Ep132: Blind Ninja (That’s not his name)

So much to say about this episode! But before I do:

****HUGE SPOILERS IN THIS POST! SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ROGUE ONE!!!!!!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!***

Okay, just had to get that out of the way because I cannot express myself properly without getting into some of the major details of the film. Now, I know that my opinion is not the popular one and I am most definitely in the minority. But there are some things that cannot be denied which I will seek to point out. First things first: Heyzen-you’re an amazing guy; I have nothing but love and respect for you and your opinion. That being said, you are completely wrong about one thing. Rogue One is not a stand-alone film. It just isn’t. It was never intended to be. The film is meant as an addition to the story that is already there. The film, as a whole does not make any sense on its own. Let’s be clear: the only reason this film was even made was to capitalize on the Star Wars brand. There is no other reason for it. This story didn’t “need” to be told. The powers that be WANTED it to be told. Disney wants to make these films to make more money and expand on the universe. That is the only reason they are making any of these “spin-off” films like the still untitled Han Solo film for example (and OMG don’t even get me STARTED on that one . . .). Whether you like the film or not is totally a matter of opinion. I’m not debating that at all. What I am saying is that this film was not made to stand on its own without any of the originals. Its sole purpose was to tell the story of how the plans for the Death Star were stolen and came to be in Leia’s possession. That is literally the story. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between Episodes III and IV, and set up the story that we already know. The story of Gyn and Galen Erso is more of a side note. If anything, this film is adding on to the anthology. But it in no way, shape or form is there to just be viewed on its own without anything else to reference. I mean, you yourself said at one point in the episode that “it’s there to set up Episode IV.”

That being said, although I do agree that it did a much better job of setting up the original trilogy than the prequels did (I think most of us can agree, those were garbage) I do not feel as though that is a strong enough argument to make it a great film. I loved the concept and I actually thought the story was quite interesting. I was excited about it. My problem was with the execution. It took a very long time for the film to find its rhythm, in my opinion. The first forty minutes of the film were rough. They throw a lot of information at you without any real organization. It was very erratic and honestly all over the place. It was just completely unfocused. Some people will argue that all of the beginning had to be that way because it was expositional. I get that; I know how films work and I totally understand it. However, if you look at A New Hope, most of the beginning is expositional as well—yet it was still compelling to watch. There was something fundamentally different about the tone in that film. Even though you know you’re getting exposition and they’re setting up the story, there is a flow and organization to it that works. They’re telling a story and setting the groundwork for what’s about to happen, but you’re also learning about the characters and getting a feel for their personalities and going on this journey with them. Sadly, I think that is what was lacking from Rogue One. I didn’t really feel like I was on the journey with these characters—it felt more like I was just watching it happen to them. I think for me, the film really started to pick up after Gyn got the message from her father via the hologram. By the time it did, I wasn’t as invested as I wanted to be.

That leads me to my next problem. Since I wasn’t as invested, I didn’t really care as much what happened to the characters in the story. However, I do not completely agree with Mario that it was due to the fact that these were new characters that I knew nothing about. It was almost the opposite. For me, it was more because I didn’t know ENOUGH about them to care. Most of the characters were not fully developed so I found it difficult to be enveloped and invested in the story. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know how and what Cassian sacrificed to be part of the Rebellion. I wanted to know more about Gyn and Saw Gerrera abandoning her. But I felt as though the characters weren’t given enough development so there wasn’t enough heart there. And to be honest, I don’t know how the filmmakers could have remedied this without making the film even longer than it already was. I don’t have the answer to fix this, but I just know that I wasn’t happy with the way it turned out. Don’t get me wrong-I think the actors did a great job with what they were given. The performances were great given the material they were provided. My issue is more with the writing; the characters didn’t feel nearly as flushed out and well conceived as they should have been. They just felt very one-dimensional.

That being said, there were some bright spots to the film. I loved the character of K-2SO. I loved his personality and characterization. He added some much needed humor to the film and that was incredibly entertaining. I think they did a phenomenal job fleshing out his character, which unfortunately fell short for a lot of the other characters. I felt the same about Chirrut. Again, this goes back to character development. I feel as though these characters were much more thought out and fully rounded. They had very distinct personalities that set them apart from some of the other characters. Part of this was due to the writing, part of it was what the actors brought to the table. So when tragedy did befall them, it made a much bigger impact. I was much more affected by each of their deaths than I was about Galen’s. I was almost unaffected by Galen’s death because I knew so little about him, so I was not as emotionally invested in his character.

As problematic and as lacking as the film was, I do have to say that the last 30 minutes were for me, the best part of the film. It was, dare I say, absolute perfection. From the moment Gyn finally entered the plans and the signal to transmit them, to showing the Rogue One crew’s final moments on the beach, leading up to Darth Vader in the hallway of the Rebellion flagship and the rebels handing the plans to Leia . . . I was literally on the edge of my seat. And I already knew what was going to happen! I knew she would get the plans! But I feel as though that speaks to how well it was done. I was completely enthralled and invested in that last half. I literally had chills.

Anywho, those are my thoughts on Rogue One. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I know that I am most definitely in the minority with my thoughts but as a hard core and lifelong Star Wars fan I stand by everything I said. Even though I feel this film had a lot of problems, I have still told everyone I have discussed it with that it is worth watching, if nothing more than for the last half. And of course to judge for themselves and form their own opinions. For me though, it was a 5 out of 10. After having watched it, I am very curious to know what the initial storyline was before they did all of the reshoots. Hopefully they will include that in the DVD/Blu Ray when it comes out.

Thanks for reading and thanks for another great episode!