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Saturday, December 17, 2016

Force in Focus: Rogue One


Unlike The Force Awakens, which I saw three times in the first 24 hours of its release, I've only had a chance to see Rogue One once as of this writing. So my thoughts on it are less formed; details haven't cemented themselves in my head, I haven't had a chance to watch it in more detail without being as focused on plot & character beats while wondering what was coming next, etc. So with that caveat in place, here's some thoughts on stuff I liked and didn't like about the movie, at least after my first viewing.

Spoilers, obviously. If you haven't seen the movie yet, probably skip this.

Things I Didn't Like
As with The Force Awakens, while I appreciate the new creative teams' desire to break new ground, I would have liked to see more familiar/existing aliens sprinkled into crowd scenes (we did get one Twi'lek, apparently a relative of Bib Fortuna, in Saw's group, but that's about it, aside from a new Mon Calamari admiral (who, paradoxically, I'm glad wasn't Ackbar). During the Battle of Scarif, there was a large furry alien firing from a Rebel gunship, and at first glance, I thought it might be a Wookiee. Turns out (per the Rogue One visual guide) that was a new alien from a heretofore unmentioned species; why not just have it be a Wookiee?

Ditto the lack of previously-mentioned planets; of all the new planets introduced in the movie, not one of them could have been a planet mentioned before, either from a canonical or Legends source?

I knew the movie wouldn't have an opening crawl (and that's fine), but I did miss not having the "Star Wars" logo flying away from the screen after "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" appeared. I guess they felt that logo was too tied to the bombastic opening theme which (again, understandably) they weren't going to open the movie with, but I still missed it in a way I didn't miss the crawl.

Early in the movie, the name of each planet was listed on screen; no other Star Wars movie has done this, regardless of how many jumps it made from planet to planet, and the audience followed the plot fine. Seemed unnecessary and not-Star Wars-y.

I have no problem with wanting to end the movie with Leia aboard the Tantive IV, Death Star plans in hand, but having her actually be physically present at the Battle of Scarif seems unnecessarily complicated (and badly setup), just so they could have the scene of Vader almost stopping the plans from getting to her ship. I guess the idea is that Bail leaves Yavin 4 (after telling Mon Mothma he'll send Leia for Obi-Wan), goes to Alderaan, dispatches Leia aboard his ship to get Obi-Wan, and then en route, the call goes out for every Rebel ship to go to Scarif, and Leia responds, ending up docked with the Mon Cal cruiser (for some reason) before flying off with the plans. All of which is fine, I guess, but in the interest of keeping the Leia cameo a surprise, the audience has to intuit a lot of the steps in that sequence for themselves (having Threepio & Artoo observe the Rebel force leaving for Scarif also complicated things, as it compressed the timeline - Bail had to still be on Yavin 4 at that point in order for the droids to be aboard his ship when Vader attacks in at the beginning of A New Hope; in principle, I'm fine with them being in the movie - it keeps their streak alive - but there was probably a better place for their appearance).

Things I Did Like
Tight continuity - for the most part, this lines up remarkably well with A New Hope. I watched the beginning of that movie again this past weekend (thanks to TNT running the saga films off and on pretty much all weekend), and the climax of Rogue One matches beat for beat the story detailed in the first two paragraphs of the opening crawl (striking from a secret base, Rebel spies, first big victory, etc.). Plus, we now have an official, canonical explanation for the Death Star's fatal flaw, and the Battle of Scarif makes a handy explanation for why more Rebel ships weren't on hand to later attack the Death Star.

Everyone died - I guess Jyn's not Rey's mom after all (not that I ever really bought into that theory)? For a movie whose ostensible theme is the power of hope, this is without a doubt the darkest Star Wars film, with all the main characters dead by the end. If A New Hope is the dawn of the Rebellion, than this is definitely the "always darkest" moment.

They swerved dangerously close to shoehorning in a Jyn/Cassian romance, but ultimately held back just enough.

Darth Vader cutting loose - due to the limitations of effects and costuming in the Original Trilogy, we never really saw Vader fighting in an intensely physical manner. So it was a treat to see him in all his armored glory slicing-through, Force-choking and Force-throwing Rebel troops in full rage.

No wonder George Lucas liked this movie: he finally got the Darth Vader lava castle he had in numerous drafts of the Original Trilogy scripts that always ultimately got cut (also, I'll set the over/under for the number of sites speculating that guy who fetched Vader when Krennic arrived, Vanee, is Snoke at about 25, and I'll take the over). According to the Art of Rogue One book, the planet the castle is on is actually Mustafar, site of Anakin's maiming in Revenge of the Sith, which also appeared at the end of the first season of Rebels.

Speaking of Rebels, during one of the later scenes on Yavin 4, a loudspeaker annoucement can be heard calling for General Syndulla, presumably a reference to Rebels Hera; hopefully this means the show will continue to move the main characters closer and closer to the larger, galaxy-wide Rebellion of this era (my buddy also said he saw Hera's ship, the Ghost, during the Battle of Scarif; something to watch for next time).

Death Star porn. Lots of great Death Star shots in this (and some good Star Destroyer stuff too). I also love that they managed to recreate A New Hope's aesthetic of having most of the Imperial officers played by stuffy British-looking old white guys.

Given the amount of dialogue he had to give, the CG Zombie Peter Cushing was pretty remarkable.

Ditto the inclusion of Red and Gold Leaders via cut New Hope footage.

Being a movie in which the central MacGuffin turns out to be data, this did an admirable job of striking a balance between the thoroughly-analog technology used in A New Hope and a modern audience's intuitive understanding of how data is stored and transmitted nowadays. Rogue One couldn't just have Jyn uploading the files into some kind of galactic Cloud, because it would contradict the tech of A New Hope, but it couldn't also just resort to 70s-era analog technology, because it would take away from the sci-fi, vaguely-futuristic feel of the universe for current audiences.

It took me a few viewings to fully appreciate the Force Awakens score, but I liked this one on first viewing (especially what I guess is the main "Rogue One" theme that seems to be building to a variation on the classic Force/Luke theme, but doesn't quite get to the triumphant moment in that cue), even without John Williams and much in the way of recognizable existing themes (though I'm not so sure it will hold up as well as a standalone listening experience).

18 comments:

  1. I liked this but damn, it was bleak! Like you said literally every new character that we meet gets killed off. Maybe that general at Yavin 4 is the only one to survive. My wife hated it for this reason. She doesn't like her characters getting killed and having a few of them might have been acceptable, all of them was a huge blow against the movie. Personally it didn't bother me that much although I would have loved to see Baze and Chirrut in something else. Ah well, maybe they will get a comic series of some sort or a novel.
    The Ghost is seen in at least two scenes although I missed it in both of them. Once in the big battle at the end and also on Yavin 4 the first time we go there; left side of the screen I think I read. Also after the communications officer runs out to talk to Mon Mothma Chopper can supposedly be seen rolling around. Again though I missed it myself. I thought that Dr. Evizan and Ponda Baba (can't we just call him Walrus man?) showing up was very close to being a bit to much but just barely.
    I've been telling people haven't seen it yet that this is a very different type of Star Wars movie than we have ever seen before. Aside from the fates of the characters, the music felt different although still familiar, the editing and directing was very different, among other things. All of this worked to it's benefit though. It's different from the saga film and I think it should feel a bit different but not completely. I think this hit just the right measure of that. I'm still not sure on where I place it on my ranking of the movies yet though.

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    1. although I would have loved to see Baze and Chirrut in something else. Ah well, maybe they will get a comic series of some sort or a novel.

      Though Disney Star Wars seems a little more restrained in terms of their non-film storytelling than the old EU, I doubt this is the last we'll see of several of the characters introduced here, even if, by necessity, all their additional stories will have to take place prior to R1.

      I thought that Dr. Evizan and Ponda Baba (can't we just call him Walrus man?) showing up was very close to being a bit to much but just barely.

      Of all the various Easter Eggs and callbacks, that was the one that most raised an eyebrow for me too (aside from my logistical problems with Leia's appearance). A little too close to being winky just for the sake of being winky.

      I'm still not sure on where I place it on my ranking of the movies yet though.

      Me neither. I need to see it at least a couple more times before I can even really start to compare it in my esteem to the other movies. It's just not embedded into my consciousness yet like the others, so it's not really fair to even try to compare it at this point. I mean, I know it's not my favorite or my least favorite, but there's still a lot of middle ground between those two poles.

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  2. I’m fine with the lack of Star Wars Saga opening crawl, too, but I was expecting — and I did miss — “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

    // [W]hy not just have it be a Wookiee //

    One thing I’d like to see more of (at all, really) in most SF films & series is very alien races with small differences among them the way we get near-human alien races with very small differences. In Star Trek you have Vulcans, Betazoids, Bajorans, and so many more with the smallest of physical distinctions if any but there’s no, say, almost-Gorn or almost-Andorian or almost-Klingon race who look exactly like Gorn or Andorians or Klingons but have pointed ears or an extra ridge on their noses or whatever. Perhaps Star Wars doesn’t suffer from quite this syndrome, merely a proliferation of humans far beyond other species for presumably some good reason I don’t know about from not having read much Expanded Universe or reference material, but I'm fine with the idea of a near-Wookiee creature being seen instead of an actual Wookiee even though it would be cool to see more Wookiees around.

    // Plus, we now have an official, canonical explanation for the Death Star's fatal flaw, and the Battle of Scarif makes a handy explanation for why more Rebel ships weren't on hand to later attack the Death Star //

    Color me incredulous, though, over how they plugged one plot hole only to open another. Tarkin outright confirms that the original blueprints were down there, and if he’s asking about that and he’s around when the planetary shield’s door gets opened and he's unable to account for every single Rebel in the vicinity or be sure no data was beamed out then the Empire would definitely run a thorough review to find whether there’s anything in those plans for the Rebellion to exploit. Which they should be able to get done even after Galen's whole team is gunned down.

    // They swerved dangerously close to shoehorning in a Jyn/Cassian romance, but ultimately held back just enough. //

    Agreed.

    // Given the amount of dialogue he had to give, the CG Zombie Peter Cushing was pretty remarkable. //

    Remarkably, intolerably macabre, from where I sit. Entirely apart from moral qualms about using a dead person’s likeness, I found him terribly distracting to the point of getting mad over how much it took me out of the movie. He should’ve been shown in a quarter view from behind and via reflection at most. Just hearing and barely glimpsing Leia would’ve been great, too, but instead the film ends with her digital-Botox doppelganger. It’s like if Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider movies had starred the videogame character instead of Angelina Jolie while everyone else was human and I actually cared about Tomb Raider movies. The body doubles might as well have gone Deadpool and worn cardboard masks with photocopies of 1977 Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher on their faces. If you’re wondering whether something so small can effectively ruin a movie for someone, well, here I am.

    // Ditto the inclusion of Red and Gold Leaders via cut New Hope footage. //

    That was cool.

    // It took me a few viewings to fully appreciate the Force Awakens score, but I liked this one on first viewing //

    While not quite enough to effectively ruin the movie for me, I hated the various instances of almost getting a recognizable Star Wars theme but then veering away from it, starting I think with the very first shot. Much as I’ve liked Giacchino’s work in the past, I was displeased with a lot of Doctor Strange too — albeit there simply on the merits of the music itself rather than the continuous string of “Psyche!” he pulled here.

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    1. I’m fine with the lack of Star Wars Saga opening crawl, too, but I was expecting — and I did miss — “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

      Did you not have "A long time ago" etc. when you saw it? My showing did - we got the LucasFilm logo, then "long time ago", then the movie started.

      I'm fine with the idea of a near-Wookiee creature being seen instead of an actual Wookiee even though it would be cool to see more Wookiees around.

      In principal, I'm fine with that concept as well. And I have no objections with each movie introducing new and different aliens to the canon. That particularly example stuck with me, I think, simply because when I saw him, I thought, "well, at least there's one familiar alien" and then it turned out I was wrong.

      It just seems odd that as much as these new movies seem afraid to step too far away from the comforts of the OT at this point, they also seem to shy away from showing the aliens that popped up in those films. Like, each new movie should have at least one alien from the Cantina or Jabba's Palace show up in it somewhere, at least in the background, alongside all the new ones.

      And, I guess as I type that, ROGUE ONE did (the Twi'lek w/Saw). So I dunno, maybe I'm just being unfairly grumpy.

      then the Empire would definitely run a thorough review to find whether there’s anything in those plans for the Rebellion to exploit.

      Hubris?

      I mean, ultimately, the Empire does that (Tarkin is warned right before the station blows up that there is a danger, thought I guess that's specifically couched as coming from an analysis of the Rebels' attack pattern rather than the plans themselves), but then again, that's as much a flaw of the original as this - regardless of the details of HOW the Rebels got the plans, the Empire knows from the opening minutes of the film that the Rebels have them, and good have, presumably, been combing them for possible weaknesses.

      Or (and this thought just struck me) - maybe the idea is supposed to be that the plans are finite? As in, the Rebels stole the only copy of them, or stole *A* copy of them and then Tarkin blew up the facility where the master was stored at the end, so the Imperials couldn't make more copies? They made a point of saying the complete plans were only on Scarif, so while maybe the Empire could piece them back together from other sources, that took longer than the few days between the end of this movie and the Death Star blowing up?

      The idea of there being only one copy of the plans seems ludicrous in our data driven, Cloud-based world, but that would fit the more analog aesthetic of the films.

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    2. Just hearing and barely glimpsing Leia would’ve been great, too

      Putting aide the moral quandaries of re-using actors' likenesses like this (which is an entirely different, but important, issue), I was much more taken aback by Leia than Tarkin. In part because I immediately started working through the chronology of how she came to be there and whether it fit, in part because I thought the effect worked less effectively for her than for Tarkin (maybe because her ship was more brightly lit?), and in part because it was pretty much the last image of the movie before the jump cut to the credits.

      I was genuinely impressed by the work done with Tarkin, though. I mean, I don't begrudge anyone for whom it didn't work, but I didn't have any technical issues with it. That said, while it would be tough to do this movie without Tarkin, they definitely could have deployed him more deftly, as you say, which could have also increased his menace: we never see him in full, directly, making him a looming presence lording over all the happenings.

      Much as I’ve liked Giacchino’s work in the past, I was displeased with a lot of Doctor Strange too

      I don't remember much of his STRANGE score - which is damning in and of itself, though I've been routinely disappointed with the scores in the Marvel movies pretty much from day one (there's a few exceptions, but for the most part, they all seem disappointingly generic, lacking in strong themes).

      My introduction to film scores came via John Williams (and the Star Wars movies specifically), so I'm instinctively geared towards wanting his more thematic, leitmotif style in my film scores. I have enjoyed a lot of Giacchino's previous work as well, but I am surprised at how much I liked this score despite its lack of those themes (either new or familiar). Like I said, I doubt it'll hold up very well as a standalone listening experience.

      And for what it's worth, he was apparently very rushed in scoring this movie, having been brought in more or less last minute when Desplat had to drop out (which is a shame, cuz I would have loved to hear what Desplat would have done with this movie). Which isn't meant to be an excuse, so much as explanation for why it may not have worked as well as his previous work.

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    3. Tarkin was so close, but not quite there yet for me. Still, very impressive. There were only a couple shots where he looked so unrealistic as to take me out of the movie.

      I was just speaking with a friend about this today. Did Peter Cushing's estate get paid for the use of his likeness? If so, then I have no problem with this, and I'm excited for the future. We should, in our lifetimes, see this mo-cap/CG thing perfected to the point that there would be no need to cast someone who vaguely resembles a young Harrison Ford to play Han Solo or Indiana Jones when you can just fire up the ol' CG actor and go to work. It's a little disconcerting, but I'm fascinated by the possibilities.

      Of course my endgame for this may not be in line with Hollywood's: I'm simply waiting for the day when I can pop, say, LIVE AND LET DIE into the player and choose on a menu whether I want to watch it as originally filmed with Roger Moore, or with Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig as Bond instead. (But not Lazenby. Never Lazenby.)

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    4. I haven't heard yet what, if any, compensation Cushing's estate received. I did read an article about it in which I learned that he left his estate to his longtime personal secretary, as he died without any children (and presumably unmarried or a widower). She attended the premiere and was apparently taken aback (in a good way) by CG Tarkin. She knew it was going to be there, but was still overwhelmed to see her longtime friend back on screen.

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  3. Did this establish the fact that Bail was the one who sent Leia after Obi Wan? I don't remember it being mentioned in ANH but I might just have forgotten it. I thought that was a pretty clever continuity fill-in.

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    1. Hmm, that's a good question. I've always had it in my head that he sent her, but I'm not sure that was ever established definitively. I think because she says he served with her father and she is making a request on behalf of her father, I assumed he was the one who sent her. But I don't think that was ever confirmed until now.

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    2. Yeah, I just rewatched the holo message and I clearly forgot that she mentioned all the stuff about it being her father's message. It was still neat to see it set up and, frankly, Bail was a lot better in this than he was in the prequels.

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  4. I guess we must’ve got “A long time ago…”. The row behind us was hooting at big moments and cameos and stuff from literally the very start, so it’s entirely possible I turned around or just closed my eyes to shake off their big whoop right after the Lucasfilm logo and I missed exactly that part. Dang.

    // the Empire knows from the opening minutes of the film that the Rebels have them, and [could] have, presumably, been combing them for possible weaknesses //

    Good point. Any of your responses work well enough — hubris, which Tarkin clearly has in spades (as he opts to remain on the Death Star through what turns out to be the bitter end), included —  but it’s a fine line carrying over the weaker parts of the early films for consistency’s sake so as not to make them look even worse in light of later installments. I just found it odd when Tarkin asked if the original blueprints weren’t down there and it felt like the movie had needlessly tripped right over its own good intentions.

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  5. I don’t remember much of Giacchino’s Strange score either, only that early in the film I found it offputting and tonally at odds with the action (in the broad sense of the word) onscreen.

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  6. Since I wasn’t referencing my own (written) notes on the movie when replying here, I neglected to mention K-2SO. Not sure if your omission of him was just oversight, but he was definitely A Thing I Did Like. Engineering such at-times-edgy, at-times-poignant comic relief can easily backfire, especially with the extant C-3PO being one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, but darned if it didn’t work here.

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    1. I did like K-2S0 (and Chirrut, FWIW) but none of the characters here really had an impact on me like Rey and Finn did in TFA. Like, I immediately walked out of that movie fully captivated by them, excited to find out what happens next, whereas pretty much all the characters, while for the most part well-played by their respective actors, were just...there.

      Part of that could be a subconscious disconnect because they all, you know, died, so there is no "what happens next?" with them to keep me engaged. It may also be because I've only seen it once, so they haven't really soaked into my mind yet.

      But K-2SO struck the right balance in what could have been a very overbearing and annoying role, and it's hard not to like the Blind Swordsman archetype, especially since his whole "believes in the Force even though he can't use it" thing A. Fits the tone and theme of the movie so well (ie hope is powerful but not everyone gets to experience the better world for themselves) and B. Kinda speaks closely to those of us in the audience who, ahem, wish we could be Jedi too...

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  7. As much of a downer as the ending was, I really liked this movie. It easily outshines THE FORCE AWAKENS for me, and now I'm not as worried about the "Star Wars Stories" as I had been previously.

    On the stuff you didn't like:

    There was one other Twi’lek near the beginning when Cassian met his contact, just hanging out in the crowd. But in general I agree with you about keeping some of the classic aliens in
    circulation.

    Also agree on the lack of… something… to open the movie. The absence of the STAR WARS
    fanfare is especially odd since the thing closes with the exact same cut to the end credits as
    always.

    I’m with you on showing the planets’ names onscreen, too. It totally took me out of the “STAR
    WARS” mindset.

    And I agree on the Leia thing, too. When Tantive IV dropped out of the bigger ship and
    flew away, I was like, “Really? She was just sitting there in the docking bay through the entire
    fight?”

    Thank you for noting the weird timeline from Bail leaving Alderaan to Leia leaving Scarif, as well as the presence of Threepio and Artoo on Yavin after Bail declared he was leaving. Forget the Falcon; Tantive IV is apparently the true fasted ship in the galaxy.

    (I wonder if the novelization fleshes any of this out better?)

    I liked most of what you liked, too, chiefly: Vader’s castle is now canon, and the mention of
    General Syndulla. (Also, I saw a screenshot of the Ghost in the final battles somewhere;
    apparently it made one of the TV spots.)

    And yes, Red and Gold Leaders (“Dave” and “Dutch”, which for some reason I find really funny)
    was awesome, even if it was quite clear they were shot on film 40 years ago when cut in with
    the rest of the movie. But I love the idea that these guys were out flying sorties for the rebels
    prior to A NEW HOPE. I mean, of course they were, but it was nice to see onscreen.

    I bought the soundtrack album the day it dropped and actually listened to it once before seeing
    the movie -- I’m a big fan of Michael Giacchino, and I understand he idolizes John Williams, so I was really interested in checking it out. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I like all the original themes, of
    which there are several that are hard to hear in the movie’s sound mix, but there are some nice
    reuses of Willaims motifs as well -- my favorite being the Imperial theme from A NEW HOPE,
    which never showed up anyplace else in the movies as it was replaced by the Imperial March,
    which pops up during Krennic’s scene with Vader.

    I'll add that the one other thing I appreciated about this movie is that it acknowledged the prequels. Like them or not (and I like much of them), they're there and they're part of the STAR WARS universe. Heck, for at least one generation, they are STAR WARS -- the first exposure to the franchise for. A lot of kids who are now adults.

    So it was a pleasure to see Jimmy Smitts reprise Bail Organa. It was great to learn that Vader's castle is on Mustafar. And, in Jon's flashback to her parents and Krennic in their happier days, it was really nice to see that, based on the architecture and the view out the window, they appeared to be in an apartment on Coruscant.

    Lastly, I really liked Scarif: the first Imperial-controlled planet I've seen that looks like it might be a fun place to visit.

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    1. Huh. No idea what happened to the formatting in the above comment. Weird.

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    2. When Tantive IV dropped out of the bigger ship and
      flew away, I was like, “Really? She was just sitting there in the docking bay through the entire fight?”


      I remain unclear as to whether it was in the docking bay the entire time, or just at the end. There was definitely a Corellian Corvette in the battle (even aside from the Hammerheads), but of course, we don't know if that was the Tantive IV or not. Hopefully it'll be more clear after I see it again.

      Forget the Falcon; Tantive IV is apparently the true fasted ship in the galaxy.

      Like, immediately after the credits appeared, my wife turned to me in full fury, questioning the timeline of how Leia got to the battle with the droids on her ship.

      It's all a little fuzzy - which is why it made my "didn't likes", because it seems like they traded "surprising" the audience with Leia's appearance for a distracting sequence of events that pulled people out of the movie (or was the first thing they were thinking about immediately after it).

      Part of the problem, as you allude to, is the inconsistency in terms of flight times through hyperspace. The old EU was pretty consistent in that even via hyperspace, it could still take days to get from one planet to another, whereas in both this and TFA (and to a lesser extent, REBELS), it seems much faster (I never would have expected the ships from Yavin 4 to get to Scarif in time to do anything of note for the Rogues, until they did). Obviously, the canon can do whatever it wants, but the end result is, I have no idea how plausible it is for Bail to go from Yavin 4 to Alderaan after the battle started on Scarif, hand off the ship to Leia with instructions to A. go to Scarif (apparently) then B. get Kenobi, and then for the ship to arrive at Scarif in time to get the plans.

      But that's what had to have happened, so I guess it is plausible just by dint of having happened in the movie?

      Also, I saw a screenshot of the Ghost in the final battles somewhere; apparently it made one of the TV spots.

      Yeah, I saw a screencap online. It was apparently also on Yavin 4 at one point.

      like all the original themes, of
      which there are several that are hard to hear in the movie’s sound mix, but there are some nice reuses of Willaims motifs as well


      Good to hear. I like that original Imperial theme as well (I mean, I like Vader's theme MORE, but I do think it's a shame the original never got re-used, so I'm glad it gets touched here, where it couldn't be more appropriate to re-use it).

      I'll add that the one other thing I appreciated about this movie is that it acknowledged the prequels.

      Ditto. I was really worried about that after TFA, that in the interest of appeasing older, Prequel-hating fans Disney Star Wars was just going to completely ignore them. So I was pleased when Ahsoka and Rex (and Maul) showed up in REBELS, and Bail here, and the same actress that played Mon Mothma in SITH returned, and they plucked Saw from CLONE WARS, and the other little touches.

      I doubt we'll ever see another movie set entirely in that era, but at least the Prequels aren't being completely disavowed and ignored.

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  8. A more elegant solution to having Leia appear in the film surely would have been to have the Stardust plans transmitted to one of the Rebel ships at the Battle of Scarif (the Mon Calamari ship probably) who then transmit the plans to the Tantine IV which is safely far away and enroute to Tatooine. The CGI Leia was a bit shocking and was thankfully kept to a minimum.

    One aspect of Rouge One I really enjoyed was the similarity of Saw Guerrara to Darth Vader. Both are more machine than man and Saw's breathing apparatus sounded exactly like Vader's. Both have become overzealous in their approaches to fighting.

    Vader in a Bactine tank. He had what appeared to be arms made of flesh which was surprising to me. I was really hoping we'd get more of Vader in the film but the big payoff at the end was worth it.

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