were being given in this film, and frankly I would have been disappointed without them.
The fact is that from a perspective of basic story arc and emotional engagement, this is probably my second favorite Star Wars movie behind The Empire Strikes Back. The tone is very different from the usual Star Wars fair, which was refreshing, but the universe feels very integrated with what we're used to and the story ties directly into the events of the main storyline. It fleshes out aspects of the Star Wars mythos that I had questions about, and does it in a very engaging and satisfying way. That said, it's also the darkest entry into the Star Wars saga, and might leave you having to answer some uncomfortable questions if you take young kids to see it.
I mean, it's PG-13. That rating is accurate.
It's not lighthearted and fun, that's for sure, but there are some lighter moments scattered about in there, with some totally on-point humor from droid-face and a consistent theme of hope that crosses through the conflict at some key moments. There are also some fantastic performances, especially from Jyn and samurai-monk-guy, and can I tell you how cool it is to see another strong female lead headlining an action blockbuster? It's pretty dang cool.
So I recommend the movie. If you like Star Wars, you'll probably enjoy it. If you like action movies, you'll probably enjoy it. If you like war movies, you'll probably enjoy it. If you like cinema, you might already know how it's going to end based on what I've written but it's still really well done and you'll probably enjoy it. If you hate movies, especially war movies and action movies, and don't like Star Wars...
Well, you're the exact person Rogue One was designed to disappoint. You have now been warned, so if you go see it anyway and want to whine, just don't do it here, please.
That's not terribly remarkable. I'm pretty dang terrible with names. I remember faces just great, but I have a devil of a time with names. That being said, usually after watching a two hour movie filled with specific characters, I can remember more than just the main character's name. Like the villain, for example. Heck, I came out of The Force Awakens with Finn, Rey, BB-8, and Kylo Ren all down pat. But Rogue One just left me with Jyn, and that may actually be because I watched a gameplay video on youtube of the Rogue One Battlefront DLC, which featured patently absurd numbers of "gin" puns.
Does that mean the characters aren't memorable? Not at all. There was samurai-monk-guy, pilot-dude, man-with-big-gun, droid-face, sketchy-intelligence-officer, crazy-azmathic, and the bad guy whom we shall call "Director Whitecape." So yeah, I remember them. But they're all a little underdeveloped. Aside from Jyn they're more like archetypes than actual characters.
Which is fine. There were a lot of them, and to fully develop that many characters in a single two hour movie would have cut into our action time. And considering how good the action was, that would have been a crying shame. The action set pieces were thoughtfully constructed and managed, and they worked well with the emotional thread of the film. And even though the movie was in many ways constant action, I never slipped into a sense of action-fatigue because we moved to a different planet about every fifteen minutes.
You might be reading this and getting a sense that I'm throwing down a lot of veiled complaints. And while it's true that stuff like "not being able to remember the character's names" and "changing the setting every fifteen minutes" might be major annoyances in most circumstances, the fact is I actually had my expectations properly managed going into this movie. I was expecting archetypal character development and a very rapid development of plot and setting. Both of these things are typical of the story type we were being given in this film, and frankly I would have been disappointed without them.
The fact is that from a perspective of basic story arc and emotional engagement, this is probably my second favorite Star Wars movie behind The Empire Strikes Back. The tone is very different from the usual Star Wars fair, which was refreshing, but the universe feels very integrated with what we're used to and the story ties directly into the events of the main storyline. It fleshes out aspects of the Star Wars mythos that I had questions about, and does it in a very engaging and satisfying way. That said, it's also the darkest entry into the Star Wars saga, and might leave you having to answer some uncomfortable questions if you take young kids to see it.
I mean, it's PG-13. That rating is accurate.
It's not lighthearted and fun, that's for sure, but there are some lighter moments scattered about in there, with some totally on-point humor from droid-face and a consistent theme of hope that crosses through the conflict at some key moments. There are also some fantastic performances, especially from Jyn and samurai-monk-guy, and can I tell you how cool it is to see another strong female lead headlining an action blockbuster? It's pretty dang cool.
So I recommend the movie. If you like Star Wars, you'll probably enjoy it. If you like action movies, you'll probably enjoy it. If you like war movies, you'll probably enjoy it. If you like cinema, you might already know how it's going to end based on what I've written but it's still really well done and you'll probably enjoy it. If you hate movies, especially war movies and action movies, and don't like Star Wars...
Well, you're the exact person Rogue One was designed to disappoint. You have now been warned, so if you go see it anyway and want to whine, just don't do it here, please.
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