Showing posts with label star wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label star wars. Show all posts

Image result for star wars rogue one

When the first trailer aired for this film, I'll admit it, I was scared for the franchise. Star Wars had never had a big budget movie side story before and I wasn't sure how they would be able to weave this into the main story. But goddammit, they succeeded. Rogue One is amazing. In fact I would put it in my top three Star Wars movies. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The story of Rogue One is different than any other tale set in the Star Wars universe. If you've already seen Episode IV then you know the plot of this movie. "It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's secret weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet." That's all the major plot points to Rogue One but it isn't quite that simple. There are many more cogs working in this Rebel machine than it seems from that opening crawl that was written thirty years ago. 

The first problem that I noticed with Rogue One was the lack of backstory for most of the characters. Jyn Erso is the only one who had a significant amount of story given to. All of the others just sort of showed up, which is fine to an extent. For example, Chirrut Imwe, a blind man who sees with the force, doesn't need much to get me to like hiim because that concept is just cool on its own. One character where this problem becomes especially noticeable is with Baze Malbus. He is just there and he has a fast-firing gun. That's boring. He's boring. He's not funny or interesting besides his big gun and he certainly doesn't have e any memorable lines. He isn't a nuisance to the plot, though, unlike a certain Gungan from the prequels. My favorite character has to be K-2SO. He's funny and quick-witted and can also be a badass when the situation calls for it. Overall, the characters themselves are good but do play off of each other well. 

The second major problem I had with Rogue One was the pacing. It starts off very slow and only picks up after about twenty minutes in. That first twenty minutes isn't boring per se but isn't nearly as exciting as the rest of the film which is, might I add, a flooring experience. 

To me, a Star Wars movie is only as good as its villains and Rogue One surprised me in this aspect. Orson Krennic, the captain of the Death Star, is technically the main villain of the film but he is frequently overshadowed by past villains that make appearances throughout the film. That brings me to Darth Vader who, though is only in the movie for about five minutes total, completely steals the show every time he is on screen. James Earl Jones comes back once again to reprise his role and the performance is once again fantastic. The main villain of Krennic isn't bad, though. He just doesn't get as much screen time as he should. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story looks fantastic from title card to ending credits. It's directed well and the CG is used sparingly enough where it isn't distracting, except for one character. One character from a past film is rendered completely in CG. At first it is very distracting but by the end of the film I barely even remembered that he was CG. Even after the movie finished I turned to my friend to comment on it and he didn't even realize that the character was completely faked. Uncanny Valley. Rogue One is the only Star Wars movie, to my knowledge, to not have John Williams on the soundtrack and it is, unfortunately, noticeable. The music is still great, don't get me wrong, but it has a lack of... whatever John Williams did to make his scores so fantastic. 

Before my final analysis I must say one thing: Rogue One addressed and fixed a major problem that fans have had for many years with the original trilogy. That is all.

I really thought that this movie couldn't work. I was completely wrong. The film is a fun experience with great character dynamics and though it may warrant a yawn or two from the audience in the first act it will definitely be remembered for a long time.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a great experience.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
I recently saw the movie adaptation to one of my favorite classic books of all time, The Great Gatsby. Though the themes were still intact and the overall story was true to its source material, it took out important plot elements and added in others. At first I was upset at these changes. I had the feeling of "how dare they ruin this story that I love." But after thinking about it more rationally I came to realize that most of these changes were for the better because of the story-telling medium that this classic was now in.

One aspect of storytelling that viewers have to take into account is that not everything that a book can accomplish can be done the same way as in a movie. In a work of literature the author can paint pictures of grand objects or settings with paragraphs describing the life that takes place there, the effect that it has on other settings, or even the history. In a movie, however, this can't be done so elegantly. Monologues are boring to an average viewer of a two to three hour flick so long paragraphs have to be transformed into sweeping shots from above or maybe just a steady shot with a few editing tricks to make the atmosphere special to the movie-goer. In a way, a movie can portrait a setting even more deeply than a book can because of the many types of editing, directing, or sound techniques that the creator of the film can use. Harry Potter is great example of this. Though I've never read the book, I can tell that the atmosphere presented in Hogwarts is taken into great consideration because of the wonderfully orchestrated soundtrack that compliments it. Because of John Williams' score of the movie it just feels magical.

Replacing or changing story elements in the transition from literature to film is what really annoys a lot of people. In the case of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald I believe the changes, though not necessary, do bring the film to be less contrived than it might have been if it followed the book to a tee. For instance, in the film version of The Great Gatsby by Baz Luhrmann the main character Nick Carraway is an aspiring author first and a bondsman second. It may not seem like it but this small detail gives the writers of the movie credence to do much more with minor plot would-be annoyances like exposition. Because the story is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway in the future writing about Gatsby's life he can give the audience as much exposition as he likes without it feeling too forced. Adding plot threads isn't something that just happens from book to film but also in the reverse. In the book version of The Force Awakens Alan Dean Foster, who also wrote for the original trilogy book adaptations, goes into more detail about Supreme Leader Snoke's past. This includes the fact that he had apprentices before Kylo Ren, saw the Empire rise and fall, and even knew that Darth Vader was Luke's father. Because a book can be explained with words, the writer was able to add in so much more and even make the story make more sense in certain aspects.

So is the book always better than the movie? Well, no. A movie's audience has to recognize the fact that a movie can do things that a book can't and vice-versa. A movie can be directed a certain way, be edited, or given a score while a book has to be completely explained with words. A movie, better or not, is simply different.
Friday, April 08, 2016
This "Road to VII" marathon has been quite a ride. Just glad we got to see a GOOD prequel.

The reason I, and many others of my generation, like this movie so much is because it is a refreshing return for the franchise that we all love so much. Episode I is bad and Episode II is decent; Episode III, however is surprisingly good. It successfully combines all of the good things from the previous prequels (plus one bad thing) and makes a movie that is fondly remembered.

First of all, this is the first Star Wars prequel that feels like a Star Wars movie from the very start. It kicks off with a very fun space battle as the two heroes go to save Senator Palpatine and capture both Count Dooku and General Grievous, whom was briefly mentioned in the opening scroll. They break into the spaceship and fight off droids in their path but come across Count Dooku who wants a rematch with Anakin. The fight ensues and Anakin ends up destroying everything he has been taught and KILLS Count Dooku. This is one of Anakin's most important beats in the movie. This is when he starts being entangled by the Dark Side. I especially have praise the "Opera Scene" where Senator Palpatine tells Anakin of Darth Plageuis the Wise. This scene is such a shift in momentum for the entire prequel trilogy as it gives the viewer some much needed lore and Sith backstory that we just don't get in the other prequels. This theme of corruption continues throughout the film too with it eventually leading to Anakin's complete turn to the Dark Side and his becoming of Darth Vader. And I do have to say, the last act where Darth Vader takes control of everything and becomes a Sith, though a little too fast paced, holds some of the most intense scenes in all of the prequels. All this chaos building onto itself leads to the final fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan which is one of the most well made fight scenes in the entire Star Wars series.

Though I do praise this film for the things it got right, I do absolutely have to point out the bad parts that it still kept from Episodes I and II. For example, Padme is still a useless character with little to no development. The only reason she is there is to be a 'forbidden love' scenario for Anakin to get tangled up into. Maybe if the character of Padme was directed better I would have actually cared about her and the whole 'love' they tried to build around her and Anakin would have been worth something. The way the film turned out, it's all pretty inconsequential. Another bad decision they brought back from the other prequels was a total misuse of the villains. Count Dooku is killed ten minutes through the film and General Grievous has a really cool design but is no real threat. Sure he looks threatening, but nothing he does never is actually threatening. He is just a political enemy for Republic.

Overall I have to say that Star Wars Episode III is definitely a lot less lazy than its predecessors. It is not as amazing as I would have liked, but it wasn't a bad movie.

Star Wars Episode III is a very fun watch.
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
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