400: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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[00:01:00] I want to wait. Let's get to the first of two Star Wars standalone films that go along with the sequel trilogy,

[00:01:08] which, if I haven't already mentioned it, you can now get all five of these reviews together,

[00:01:14] re-edited, compilation sort of style, on our bonus show page at filmbuds.bandcamp.com.

[00:01:21] So if you don't want to listen to them broken up and all that, you can just go donate a dollar

[00:01:26] and listen to them all together and get your own mp3 file.

[00:01:30] But anyways, Rogue One A Star Wars Story came out in 2016.

[00:01:36] It's directed by Gareth Edwards, stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen,

[00:01:43] Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Henry, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, and a few others.

[00:01:51] And the synopsis is, in a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission

[00:01:57] to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction.

[00:02:02] So this one came out just after, like a year after The Force Awakens.

[00:02:07] So we are just getting into Star Wars reboot territory where things hadn't really been oversaturated yet,

[00:02:13] as they are kind of now with Disney Plus and all that.

[00:02:17] And I was curious about it for sure. My main interest was, I loved Gareth Edwards because of Godzilla,

[00:02:24] the Godzilla movie, the first one in the franchise.

[00:02:28] Then loved Felicity Jones as well. And then just any Star Wars movie I was up for, for sure.

[00:02:34] But really didn't know anything about the story or what to expect or whatever.

[00:02:38] And it seems as though, I mean there are a lot of people who feel this way.

[00:02:43] I don't know if it's the majority or not, but this is by far my favorite of all the new films.

[00:02:49] It would be actually my second favorite at least of every Star Wars movie with just being under Empire Strikes Back.

[00:02:57] I think this movie, I've seen it five, six, seven times at least over the years.

[00:03:02] I think it is so compelling. It's so wonderfully self-contained.

[00:03:07] And it's the kind of movie that Star Wars needs.

[00:03:10] It's not something that is setting up a bunch of different things to be seen later.

[00:03:15] It's its own story. It's about a group of characters who, it's not spoiler at this point, they all die.

[00:03:20] And it's basically like a season of a TV show or something made into a movie where there's no sequels possible for this

[00:03:28] other than the obvious movies that have already been made.

[00:03:31] And so I think that's great. The grittiness, I love how, it's not like some crazy R-rated violent movie,

[00:03:37] but I think it's refreshingly edgy and rough and grim.

[00:03:43] And it's not too flashy or too glossy. It's a little bit more rugged.

[00:03:49] And I think the overall group of characters, it goes along with most of Gareth Edwards' movies where

[00:03:55] he's not great at character development. I don't think anyone in this isn't that compelling.

[00:04:00] It's mostly because of the performances. I think Felicity Jones is perfect.

[00:04:04] And everybody else, pretty good.

[00:04:07] But some quick points, looks amazing. I think the cinematography is great.

[00:04:12] The locations, I love the look, one thing in particular, I love Felicity Jones' home, like that home planet.

[00:04:19] I love where you meet Riz Ahmed. That area, like the locations, I don't know what is effects and what's not,

[00:04:25] but it looks great. The score by Michael Giacchino, pretty solid.

[00:04:31] It has moments of being a little bit better. I know that he came on after, after the original composer was replaced.

[00:04:37] I'd be curious to hear that score, but overall, the score is good.

[00:04:41] And there was the big thing with this movie where the trailers looked completely different from what the actual movie was

[00:04:47] because of reshoots and this and that. And so I would be also curious to see that movie.

[00:04:53] Not to say that this one is bad, but I would still like to see some of those images and sequences that were in the trailers.

[00:05:00] But another thing, Mads Mikkelsen, amazing. He's just great across the board, so underrated.

[00:05:06] As an actor, Ben Mendelsohn, a great role for him. He's one of the best character actors working today, in my opinion.

[00:05:12] And the one scene that always hits me so hard and I'm like waiting for it to happen

[00:05:20] because it's such a good line, it's such a good delivery, and it's such a good just overall directed moment

[00:05:26] is that night sequence where Jyn Erso, which is Felicity Jones, she encounters her dad

[00:05:34] and there's that last moment with him where he's looking up at her and there's been all this time gone by

[00:05:40] where he hasn't seen her since she was a kid. And so a whole lifetime has gone by without him.

[00:05:45] And he's like, I have so much to tell you. And then he dies. I think that is such an evocative line.

[00:05:52] Just thinking, you know, if someone, anyone who you've known in your life who maybe who has died

[00:05:58] or you haven't seen in years, in decades, whatever, and there's this whole lifetime without you

[00:06:04] or without that person. And you're thinking, God, I wish I had all that time to tell you everything that happened.

[00:06:09] And especially if it's like a father-daughter-child-parent relationship, I think that is a perfect moment

[00:06:16] and one that always has stuck with me. But other than that, the sequence with Forrest Whitaker,

[00:06:23] I don't love Forrest Whitaker in general. He's kind of hit and miss. I like the sound work on his breathing machine.

[00:06:29] I think that's good. And that whole sequence with the town fight, that's very well done.

[00:06:35] And that eventual escape, I think all that works really well. And the action is very well shot.

[00:06:41] And then going back real quick, the sequence at the beginning with Mads Mikkelsen meeting Ben Mendelsohn.

[00:06:48] Love that whole sequence where Jen Erso is escaping as a child.

[00:06:53] Few minor things besides just the lack of or little character development, which isn't really a big issue.

[00:06:59] It's just one I've noticed on rewatch. The mantra, the force mantra by Donnie Yen,

[00:07:06] that's the only thing I'd say that gets a little tiresome. It's just so repetitive and it comes across as a little too goofy.

[00:07:14] Not really, to me, not totally on point with everything else. So that's the only thing I'm like,

[00:07:21] alright, let's get this over with. I like Donnie Yen, but I don't love that force mantra thing that he's spouting out all the time.

[00:07:28] But not a big issue. Then the raid attack siege on the compound or whatever you want to call it.

[00:07:38] Amazing. I love a good siege sequence in a movie and this is one of the best.

[00:07:43] And it's pretty rare you get to see a sci-fi sort of siege, so I love that too.

[00:07:48] And the final moments with those characters and when they die, it's like, alright, wow, they're dead.

[00:07:54] Movie's over. That's what I like. It's not, oh, this character actually survived and he's going to show up in a sequel or spinoff,

[00:08:02] which I know that Diego Luna's character got the show, which I've seen a little bit of and it's good,

[00:08:06] I just haven't finished all of it. But it's saying, alright, characters are dead, next movie, next story.

[00:08:12] And so that's what I love. We need more of these self-contained, restrained, gritty, off-the-cuff, one-off stories.

[00:08:23] So I'm a big, big fan of it. Holds up fully. Never really gets old.

[00:08:28] Will probably always be at least top three. I'm curious to see what they do next with After Rise of Skywalker, but we'll see.

[00:08:35] But I would happily watch more spinoff films that take place in their own little corner and just feed into another big overarching film or storyline.

[00:08:45] Besides that, not a whole lot else that really stands out immediately.

[00:08:50] I think Riz Ahmed, I love him in general. He's great. Alan Tudyk as the robot, pretty good.

[00:08:56] I don't always love having to have these robot sidekicks in every single Star Wars story, but I think he's pretty good.

[00:09:02] And it was in the first stages of the reboot franchise, so it still feels a little bit fresher than some of the others.

[00:09:09] Also, the production design overall, very good. And the costume design, if I haven't already mentioned that, really good.

[00:09:15] I think when Riz Ahmed, we first meet him, how the masks of those soldiers, mercenaries, whoever, look.

[00:09:23] I think there's some great designs of masks and suits and guns. So it's very strong.

[00:09:29] And that's something Gareth Edwards has carried through all of his movies, even The Creator, which I didn't love, but the design of that movie was top notch.

[00:09:39] Yeah, it's a great movie. So that is a heavy, heavy 5 out of 5.

[00:10:09] Learn more at CBP.gov slash careers.

[00:10:39] To learn more about AI in the audio industry, download the white paper from audiostack.ai.