OT: Rogue One (w/Spoilers)

To the South Pacific and it would have been a really good WWII movie.  Setting it in the SW universe and tying it so directly into the fabric of a New Hope made it an outstanding watch.  This was the grittiest Star Wars by a long ways, and I don't mean that in a, wasn't that a crappy gritty reboot way.  It felt like a good war movie that just happened to also be Star Wars.    

I really like the everybody dies at the end style of narrative.  It kept continuity with a New Hope and still showcased why these one off stories can be sucessful if a thoughtful approach is taken.  That beng said, K-2SO stole the show, and I was genuinely dissapointed that we aren't going to get to see more of Alan Tudyk (guy dies in like all his best roles).

Quick Hits:

- Darth Vader man... that was impressive.  Most impressive

- the bad guy was a bit too foppish

- Jedi-light got a bit grating in the middle but did redeem himself in the end

- That being said Jedi-light's buddy was awesome

- Forest Whitaker should have had a bigger role

Yikes.

 

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/moviesandtv/reviews/cinem…

 

My friends saw the movie last night.  Said they mostly agreed with the above review.  Oh well.  Maybe ep8 will redeem ep7 and R1.

I'm going to see it tonight.

Thus far I've heard largely very negative reviews from different people.

 

It was pretty good. I still don't like the direction they've taken with the main movies though I guess it's too early to criticize that. Just thought the Expanded Universe had a lot of good material to use.

I heard it sucked too. No surprise after the previous installment which also sucked and had corny weak characters like Finn, the most implausible and nutless raised from birth stormtrooper ever. I had to shut that one off after the first 40
minutes because it was so dumb. Will not be going to see this one.

Just saw it today.  Like others here, I thought it started out slowly but picked up midway through and ended well.  No screen crawl or main-title music at the start, though.  I miss the screen crawl.  I liked the movie overall, but not enough to see it multiple times.

Just got out, I agree with LegalBlue's post above, it was very much a desperate themed WWII movie set in a galaxy far far away.

You truly feel the gravity and theme of dread facing the alliance that was played into a happier theme in, A New Hope. 8.5/10 would recommend.

that it was excellent. I agree that it starts slow but the strands of the story keep winding tighter until everything comes together for an amazing ending.

Just saw it. It was exactly what it needed to be. They accomplished the challenging feat of making you care about people that you know weren't destined to live.

Great movie. Dark movie. Vader yes please. End 45 minutes amazing

I thought it was very good, not great. I didn't care that much about the characters, but I like that it was different. (It doesn't help that I saw it on a huge Imax screen that felt like watching on a TV from a foot away.) Don't get me wrong, I loved The Force Awakens and especially the characters, but it was not very original. 

The droid and the blind guy were the best though. I was blown away to find out afterward that Moff Tarkin was CGI--I just assumed it was someone who looked like Peter Cushing. Was Princess Leia CGI? I thought she was but then I read somewhere that maybe it was a Norwegian actress, but maybe she was used for motion capture. I loved the movie's explanation for the Death Star's absurd weakness in A New Hope. I didn't really like Felicity Jones, but I'm glad they got rid of some of her awful lines from the original trailers. I personally would have picked Tatiana Maslany for the part. (In case you don't know who she is, she's the star of Orphan Black and one of the best actors of our time, male or female.)

Just got back from seeing. I loved it. Love that they included Bail, Tarkin and Leia. I was really hoping they could have done something with the deleted Luke and Biggs scenes from Ep 4....Luke looks up into the sky and sees the space battle, runs into town, etc but the ending was still great. I agree with the other poster, Vader's scene was bad ass. CGI was just amazing. That's how CGI should be used...not that garbage that infested the prequels

Loved it. Good acting and great script, good comedic relief, and perfect transition to ep 4. Cried 3 times and the whole theater clapped when it was over! Also loved that Krenik (sp?) saw what was killing him.

Oh yeah I member Darth Vader

Equal in quality to TFA. The last third of the movie is especially good.

Danny is still just as much of an ahole.

Some of the screenplay was a little ham-handed and clunky, and the casting was a little uninspired here and there, but the overall tone was fantastic. I'd call this "Star Wars Noir." It's such a (thankfully) long way from Episodes I-III.

Agree on the CGI of Peter Cushing/Tarkin which was amazing though not perfect, but I thought Leia wasn't of equal quality. Looked very video-gamey to me and I left wishing they'd been a little less ambitious with that shot, such as handing it to her while her face is still mostly obscured.

Was very, very disappointed they put some of the old X-wing pilots back but neglected Porkins. Y NO PORKINS????

Obviously the future of cinema is going to be full of CGI as it becomes indistinguishable from reality, and like so many other parts of our economy, that might have mixed results as actors find themselves slowly becoming automated right out of a job. 

I thought his momentary paranoia with Jyn was humorous. Any chance he survived? Anyone more familiar with the SW universe know the reason of his nebulizer use? Was it a coping mechanism? ...whatever he was taking, it seemed to sedate him. Re: CGI, future project-Casablanca.

Thoughts on the CGI:

I didn't know going in that Tarkin was going to be CGI'd.  I didn't even notice it at first; my buddy whispered something about it. Had he not, I wonder how long I would have gone without noticing.  Once I knew, I was looking for it and able to pick out some odd looking movements - mostly lips while talking. But I was looking pretty hard for it.

On Leia: For some reason her CGI was a bit more obvious - maybe because you KNEW it wasn't really Carrie Fisher.  However, I thought the shot was worth it, even if the CGI wasn't perfect.  That was such an amazing payoff and I'm ultimately glad we see her face and it wasn't a shrouded or behind the back shot.