Review: Rogue One

-
Stardust.

Rogue One tells us the story of how our heroes in A New Hope got their hands on the Death Star plans. Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is rescued from an Imperial prison to assist the Rebels. Her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelson) is responsible for designing the Death Star and he's sent a defected pilot, Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) to deliver a message. Jyn goes along with Captain Cassian (Diego Luna) in a risky attempt to help reveal the weak spot her father built in the Death Star.

One of the best parts of this movie are the Easter eggs. There's so many and it just makes me so happy to be a Star Wars fan. Seeing Gold and Red Leader, hearing "General Syndulla report to briefing" over the intercom (yay Star Wars Rebels) and seeing old favorites like Bail Organa and Darth Vader again.

The visual effects team created something truly incredible with bring Grand Moff Tarkin back. When I heard they were adding him digitally, I expected it to be one quick scene, but he's in more than one and has a decent amount of dialogue. I wonder if people watching who don't know the actor is dead realize they're not looking at a real person? 

If there's one flaw this movie has, it's the character development. I don't think it's a spoiler saying this if you've watched other Star Wars films -  but I feel like the writers felt they didn't need to spend so much time on them since they're all going to die anyways. While I liked our new group, especially droid K-2SO, I feel an immediate intrigue like I did with Rey, Finn, and Kylo with the new trilogy.

Rogue One is fun as hell. The battle scenes are a visual pleasure and Darth Vader has a spectacular badass moment that makes me wish I could watch an entire film of him doing just that. ci

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B+

Memorable quote: "Did you know that wasn't me?" - K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk)

Comments

  1. Sonia CercaDecember 21, 2016 at 7:12 AM

    Great review! I agree on the character development, they should have worked more on it. K-2SO is officially my new favourite droid. He's just the best.

    I can't believe I forgot to mention Grand Moff Tarkin in my review. They did such an amazing job they made me forget Peter Cushing is dead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 21, 2016 at 10:49 AM

      I know! He looked amazing. K-2SO is my new favorite too. BB-8 and R2D2 give him tough competition but he was hilarious.

      Delete
  2. MyerlaDecember 21, 2016 at 7:47 AM

    That Darth Vader moment was indeed awesome. I do agree with you, the best bits were the Easter Eggs. It was a film for the fans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 21, 2016 at 10:48 AM

      Jurassic World should take note on how to properly make a film for fans with Easter Eggs. lol

      Delete
  3. thevoid99December 21, 2016 at 5:07 PM

    I'm really hoping to see this film this weekend as I've been kind of waiting for this one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Candice FrederickDecember 22, 2016 at 12:37 AM

    Yeah, true. it was more about the action than the character development. but i really enjoyed this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2016 at 6:41 AM

      It's rare that an oversight like that doesn't take away from the film, I'm glad it works.

      Delete
  5. UnknownDecember 22, 2016 at 5:47 AM

    I'm so with you on this. I felt like I should have been emotional during those death scenes but honestly, the only time I got misty eyed was for K2SO, he was amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2016 at 6:40 AM

      I wasn't expecting the droid to go! I did feel for that last shot of Jyn and Cassian though.

      Delete
  6. s.December 23, 2016 at 12:21 PM

    I read some people actually did think Tarkin was played by actual actor and not CGI at all, it was very cool but I hope Hollywood doesn't abuse this technique I write a bit about that in RF today

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 23, 2016 at 4:10 PM

      I think it should only be used in cases like this one. I can't see it being too popular though,it's probably very expensive.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more