Star Wars Review
Grand Total: 9
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (binary sunset) +½
Epic in scale +½
Really funny +½
Amazing visuals +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (Alec Guinness
as Obi-Wan Kenobi) +½
Great music +½
Total: 10 (11 ½)
Overall impression
Star Wars is a film whose premise I feel like I don’t need to explain. Possibly the most iconic and influential film of all time, Star Wars tells the story of Luke Skywalker, a farmer on the desolate planet of Tatooine, who dreams of living a grander life. His dream comes true, in a manner of speaking, when his aunt and uncle (his mother is never mentioned and his father is a mystery figure) buy two droids from the local merchants. Luke takes the droids in to clean them off when he discovers that one of them contains a hidden message. “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” says a mystery woman, before she quickly ends the message. Intrigued, Luke wonders if Obi-Wan Kenobi is related to Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives nearby. Upon visiting Ben Kenobi, Luke learns that Ben knows quite a lot about this mystery woman, and about the rebellion she is involved with. He also knows about Luke’s father, and reminisces of a time when “jedi” were the protectors of peace in the universe. “Jedi” are users of “the force,” an energy field that connects all things. With Ben, Luke seeks out this mystery woman and the greatest story ever told begins. I call it the greatest story ever told because it’s a story that, using the length of three films, results in one of the best character-arcs there ever has been. Luke Skywalker is just a farmer on Tatooine when we meet him, but is searching for something more meaningful to do with his life. Luke never says this, of course, but we get the sense that he does through one of the most iconic scenes of all time. Luke, in his little home on Tatooine, walks out to watch the twin suns of Tatooine set. Luke’s longing stare into the great beyond is such a powerful moment that doesn’t require any dialogue at all; it’s just visual storytelling at its absolute best. Luke’s desire to be a part of something bigger than himself mirrors the viewer’s desire to be a part of the fantastical world of Star Wars. This movie does such a good job of showing us little bits of the world, little factoids about intriguing characters, and little bits of the force. All of these things make us want to know more and more about the world, because we know there is more to learn. It also ensures that we aren’t overwhelmed by a plethora of rules that are difficult to keep track of. Instead, it strikes the perfect balance of keeping us intrigued while not overwhelming us. On top of that, the story introduces us to characters that bring about more curiosity, even while we’re enjoying the story they’re all a part of. I mean, who is Han Solo? I haven’t mentioned him. He’s a hilarious smuggler who helps Luke and Ben find the mystery woman. What’s his backstory? He keeps talking about all of the things he’s done but he’s a bit of a bum. How did he get together with Chewbacca, his first mate? All of these amazing questions just make you want to see more and more of this world that all of Star Wars is a part of. It’s amazing! The reason Star Wars is as iconic and famous as it is is because it manages to create an incredible world and story around a character who, like the viewer, knows very little about it. The revealing of this world creates one of the most cinematic-feeling films of all time. Speaking of cinematic films, a major factor contributing to a film feeling epic and encompassing is the score. John Williams’ music in Star Wars is widely regarded as the greatest film score ever written, and it’s for a reason. The sweeping strings, thrilling horns, and themes associated with each of the characters adds a level of emotional heft to the movie that I don’t think would have been there otherwise. And yet, despite all of the incredible things Star Wars managed to do, it isn’t without a few setbacks. From a technical side, employing ground-breaking visual effects is difficult, and some of the setbacks show in the film. Some shots are repeated to save money, and while these things don’t really take away from the experience of watching Star Wars, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t notice them while watching the movie. On a more serious note, I feel as though Star Wars doesn’t do a great job with its characters. People who have seen all three films in this original trilogy tend to give this film more credit than it deserves because we associate things we learn about the characters to things we know about them in this movie. In reality though, there really is little development in this movie. Darth Vader, a fully-fleshed out character after viewing all six films, is really just a menacing but two-dimensional villain in this film. Similarly, Luke really doesn’t do much on his own in the movie. Instead, the story tells him or shows him how to do things. This goes back to what I think is the film’s greatest attribute: the intrigue. All in all, Star Wars is Star Wars. It created a world and told a great story in it. The character development came in the next film. There is a reason it is such a far-reaching success of a film that managed to appeal to all generations. If you’re curious about why this is, I suggest you watch the film.
Total: 8
The Empire Strikes Back Review
Grand Total: 9 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (retrieving Luke) +½
Epic in scale +½
Really funny +½
Amazing visuals +½
Amazing cinematography +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (Yoda) +½
Great music +½
Great writing +½
Total: 10 (12 ½)
Overall impression
The Empire Strikes Back is the sequel to the cultural phenomenon that was 1977’s Star Wars. It tells the continued story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, the rebels, and their constant struggle against the empire. The empire has been conducting extensive searches for the rebels after what they managed to do in the previous film, specifically looking for Luke Skywalker, the one personally responsible for the empire’s loss. Luke has come a long way since his days on a small farm on the desert planet of Tatooine, and now has a lot of knowledge of the Force, an energy field that gifted individuals can use. The rebels are currently on the ice planet of Hoth, on the run from the Empire, who have been sending out probes to find their location. When a probe lands on Hoth, Luke, who is on patrol, notices and decides to check it out, only to be attacked by a huge native creature. He manages to escape at night and has a vision of Ben Kenobi telling him to go to the Dagobah system to find Yoda, a Jedi Master who can teach him more about the Force. Meanwhile, the probe has relayed its information to the Empire, so the Empire is after the rebels, who must escape. In the ensuing battle, Han and Leia escape on Han’s ship, the Millennium Falcon while Luke goes to visit Yoda. Luke’s storyline contrasts fantastically well with Han and Leia’s storyline because Han and Leia’s story is frantic and full of emotion as they are chased around the galaxy while Luke’s story is full of wonder, awe, and magic. As good as Star Wars was when it was released, The Empire Strikes Back is better in every conceivable way. The sets are some of the best I’ve ever seen in my life. The visuals are outstanding. The camerawork is gorgeous. Layers are added to the characters. The music is better. The suspense is greater. The world is expanded. The writing is hilarious and profound at the same time. But before I talk about how The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest sequel ever made, let me talk about the film’s only problem. This film has such a rich story to tell that it rushes through a few things at the beginning of the film to get to the real meat. While these things are easily forgotten in the light of what’s good in the movie, the screenwriters could have started us off a little more smoothly. Luckily, the film takes giant leaps beyond its admittedly sloppy beginning. The Empire Strikes Back adds only two characters to the mix, one to Luke’s story and one to Han and Leia’s story. This ensures that we only ever have to learn about one new character at a time, making the story more personal and less confusing. Han and Leia’s escape forces them to hide a lot. This allows the story to slow down and open itself up for character development. The writing between Han, Leia, and C-3PO is genius; we get to laugh with all of them as we watch them grow with the story. We begin to see that Han isn’t really a crook who’s only interested in money. We get to see that Leia isn’t as stubborn as she would like to make herself appear. Both characters are vulnerable in this movie, and we get to take a peek at what’s actually inside them. Luke, on the other hand, is humbled. We all remember him as the kid who wants to take on the world and live his adventure without ever taking the time to learn. Here he spends quite a lot of time learning with Jedi Master Yoda. Yoda is one of the most interesting and mysterious figures in all of the Star Wars universe because he’s just so wise, yet also full of humor and humility. The set design on the swampy Dagobah is probably the best I’ve ever seen. I thoroughly believed that they shot all of the scenes in an actual swamp, because it looks that good. Han and Leia stumble into a similarly wondrous set that is perfectly revealed with beautiful yet mysterious music from John Williams. When Luke’s story and Han and Leia’s story converge, the film becomes incredibly suspenseful, leading to a dark but hopeful ending to a fantastic movie. While most fans of the franchise point to the original Star Wars as the one with the most iconic music, it is in fact The Empire Strikes Back which features quite a lot of the familiar themes we, as a society, have become so accustomed to. The empire theme, or “the imperial march” originated in this film, as John Williams had not given a theme to the Empire yet. Yoda gets his own wondrous and magical theme, and Han and Leia get possibly the best theme of them all. When people look back at the Star Wars trilogy as a whole, nearly all of the standout scenes, themes, and characters originate in The Empire Strikes Back. If it weren’t for the shaky start, The Empire Strikes Back would be a flawless picture. As it stands, it’s only the greatest sequel ever made.
Total: 9
Return of the Jedi Review
Grand Total: 5 ½
Technical
Watchable 4
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (Luke snaps) +½
Great performance/character (Ian McDiarmid
as The Emperor) +½
Great music +½
Obvious plothole -½
Boring part -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 5
Overall impression
Return of the Jedi tells the continued story of Luke, Han, Leia, Darth Vader, and the rebellion against the empire as they must now face Darth Vader and The Emperor himself. Following a Star Wars movie is no easy task, but Return of the Jedi had to follow The Empire Strikes Back, one of the greatest cinematic films ever released and one of the best sequels ever made. In a lot of ways, Return of the Jedi falls devastatingly short of expectations as the story really has little substance to it and doesn’t really develop any of the characters except for Luke. The Empire Strikes Back, when you think about it, had little to do with the rebels; it was focused almost entirely on Luke, Han, and Leia, letting the characters drive the story. In Return of the Jedi, it seemed like the film had only two things to do, one involving Han and one involving Leia. Unfortunately, it didn’t really build them up or make them significant, as if the movie knew it had to tie up two plotpoints but didn’t know how to be its own movie. With the exception of the ending sequence, featuring a scary confrontation between Luke, Darth Vader, and The Emperor, Return of the Jedi is really a movie with tons of filler that doesn’t add a whole lot to the over-arching story of Star Wars. The beginning of the film ties up Han’s story and the end ties up Luke’s story. The middle of this film features some really silly sequences that made it difficult to take the movie seriously, which is a real shame considering how attached you are to the characters after The Empire Strikes Back. Now, as much as the film does feature a lot of filler that really had no business in a serious film, Return of the Jedi has some truly fantastic scenes in it. Whenever Luke is the focus of the film, things become a lot more focused. He’s very damaged by the events in the previous film, and Return of the Jedi does a really good job of showing that. The film spends about half of its time being boring and silly and half of its time (mostly involving Luke) being incredibly interesting and serious. I really wish the tone it set with Luke could have been present throughout the entirety of the movie, because Return of the Jedi is honestly fifty-fifty awful and fantastic. When it’s bad, it’s really bad. When it’s good, it rivals the best moments from The Empire Strikes Back. But for that huge flaw, I still remember the movie fondly. It still has great music, some great humor, and a lot of wisdom from Yoda. The characters, even if they don’t develop much more, still showcase what we’ve come to love about them, and much of the movie does still feel like it belongs in the Star Wars story. But it’s just impossible to ignore a lot of really terrible silliness and lack of focus that dominates the middle of this film. I think a lot of people give this film far more credit than it deserves by ignoring the frequently boring plot elements and instead focusing on the infinitely superior scenes that progress Luke’s story. It’s still a decent film, but it definitely is hit or miss.
Total: 6
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review
Grand Total: 0 ½
Technical
Boring 2
Great music +½
Too long -1
Terrible writing -½
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (Jar Jar Binks) -½
Unfunny -½
Overuse of effects -½
Total: 0 (-1)
Overall impression
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the most pointless, unnecessary, and disappointing film in the history of cinema. Why did I just say “was”? It continues to be the most pointless, unnecessary, and disappointing film ever, emphasized even more in my recent rewatch of this atrocity. The first time I saw this film, I was about ten years old and really enjoyed it. With a recent rewatch, I had hopes that this movie wasn’t as bad as all of the incredibly hilarious reviews suggest. Well, it was probably worse than I thought was possible. I’ve done my best to group the reasons why this movie is an utter catastrophe into two categories: the movie itself and the potential. Let’s start with the movie itself. It tells four or five stories at once, none of which are given any attention at all, as the audience is forced to sit back and take in mindless action and dull exposition as the movie spends so much time trying to figure out what else it can stuff into its bloated runtime that it forgets to slow down and develop any of its characters. I’ve seen this movie a few times, but I still don’t understand most of it. Let me explain the premise to each of the stories in this film. Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi are Jedi Knights serving the Republic. They have been sent to the planet of Naboo to deal with some trade squabble. Things get a little more complicated when the Trade Federation, the organization currently embargoing Naboo, try to assassinate the Jedi. Of course they escape, but in the process they find out that the trade federation plans on invading the Naboo to get their queen to sign a treaty. So the second story is about the Naboo queen, whose green screen planet is under threat of invasion. The Senator to their planet in the Republic, Senator Palpatine, has been unsuccessfully trying to negotiate with the Trade Federation, because the Republic has become incredibly corrupt. The third story is that of Anakin Skywalker, a slave on the planet of Tatooine, who wants to race his speeder pod to win his freedom. The fourth story has to do with Jar Jar Binks, a native of Naboo who is saved by Qui-Gon Jinn during the invasion. He’s an outcast from his underwater city because of something he did. All of these stories happen at the same time. Does any of this make any sense? Does it sound like way too much is happening? Half of the movie features lifeless characters sitting in rooms talking to each other about trade disputes or politics and it’s all just so incredibly boring because the audience knows nothing about these characters or the government they live under. Not once does this movie slow down enough for a character to ask why something was happening or how someone was feeling; everyone just tries to keep up with the plot. In the end, the movie completely forgets that characters drive the story of a movie. Putting a faceless entity into a situation, no matter what the situation is, will generate no interest at all because the audience has nothing to relate to. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is one big lump of “I don’t care.” I mean, what is the Trade Federation? What do they do? Why are they blockading Naboo? What’s in the treaty they want the queen to sign? None of this is even touched upon, so we really have no idea about any of the factors that are driving the characters. Seriously, I don’t have a clue as to what any of these characters’ motivations are or why they do anything they do in the movie. Nothing in the movie makes any sense. Everything feels fake. None of the characters feel real. None of the environments feel real. None of the action feels real. You know why? Because almost this entire movie was made in a computer. You know what computers are? Lifeless. You know what this movie is? Complete garbage. The film’s only redeeming quality is its music. Even Star Wars: The Phantom Menace can’t ruin John Williams, and that’s saying a lot. Despite all of the negatives found within the film itself, the worst thing about Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is the wasted potential. One of the biggest questions in the original Star Wars was “what was the world like before the Empire, before the extinction of the Jedi?” Star Wars: The Phantom Menace could have told the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker while showing us what the world was like, in a much more personal story. Nothing at all about Star Wars: The Phantom Menace had any personality to it at all. We learn nothing at all about the Jedi, only that they have a council that sits around and does absolutely nothing. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace says that the answer to “what was the world like before the Empire” is “boring.” How easy would it have been if this film were simply about Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight in search of a padawan learner. While he’s doing an interesting task (one that has nothing to do with trade, negotiations, or politics), he stumbles upon Anakin Skywalker. You can fill in the gaps as to how or under what circumstances this happens, but this story is already infinitely more focused and more character-driven than anything in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was. You see, George Lucas (the director, writer, and producer) completely forgot about how effective a simple story can be when you make it around characters that the audience cares about. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace only needed to do one thing: show us what the world was like before the Empire through the eyes of a familiar face that we really don’t know much about: Obi-Wan Kenobi. How difficult was it to make this movie good? There was a premade formula and even a premade character to use. When you think about how easy it would have been to make this movie great, it dawns on you just how awful it is. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is far more than a terrible movie. It’s just sad.
Total: 1
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Review
Grand Total: 3
Technical
Watchable 4
An amazing scene (Anakin snaps) +½
Great music +½
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker) -½
Boring part -½
Overuse of effects -½
Total: 3
Overall impression
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is so much better than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but still pretty awful. It tells the “continued” story of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), given that the previous film didn’t really give those characters any, well, character. Someone tries to assassinate Padme, forcing Obi-Wan to search for whoever is behind the attack while Anakin stays with Padme to protect her. Obi-Wan’s story takes him to the planet Kamino, where he discovers a clone army at his disposal, even though no Jedi ordered them to be made. Anakin and Padme’s story leads to the most unrealistic, unbelievable, and forced romance in cinematic history, featuring some of the worst dialogue ever written. But while we’re being submitted to the awful acting and nonexistent chemistry between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, Anakin’s story begins to drift towards that of his mother. Somehow, he forgot that his mother was still enslaved on Tatooine and never came to free her. Anyway, at least that makes us care about him a little more because a mother in trouble is something even George Lucas has sympathy for. Despite the awful romance in this film, the film as a whole is a lot better than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. There are a lot of elements of mystery in Obi-Wan’s story that we actually understand. While the villain in this film is just as forgettable and without personality as the last one, we at least get a better sense of who are heroes are. Obi-Wan is actually a pretty fleshed out character in this movie and, though we never really see him on a mission with Anakin, we get a good sense as to who he is. Anakin Skywalker is the creepiest teenager ever, whose interest in Padme is never explained, but you can at least relate to his desire to free his mother. Anakin’s scenes on Tatooine are definitely the best in the entire film. Once they’re over, the film turns into an even more artificial Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The third act of this film is a bit of a mess, as the mystery is replaced with boring, artificial environments and not much actually happening. This film actually uses its effects even more than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace did, and a lot of the time you can tell that the actors aren’t actually interacting with anything, because what you see on screen is just not there. As always, John Williams wrote some great music for this film, adding beauty to the few times there were actual sets involved and creating a memorable theme for the romance that I like far more than the romance itself. Though that romance is truly atrocious, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is still more focused than its predecessor and has a solitary good scene in it. True, some of the boring political nonsense is back from the previous film, but this is definitely an improvement. That having been said, there is yet more wasted potential in this movie. This is the movie that could have showcased what the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan was like. Finally Anakin is old enough for us to actually really relate to him and his struggles. In order for him to be a tragic figure in the overarching Star Wars story, we have to like him. It has to be really difficult for us to watch him fall from grace. In this movie, he’s the creepiest most unlikable and whiny teenager imaginable. We barely see any character-based interaction between Obi-Wan and Anakin, so we really won’t be able to relate to Obi-Wan’s struggle as he has to take down Anakin in the next film. All of the things we should have felt from this overarching story rely on the creation of Anakin as a likeable character who is good friends with Obi-Wan Kenobi, another likeable character. We don’t get any of this in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. I mean, the movie is called Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, referencing the completely lifeless and disposable army that is conjured up in the middle of the film. Need I say more? This is a better film than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, featuring some amazing music, a decent Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a good scene here and there. But that isn’t enough to resurrect the story that was clearly beaten to death in the previous film.
Total: 3
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Review
Grand Total: 3 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
An amazing scene (order 66) +½
Great performance/character (Ian McDiarmid
as The Emperor) +½
Great music +½
Terrible writing -½
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (Hayden Christensen
as Anakin Skywalker) -½
Boring part -½
Overuse of effects -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 2 ½
Overall impression
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is a movie I used to love. But then I watched a few good movies, movies like the original Star Wars trilogy, and saw the light. Just about everything in this film feels forced and makes no sense. The film opens as Chancellor Palpatine has been somehow kidnapped by General Grievous (some robot/lizard thing), the leader of the separatists. This just makes no sense on a number of levels, because Grievous and Palpatine are on the same side, but Grievous somehow doesn’t realize that Palpatine, the man he just kidnapped, is actually his master. Long story short, Anakin and Obi-Wan confront Count Dooku, that guy you hardly remember from the last movie because he didn’t do anything worth mentioning, and defeat him. They have to go find General Grievous so that they can end the war and so that Palpatine can finally relinquish his power. In the process of defeating Dooku, however, Anakin goes pretty dark so that we can be convinced that he really is ready to become Darth Vader. The problem with this entire trilogy is that Anakin’s transformation is supposed to be tragic, and he’s supposed to have a genuine character arc from selfless teenager to brutal murderer. But we never get that because he just started off as an annoying unlikably jerk. He was never sympathetic and therefore we just don’t care much about him. We also don’t get to sympathize with Obi-Wan, as his apprentice falls from grace. We never really get to see them on a mission together throughout any of these films, and the writing is so bad that they rarely ever interact. Ewan McGregor is a great actor, but his character is just so flat that he has nothing to do. Hayden Christensen continues to be awful, but by now that’s old hat. At this point, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith could have been an amazing film and it couldn’t have saved the prequel trilogy. Two movies later and I still don’t really sympathize with the two main characters. They’re just flat and boring. The only one who is actually having fun in this movie is Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine. He has such a fantastic voice and just seems to be having a great time in the role. Natalie Portman is pretty awful, and delivers some of the movie’s worst lines as she begins to realize that maybe Anakin isn’t a nice guy anymore. But he was never a nice guy. Though this movie admittedly has a plot that gets better and more comprehendible as the film goes on, it’s still just about as stupid as the previous instalments. Many defenders of this trilogy of movies will admit that the first two are bad but point to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith as the exception. While I concede that this movie is better than the other two, it still fits into the trilogy perfectly. The style is just as bland and uninteresting, the cinematography is still awful, the dialogue is terrible, the visual effects are ridiculously overused, and the fighting is so choreographed that it’s emotionless. These things apply to all three of the films, so to argue that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith fits into a category of its own is absolute nonsense. Yes, this film does have a few good scenes and at least one of the actors is having fun, but that doesn’t excuse the rest of the movie.
Total: 4
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review
Grand Total: 9
Technical
Engaging 6
Suspenseful +1
Moving +1
An amazing scene (red bolts through space) +½
Epic in scale +½
Really funny +½
Amazing visuals +½
Amazing cinematography +½
Great performance/character (Daisy Ridley as Rey) +½
Great music +½
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 10 (11)
Overall impression
Star Wars: The Force Awakens carries on the Star Wars saga, (not trilogy, not double trilogy, but saga) taking place some thirty years after the events of Return of the Jedi, a film I thought lacked substance but ended well. This time around, the film is about how Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku, and Finn (John Boyega), a fleeing stormtrooper, get tied up in an adventure against Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and The First Order, an adventure that introduces them to Han Solo (Harrison Ford), the Jedi, the Force, and the world that has been so well set up by the past thirty-eight years of Star Wars films. If you’ve talked to me about the other Star Wars films or read my reviews, you’ll know that when the Star Wars prequel trilogy was released I was really disappointed; the movies focused on a bland story without a hint of character development. While I wouldn’t call the story in Star Wars: The Force Awakens a great story the way I might call the story in Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back great stories, the new characters are the focus of this film. It’s a good thing they were. The first scenes featuring our main characters (Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren) are almost without dialogue, just featuring visuals and John Williams’ fantastic score (the man can do no wrong). Yet director J.J. Abrams managed to perfectly capture what it was they were thinking, how they were feeling, and what their lives were like. That is visual storytelling at its finest, the likes of which allowed us to feel the dreams of Luke Skywalker when he looked upon the horizon of his planet in Star Wars. Once the characters meet and start interacting, we begin to learn more about their personalities. Rey knows a lot about spaceships, but almost nothing about space as she has never left her planet (at least not in memory). Having been on Jakku all alone for most of her life, she is strong-willed and independent. Finn is almost the opposite. He is scared and desperate to make friends with anyone who will get him further away from The First Order. Despite (or perhaps because of) their differences, the two characters have excellent chemistry thanks to some really comedic circumstances and thanks to Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. For the first time since Return of the Jedi, I felt like I was watching two real people genuinely get to know each other and bond through their adventure. The story actually progresses based on the relationships the characters have with each other. Watching the film for the first time, I questioned many of the plotpoints as I wasn’t sure why the story was taking a particular direction. On the second viewing, a lot of those plotpoints made more sense given what I knew about the characters. Where the prequels failed the most, this film excelled; it created its characters first and let them create the story. That having been said, the story has a lot of inconsistencies that are worth addressing. The realness of the film thanks to practical effects and incredible sets make the moments of heavy CGI look really out of place. A particular scene involving strange space squids looks strange next to the rest of the movie. That scene is actually my biggest flaw in the movie, as it feels the most like it should have been cut out to extend some of the best scenes in the movie. Star Wars: The Force Awakens doesn’t have pacing issues so much as it just should have cut out a few scenes and used the time to extend others. There are a few scenes in this film (including one jaw-dropping scene involving The First Order) where I just wish the scene could have just gone on forever. But then it ends, and I would have liked to have seen more reaction after the “event” of the scene had finished. Still, rarely do I go into a film these days and get blown back into my seat by the power of what I’m witnessing on screen, but it happened three times in this film, so it is hard to complain. When it comes to a film the size of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s easy to sit back and point out all of the things that you wish it had done better instead of being thankful it did what it did. It’s also incredibly easy to complain that the film left some things in the air instead of explaining everything. I’d rather see this film in a heartbeat than the bloated mess that would have been the Star Wars film attempting to explain every single thing going on. In 1999 a Star Wars film was released that gave us nothing. This beautiful-looking, well-shot, well-acted, well-directed film gave me a great new set of original characters, all of whom are now involved in the same story, a story I can’t wait to see continued. For that, I am grateful.
Total: 8
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review
Grand Total: 5 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (sniper) +½
Epic in scale +½
Amazing visuals +½
Amazing cinematography +½
Obvious plothole -½
Boring part -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first Star Wars film that isn’t part of a trilogy of films, a film that isn’t an episode. Instead, it’s a “stand-alone film” about what happens right before the original Star Wars and how the rebels managed to capture the plans to the Death Star and give them to Princess Leia.
The first half of this movie is about this group of rebels getting together to figure out what this Death Star is and what kind of threat it poses. A slew of characters are introduced including Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), an imprisoned lone wolf whose father (Mads Mikkelson) was taken away by Orson Krennec (Ben Mendelsohn) of the empire for some nefarious purpose when she was very young. Much of the first half of this film surrounds what her father has been up to in his absence. Also introduced in this first half are Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his droid K-2SO, mercenaries of sorts working for the rebellion. Many more characters are introduced as well, but as you might expect, not too many of them get enough time to grow with the story. In fact, there are so many characters that even the main characters don’t get a lot of time to grow. This entire first half is dedicated towards establishing everyone, but so many of them seem like they don’t matter to the story and just end up with Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO, the only characters who really have anything to do in this film.
It doesn’t help that this first half of the film is a choppy, tonally uneven mess, with characters introduced and story points being thrown all over. Only Jyn’s backstory is shown, and that serves moreso as a means to tell the background of the story of this film than of her character. For the first half of this film, there is almost no reason to care about anybody and, with all of the introductions and exposition, there aren’t really any character-building scenes either. It’s only when the characters are all together in the second half does the story become focused and engaging.
This movie, as a Star Wars film, definitely strays from the typical tone and visuals of what you might expect having seen the other films in this series. The tone is decidedly darker (though nobody talks about why the empire is so bad, only that it is) and the visuals reflect the war-like atmosphere in this film. There is some humor from K-2SO but the film is definitely darker than what has come before. And while the story may be part of the greater Star Wars whole, the different tone and lack of mysticism make Rogue One: A Star Wars Story not feel like a Star Wars movie. The music, by Michael Giacchino, is trying to sound like John Williams, and has a few good tracks, but doesn’t quite hit the mark. The visual effects seem a little off in places regarding the scale of a few ships and the recreation of characters in previous films. And the pace is off. Star Wars films are usually slower, taking their time to sculpt characters and set up stories. It takes more than recreating familiar droids and starships to recreate the atmosphere of Star Wars. It was nice to see elements of mysticism found in a new character or two in this film, but it wasn’t enough. This film really does stand alone.
Total: 6