The first of the Star Wars Anthology films (stories set within the Star Wars galaxy, but not an essential part of the main storyline) recently landed to a generally positive response. Critics and fans alike were more than pleased with the results, and as you can see in my own review I did enjoy the film. However, there are some niggles and concerns with the film which prevent it from being anything more than a decent bit of escapism. These concerns struck me whilst watching it, and the more I think on them the more it irks me that some of them arose, as they could have all been avoided. Maybe the reshoots and shoehorning of as many cameos and references to other films was the primary cause of the oversights, but no matter where they arose, the fact remains that the film is flawed.
Now before I get onto the nitpicks and concerns I have with the film, let me just clarify that saying something is flawed is not the same as saying it is a bad film. I have to state this as some people are stoically ignoring even the most obvious of problems with the film (CGI Tarkin for example) because they seem to be under the impression that saying the film is anything less than perfect would mean they are not a fan of Star Wars. It is as though there is no grey area of fandom, and people either love everything and are blind to the faults, or they hate everything and are blind to the good. In some cases it is as though they feel being a fan of something is some kind of competition to prove you are the ‘Biggest Fan Ever’™. To me, fandom means having a love for it, even if there are flaws to it. Indeed, in some cases the flaws can actually be quite entertaining (Stormtrooper bumping his head in the original Star Wars film for example), and I have quite a few films that I love that are terribly flawed (Highlander for example). But, just in case some fanboys/fangirls out there decide that I must be a hater because of my criticisms of this film, let me make clear that Star Wars has always been a huge factor in my life. At age of 4, back in 1977, I was lucky to be able to see the film on the West End release in the UK at the end of the year, and it is my earliest vivid memory from my life. The impact of that film was such that I became fascinated with film, a fascination which has not only led to online writings such as this site, but radio shows, magazine articles, and indeed my current career as a manager at the busiest UK cinema. I love film, and I love Star Wars. With those credentials laid down, let me begin…
Hang on…does this mean….spoilers ahead?
Let me just point out….SPOILERS AHEAD
Let’s begin with the technical issues, and by which I mean the use of CGI to bring characters back. Two characters in particular suffer from this tampering, Princess Leia whose very brief appearance at the end of the film has a porcelain-doll like effect, her cold dead eyes piercing your very soul as she says something about “hope” (about the 400th use of the word during the film, just in case you had forgotten that the film leads into A New Hope), and more importantly Grand Moff Tarkin. Now, I get that they wanted to pay tribute to the great Peter Cushing, who brought a nobility to the role of Tarkin back when everyone sneered at the idea of this whimsical film about lasers, robots, and spaceships. Both he and Alec Guinness took their roles seriously, ever the professionals, never giving anything less than their all for the part. So, yes, I get that a nod towards Tarkin was a nice tribute. However the part became more than a nod, but instead became a major character. A couple of problems arise with this, the first being that it kind of detracts from Ben Mendelsohn’s role as Orson Krennic, who could have been a great villain, but as a result is just dropped down to henchman effectively. Having Tarkin take control during the film really feels like Krennic wasn’t required at all, and it does feel as though they spent the money on creating a CGI Tarkin and chose to extend the use just to get their money worth. The introduction shot, with the CGI creation staring out a window, his reflected image cast upon the glass, was a great shot, but then he turned around…. Regardless of how good CGI is, when placed alongside and interacting with humans, CGI people never work convincingly, and something always looks creepy about it. Combine this with the fact that the voice coming out of his mouth didn’t sound like Cushing, my mind couldn’t focus on what was actually going on in the scene as I was shunted away from immersion into the film by the effect. Why didn’t they simply recast the role? Audiences are more than accepting of recast roles, and wouldn’t have minded. Or, how about actually only having that initial cameo and then letting Krennic be the villain in the rest of the film – his character would have fit into all the Tarkin scenes just as well…only better as, you know, real human!
That’s not the only extended cameo that doesn’t work as well as it should. In a statement which some will find not only controversial, but will see as practically blasphemous…did we really need Vader in here? More to the point did we really need a Vader who has a different personality to the one who appears in A New Hope? James Earl Jones has aged since he voiced the role, and as is perfectly normal for a human, his voice has aged over time too, so this Vader now sounds a bit more gravel voiced than he does mere moments after this film ends and the next (original) film starts. In addition, he must have lost his sense of humour after the events of this film as we don’t get any of his dry wit via any ‘choke on your words’ type of comments until Empire Strikes Back – maybe he was just playing sullen through A New Hope due to sulking over letting the Death Star plans escape him. Perhaps it was this sulking that meant that after mowing down a load of rebels with his lightsabre he decides to act subdued for the next film, letting loads of Stormtroopers run in and be shot when he could quite easily have waded in again. Yeah, that must be it…or maybe his batteries just died.
His attitude to Leia is also curious to watch in A New Hope after the events of Rogue One, which is primarily down to the issues I have with Leia’s whole involvement here…
Go on then….what issues? I’m waiting!
Now, earlier on in Rogue One, Bail Organa is asked about that old Jedi who is in hiding (Obi Wan) and he suggests that he will send Leia off to find him. Fair enough, nice reference, but please let me know why Leia was docked with the command ship at the battle over Scarif if she was supposed to be going to Tatooine? It makes no sense that her blockade runner ship was sat there, with her twiddling her thumbs waiting for something to happen. I have had it suggested that the order to go to Tatooine may have come after the fleet set off, but there is a further problem…
Why, once she gets her hands on these important plans which are critical for the Rebel Alliance to get their hands on does her ship enter hyperspace…and end up at Tatooine (start of A New Hope)?! Surely it would be more important for her to get the plans to the Alliance base at Yavin? Could not the old hermit mission have waited? Why risk losing the plans in such a way?
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Now part of the problem with this could have been avoided by not having the scene referencing Obi Wan at all. Without it, Leia being at the fleet could have been seen as quite logical, even if her fleeing to Tatooine would still be a bit strange. It seems the forced attempt to reference everything Star Wars created a slight logical gap in the proceedings. This is also seen in the cameo by R2-D2 and C-3P0, who watch the rebel fleet head off for battle, stood in safety on Yavin….yet strangely are on board Leia’s ship at the start of A New Hope.
Those niggles aside, as we get into the start of A New Hope, the whole interplay between Vader and the rebels on board the blockade runner, and Leia herself works around Leia trying to act all innocent about being on a diplomatic mission. Thing is, Vader’s star destroyer was just shooting at the ship moments earlier. This would be akin to driving erratically at over 100mph on the motorway, being chased by police, then suddenly stopping and trying to claim that you can’t have been acting that way as you had only just got into your car, and anyway it’s a motorbike! Why Vader doesn’t reply, “No, you daft bint! I’ve just been shooting at you! Do you think I’m stupid? Oh…and by the way…don’t choke on your words!” I don’t know. Maybe we will get a redubbed version of ANH which will remedy this.
Oh, and about that communicated message of the plans….how come only one ship could pick it up? Did everyone else switch off their comms devices for some reason?
Maybe I only wanted one ship to get them…didn’t think of that did you?
Finally (well, I’m sure many of you are glad I said that, aren’t you, as you are angrily preparing to rebuke all my ramblings by calling me a hater), we have the core basis of the story, that the flaw in the design of the Death Star was a deliberate inclusion by Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen in a shamefully underused role). This creates a slight issue in the film itself – one that doesn’t impact on other film, but is a self-contained issue. The Rebels come to learn of this flaw by way of a hologram message from Galen telling them about it. The issue, however, is that the message doesn’t detail the flaw. Why didn’t he send them the plans himself if he was that nice a guy? Why not give them the info they would need? Instead his message is more along the lines of, “Hey, I’m not really a bad guy! Tell my daughter I’m a lovely bloke! Look, I’ve put a flaw in the Death Star….good luck finding it! Yeah, I rock, and I’m not evil! Woot!” What is the effect when the Rebel Alliance find out this information? “What!!! That Death Star has a flaw, but we have to get the plans ourselves? Screw that! We’ve been fighting for years now, we may as well just give up! Sulky face everybody…we quit!” Only Jyn Erso, who up until this point didn’t give a toss about the Galactic War, seems to be keen on getting the plans and even has to assemble her own team, steal a ship, and go on an unsanctioned mission to try to get them! Yeah, the whole Alliance had given up, but this ‘Rogue’ unit (yeah…that’s where the name came from) are the only ones heroic enough to risk it all. So heroic were they, that we never hear mention of them in the next film (sorry, I lied when I said it didn’t impact on the other films). In fact, Leia takes a lot of credit for the plans when she finally gets around to delivering them (after her unnecessary detour to pick up Obi Wan, only for him to die so she effectively risked everything to bring back a farm-boy and a smuggler – way to go Leia!) Kind of makes Leia seem a little bit of a glory-hunting bitch when you think about it.
A lot of the issues, as mentioned, come about through some desperate need to shoehorn in as many cameos and references as the film can, and the sad thing is that by doing so not only did inconsistent elements arise, but it also detracts from screen-time of the primary cast, not allowing any of them to breath. Even Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera wastes too much screen time and brings pretty much nothing to the tale, but is a forced inclusion of a character from the animated Clone Wars (something Lucas also did when he forced General Grievous on the cinematic audiences). The shame is that even the lead character, Jyn Erso (played as blandly as we have come to expect from Felicity Jones), just doesn’t seem to have time to grow over the film.
It’s not all bad, however, and those who read my review will know that I have a lot of love for Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO and Donnie Yen’s Chirrut, both stand out roles, and the spectacle of the final battle on (and above) Scarif is beautiful, even if it does bear a lot of similarities to ROTJ’s final battles. Whilst the ending was predictable (I called it months ago), seeing the characters sacrifice themselves for the mission worked well…that is aside from the final two deaths, Jyn and Cassian, which seemed like a reshoot to try to give some sort of ‘Deep Impact’ emotional moment (and a missing moment with a Tie Fighter that was glimpsed in the trailer suggests a very alternate take was on the cards for this finale). Throw in the earlier destruction and the grittier look of the film, it’s got a lot of things going for it. I have heard some folk gripe that the Death Star firing breaks continuity, but it doesn’t – the destruction of Alderaan in ANH was the first demonstration of the full destructive capabilities of the weapon, as in RO we only see it firing a lower intensity beam, doing surface damage.
Let’s be honest – this is a frickin’ beautiful shot!
Rogue One is a good film – yes, a solid 6/10, which (for those who care about such things) would make it scrape a HIT on the tomato-meter. So, am I a hater? Heck no, I enjoyed the film, but see the flaws in it. Surely the most important thing in being a fan of something is to see the flaws, and identify them? To deny them and be blinkered isn’t fandom, it’s blind devotion. I’ve always enjoyed deconstructing the things I love, which is why I have all the volumes of the Nitpicker’s Guides to Star Trek, and love to listen to commentaries on DVDs (where a lot of mistakes often get highlighted). Rogue One ranks fifth in the Star Wars film series, and is far higher in score than any of the three numbered prequels. Is it a perfect film? Heck no…but it does fill the gap nicely before we get back to the real story next year.
