Opening night lights out.. ROGUE ONE on the theater in front of me.. Truly a monumental show.. One of the best STAR WARS movies.. and it far exceeded FORCE AWAKENS in my opinion…
But that is my opinion.
Yesterday I posted a story about just how divisive some of the ROGUE ONE reviews have been. Some love it.. some hate it. No middle ground.
The same experience occurred last night. The group of pep[le I went to see the film with actually thought it was mediocre at best.. They loved the DARTH VADER scenes, but for the most part they chalked this up to a less than memorable movie about what happens just before THE NEW HOPE arrives..
And I thought completely different.
One of my major issues with the FORCE AWAKENS was how it seemed to almost completely rip off NEW HOPE in storyline –this time a massive death star instead of the older more modest version the Empire built– and how it relied on old characters to get it rough the movie instead of eloping new ones..
ROGUE ONE stood on its own. It made you believe in the force and gave you a few good reasons to do so. The Empire has always been similar in its storyline to Nazism. But in this film, we get a more hardcore glimpse into just how ruthless they were.. and how often disturbing the tactics the resistance was before Luke Skywalker gave them reason and morality..
ROGUE ONE, for those who had lived under a rock, is the storyline of how the Empire loses its prized possession: The plans to the death star. The rag tag group of rebels referred to in later movies is explored in depth in ROGUE ONE. It gives a face and name to the once nameless storyline. And the brilliance of it is that we did not need Yoda, or Luke Skywalker, or even Chewbacca. There were a few homages and very brief appearances to the old characters we love, but the joy I found in this movie is that I felt like I was walking a new STAR WARS movie for once! It felt creative.. it felt fresh.. it relied not on old gimmicks but instead a limitless storyline.
And my God, Darth Vader was the most merciless we have seen yet.
At one point during the film, I breathed in a big sigh and realized that I was seeing, in a theater, BRAND NEW scenes in a major movie featruring Darth Vader and James Earl Jones as the voice. How much better can that get!
Did this film had flaws? Sure..why not. But did it have any many flaws as the FORCE AWAKENS? Not to me.
ROGUE ONE is a movie STAR WARS fans deserved.. and the people who stole those death star plans certainly needed credit. Now they have it. Finally, the names are revealed and the heroes and heroines of the rebellion finally have their story told.
…indeed…I may very well be going to see this movie again.