The Star Wars franchise is in good hands.
The Force Awakens was a great movie to bring the kids to. Rogue One is probably one you should watch by yourself. It’s a little bit darker, a lot more violent, and jam packed with nostalgia that would go over their little heads anyway.
Rogue one is to the Star Wars franchise what Halo: Reach is to the Halo franchise. The first Halo games were all about the plucky hero saving the galaxy from destruction, much like Star Wars (we won’t talk about the prequels). Halo: Reach was more about the people behind the scenes who set the stage for the main story, much like Rogue One.
I’m not sure if Rogue One has the same depth as Halo: Reach. I’d have to watch it again to decide. But the stories feel very similar.
One thing that Star Wars tends to screw up is the comedic relief, and here Rogue One happily breaks the trend. Some of the best lines in the movie were from K-2SO, the character equivalent in Rogue One for C-3PO and R2D2. Quite a few laugh out loud moments, and his particular style of dark humor fit the rest of the movie perfectly.
As much as I’m using the word “dark” to describe this movie, it’s actually not that dark. If you’re looking for Game of Thrones in space, you’ll have to look elsewhere. This is definitely still Star Wars, and while it might be a bit darker than Empire Strikes Back, I’m sure there are plenty of fans who would debate me on that.
I really like the way that this movie develops Tarkin, which is to say that I hate him even more at the end of it. In A New Hope, Tarkin was always overshadowed by Darth Vader. Not so in this one.
Darth Vader doesn’t get much screen time in Rogue One, but the time that he gets is put to excellent use. His last scene reminded me a lot of the 2003 animated Clone Wars series (the one that isn’t canon).
All in all, Rogue One was an excellent movie. It didn’t quite rise to the level of the classics, but that wasn’t what it was meant to do. As far as paying homage to the original trilogy goes, this may be the best of the new Star Wars movies yet. I definitely plan to include it in my next Star Wars marathon, and that’s saying a lot.
Yes, the Star Wars franchise is in good hands.
How did you feel about the lack of the iconic opening scroll bar? “In a galaxy far, far away…”
That did throw me off a bit at first. I guess that’s the difference between a “Star Wars story” and Star Wars proper, but whatever. They did start the first scene with a wide shot of a Star Destroyer, which is exactly how all of the original trilogy movies started.
I haven’t seen it, PTSD and theaters don’t mix for me… but I was curious if that complaint I’ve read detracted in any way for you. Thanks for answering.