I liked the film but the characters were sometimes a bit 'flat' although more in the sense that we had no time to know them. For the rest, a nice tribute to ANH and Vader so it fulfilled his purpose
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All weird conjecture. He was fine in his meditation chamber in ESB three years later.
And why am I on crack? Take away the great effects and battle sequences, where does it rise above TFA? Nowhere.
It doesn't win on characters. TFA had great characters. These were kinda bland, didn't have much motivation or back story (except Jyn, but she hardly had any character development) and Captain Cassian is far from memorable. (I keep forgetting his name).
RO doesn't really win on plot or storyline either. The first hour is a lot of boring exposition stuff with a completely obsolete character as the go-to guy for the first act: Saw Genarra. he didn't do anything, he added nothing, he just talked funny.
Second half has great action but just like TFA a major part of the story was copied from the OT: planet has shield around it, rebels use stolen Imperial shuttle with older code to pass through, shield generator has to be destroyed... boy, where have I heard that before? That's almost like someone would chose to use another Death Star in a sequel.
And I didn't find it so very gritty as everyone says. Gritty compared to the sterile PT yes. But a lot of the beach scenes reminded me of stuff I have seen before, in The Thin Red Line or The Pacific. But they had battle scenes that were REALLY gritty. I didn't see any torn off limbs, blood, massacre, panicking fighter or mayhem. It's all pretty neat.
Entertaining yes? Look of the movie? Excellent. Action and CGI: superb (except for the CGI characters). So lots of good stuff, but TFA is arguably better.
I dunno. I heard some rumours that the reshoots included adding Vader. But I am not sure. An online movie reviewer suggested Vader should been in it more, since he's basically the most impressive character of the film. And I think he's right.
In fact, I was thinking about it and felt that Vader maybe should have been the main antagonist here. Maybe with Krennic turning out as an Imperial traitor.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]:
Think about it. That scene in Vader's castle is kinda meh really. What is the point? Krennic goes there for support from Vader but he doesn't get any. So if that scene doesn't progress the story or complicate it, why is it in there at all?
And then I was thinking: wait a minute. Why is Vader chilling out in his swimming pool in his cosy Force pad? Wasn't he supposed to be out there finding the rebel base (see the council meeting in ANH)? Why introduce Vader in such a passive scene other than to do some fan service (look: a bacta tank, look: a Vader chill scene like in ESB)?
Even though I was opposed to having Vader in this movie ('come up with something new, people!!'), putting him in there at all should have resulted in putting him in there for real. A hunting Vader in search of the rebel base, going to Scarif to capture rebels and extract information from them. The hunt for the stolen data tapes would just have been as consequence of of that search. And instead of just taking out eight guys, he could have ravaged the entire ship, as the data gets sent out to Leia's ship somewhere far in space. It certainly would have enhanced his bad a$$ery much more... and would make it much more relevant in the grand scope of things. The threat to Jyn and the Rogue crew would have been much more significant: not only do they have destrouy the shield... suddenly hunter Vader arrives... problems mount, tension rises... and a much better climax/resolution comes into scope...
In this line of thought Krennic, disappointed by Tarkin taking over his beloved Death Star and being led down by Vader, he could be considering defecting to the Rebels... in which Jyn, after all a rogue herself, could play a vital role while her story plays out as it in the film. It would be another story dynamic of Imperials defecting to the Rebellion as the Empire tightens its grip on the universe. ('the more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more systems will slip through your fingers.') It would not be strange, there are numerous defectors: Bodhi, Biggs, Wedge... it would fit very well.
Also, Vader and Tarkin could have made in such a story construct a deal: Tarkin takes the DS and Vader goes for the rebel base. It would explain Vader's 'submission' to Tarkin on the DS in ANH: they made a deal to do it that way.
And with a more interesting Krennice storyline, who of course has to die, they could have avoided the bleeding cliche ending of Captain Cassian, who fell to his death allegedly only to come to the deus ex machina rescue on the data tower.
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Last edited by queeq on Dec 17th, 2016 at 09:17 AM
I just saw this today really loved how it joins right next to ANH . I liked the whole thing dark and gritty and sad. The ending was the best ever right up there with ESB.
Its a good movie. Good meaning just ok, but not great. Can't help but think that this movie wouldn't be much if it weren't for the ending with Vader....
“As we’re walking around, and doing all the cool things and looking at the Millennium Falcon and trying on Han Solo’s jacket and things like that, in the back at the bottom was all these cans of film and we said, ‘What are they?’ and they said, ‘Oh, it’s Star Wars.'”
Edwards found original negatives from A New Hope that included deleted scenes of the pilots, mainly from the Death Star attack at the end of the film including an X-Wing call sign exchange that didn’t make the final film.
I was thinking weather these reshoots made this a better film i read most of the cast should have survived. The scenes from the first trailer are not even in the movie e.g There’s a shot of Orson Kennic stalking across muddy sand in his white cloak. One of Jyn sprinting across a beach with the Death Star plans.
Last edited by coolmovies on Dec 23rd, 2016 at 02:43 PM
Yes, I was wondering that as well. Too bad they cancelled the Making Of... book. I bet that'd be interesting reading. Maybe in 35 years. ;-)
I wonder if the reshoots are just Darth Vader... Although a lot seems to be missing from stuff we saw in the trailers... It does feel a bit unhinged, R1... might be because of this or maybe they tried to salvage it. Dunno..
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