What's wrong with:
STAR WARS
Rogue One
The question, "What's wrong?" from the title of these articles is implied. The answer in this case, with Rogue One the subject matter . . . not much.
8 total defects- Low (3), Medium (2), High (2), Severe (1). That's it.
8 total defects- Low (3), Medium (2), High (2), Severe (1). That's it.
Damn, that was a good movie. If you can remove the nostalgia, the heartwarming-familiar-comfortability factors, the first glimpsed spark of a revolutionary story playing out among the stars, which form our child-like approval of the original trilogy, especially from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back (ESB), an argument can be made that Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie. Though Return of the King, (the third, and least, of The Lord of the Rings movies) won an academy award for best picture, Rogue One is better.
Here is why:
writer writer story story director
Conversations with meaning, intensity, action, self-awareness, story development, character development with motivations, conflicted emotions, transformations. Wow.
PS- hell, conversations with inflection.
Low
2) That said, there are things I don't get. Krennic and some fancy Stormtroopers land the shuttle 500 yards from the Erso home. Not sure why. Sure, Galen Erso is the architect of the most dangerous weapon in the universe, so maybe Krennic fears Erso could have wired a boobie trap; a brief line from Krennic could have anticipated this defect: "Galen, what a warm welcome. We're expected? We walked all this way to spare my shuttle damage by your hand; we know it wouldn't have been the first time, don't we?"
N/A- not applicable to Rogue One
3) So, Krennic tells Erso: you're a "hard man to find Galen." No doubt that is true. What I doubt is that both Luke and Leia would have been as hard to find. Darth Vader didn't know there were two children, which you would think could double his chances of finding one of them. What is interesting is how Krennic can be punished for the trouble Erso could cause while employed by the empire and yet, Vader hasn't been able to find his heirs for 20-30 years and we could assume Vader and the Emperor would have been aware Vader's offspring would be even more dangerous. This probably comes down to talent versus trouble. Krennic isn't ruthlessly talented, like Vader is. Since Vader can force choke his enemies and Krennic just looks presentable in off-white clothing, Vader gets to keep his job and Krennic loses his, not to mention his life.
4) Since Krennic knew there was a child hiding away, he dispatches those fancy Stormtroopers to "look" for him, or her. The Stormtroopers are seen walking into a cave turning half way around and leaving. They looked for a threat to them less diligently than my daughters look for their easter baskets, that have reduced coloring and additive-sensitive jelly beans and ever decreasing amounts of chocolate, and this is before I invoke the dad tax (i.e. where I eat some of their chocolate because I am a paternal war-lord).
True, we can't add twenty minutes to the movie showing villains looking under bed sheets and opening closet doors, but I sense the Stormtroopers, like so many of their predecessors and, more so, their peers (as we'll find out in the next movie), didn't/can't do their jobs. In defense of those Stormtroopers, caves are a very predictable place for people to hide, so, why bother looking right? No style points for Jyn. And since the whole series of stories is set a long time ago in a galaxy far away, The Godfather Part II hadn't been filmed, so the assembled Star Wars denizens didn't have the luxury of art imitating life courtesy of the scenes where a ten year old boy escapes so he can one day exact his revenge against an Italian Don who deprived this young boy of his father. In short, not looking hard enough to find a child you acknowledge is enough of a threat to start looking for in the first place, and is a risk threatening your success is a problem. In software development, the whole reason you do quality assurance is to avoid risk.
5) The writers, story folks and director did an excellent job of introducing the characters. I always compare movies like Rogue One to The Wizard of Oz. There is a magnetic situation, or character, that requires other/secondary characters to be introduced in such a way that makes the story compelling. Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion on the way to Oz. C-3PO and R2-D2 pick up Luke, Obi-Wan, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia. In RO it is Cassian, K2-SO, Jyn, Bodhi, Chirrut and Baze. See The Fellowship of the Ring for another good example.
6) Tarkin looks much younger than he did in the original that is set the day of, or the day after, the events shown in Rogue One. I didn't actually know this was a computer generated person while watching the movie. I'm pretty dim, and also, nice job creative group. I watched the bonus features. The amount of time and money spent to get things like Tarkin, and a youthful Carrie Fischer, remotely close to the originals might be mindful of watching brain surgery, if I knew anything about either brain surgery, or the painstaking technical expertise required to bring two old dead people to life.
7) Those writing scripts and directing in a vacuum, or a silo, should take a look at the script for RO. The humor is understated, sparse, effective and natural, not forced, elaborate and Vaudevillian. Nice job K-2SO; magnificent, superb, exemplary (see #1 above)- there aren't enough superlatives for how well those people nailed the script.
8) Most any argument not featuring lunatics, morons or children is complicated. I love how RO was able to show us that there are competing viewpoints. That Cassian's views aren't Jyn's, Chirrut Imwe (blind guy/Donnie Yen) or Saw Gerrera's brings an adultness to this movie, both in intention and execution. One scene, showing all of the different leaders voicing their opinions about whether to go to war against the republic, is better done than anything in the cavernous senate of the prequel movies, with one exception, the fight between the Emperor and Yoda. Loyalties, laws, villains and heroes are far more complicated than we are led to believe by 90% of the big budget Hollywood movies, including any of Rogue One's 7 predecessors.
Here the dialogue is better, the conflict is portrayed with much better aptitude, and so the audience is more invested. The urgency is real, and the ability of the writers, story people and director to bring that urgency to life, makes it even easier, sadly, to see the flaws of the inferior movies.
9) "placed a weakness." Brilliant. This solves the major hole of the minor hole that seemed to be left so conveniently exposed. It was awfully convenient for there to be this one small weakness so that a battle station that large could be destroyed so cleanly.
Low
10) Ahhh, I don't know about being able to communicate at light speed. If you're going the speed of light, wouldn't the ability to communicate because the speed of sound travels quite a bit slower, suffer a major hit? Cassian and whatever general he's conversing with, would be unintelligible. Maybe I'm writing out of school, but the speed of light is over 300 million meters per second faster than the speed of sound. Sure, someone will think, "so, you're willing to take for granted that solid objects can move at the speed of light, but that they can't speak while doing so." Touché. And the answer to that . . . is yes, yes I am.
Low
11) Only one man- Galen Erso knows about the flaw he's implanted. I would imagine that Krennic, Tarkin, Vader, Emperor, etc. would have been keeping pretty good tabs on a space station meant to keep the power on the side of the Empire. And we know that the funding of the Empire isn't without limits- they could have paid a couple of scientists enough money to look over Erso's shoulder. Remember when the Emperor cut costs by shutting down the robot soldiers he used as pawns in episodes 1-3? Do we think that only one man (Erso) would be able to keep such a big secret with only friendly scientists who all agreed with him on his team? We can tell the Empire powers that be don't trust Erso. I've worked on a lot of teams, and usually there is at least one blowhard, malcontent, slacker or a-hole ruining the vibe or the project team's progress because they're difficult; in this case, one of those overpaid spies meant to watch Erso, is that person. I know it is just a two+ hour movie so they can't show G. Erso hiding his secret flaw under bed sheets and behind closet doors. It is because the creatives who worked on this movie did so many things well that this is only a low, and I imagine that if questioned under oath, they would have a legitimate justification.
12) We go to so many planets in RO to see the anxiety, the impact of the Empire on the rest of the known universe- Jedha, Eadu, Lah'mu, Scarif, Yavin 4. Somehow, Naboo, Coruscant, Geonosis, and Kamino aren't in the same league. Granted, we see a universe at war in RO rather than outlets as stages for skirmishes. Let's see what Edwards, the writers and those in charge of the story for RO could do for the events as portrayed in the prequels.
13) Fairly subtle looks from a blind man, contemplating the intentions, demeanor, words and actions of Cassian. Chirrut, nor his buddy, Baze Malbus, would ever have been allowed to notice any of that in the prequels.
Severe
14) the cast- a white woman, 2 Latin men, 2 Chinese men, Mon Mothma/another white woman. Galen and Krennic, Tarkin = all white men, a black man (Saw Gerrera), a couple more white generals on the Republic side and Admiral Raddus, an Admiral Ackbar stand in/Mon Calamari. So, one alien in a position of power in the whole film. What is this, Major League Baseball before Jackie Robinson? It took baseball roughly 100 years to integrate black players into the sport at a professional level. We're 41 years into Star Wars and there are precious few aliens representing all of the identified and prospective planets in the Star Wars universe. Pretty short-sighted.
There are aliens fighting with the Rebellion, but have these people never heard of the Intergalactic Rooney Rule? (Note: the Rooney Rule is an NFL Affirmative Action-like mandate that requires franchises to at least interview prospective minority coaches and general managers). Both the rebels and the empire are species racists (speecists). Finding a species minority fighting on the side of the Empire is more rare than Rian Johnson, the writer and director of TLJ, admitting he made any mistakes.
I remember an interview shortly before George W. Bush's 2nd term was coming to a close. The interviewer asked if there were any mistakes he made during his presidency. Ol' G.W. couldn't come up with one. Boy are we in for a treat, when Johnson doubles down on the obvious mistakes of his last offering when he gets three times the chances in an upcoming trilogy where he has creative control. Oh boy. I've already found 7 defects and I haven't even started looking at his requirements, that is, if he even comes up with requirements. Requirements are prescriptions for key pieces of functionality that a software development team is directed to successfully deliver to the business people who are paying for them. Requirements identify where a text box should display and where a drop down selection field should appear.
Note: I read that Abrams admitted he made at least one mistake when he didn't think to have Leia (wife, or lover) and Chewbacca (best friend) console each also after Han's death in TFA; the former, Leia, bypassed the latter, Chewie so that we see two human's grieve (Leia and Rey), rather than including a Wookie/alien in the commiseration; what's the problem, did Chewie not show enough despair with his groan as the door on Hoth seemed to seal Han's fate? This admission leaves me somewhat hopeful, with Abrams at the helm for episode IX.
15) Jedha, home of the Jedi- the same crystals that power lightsabers, beget the destruction caused by the Death Star. This is the kind of juxtaposition, the kind of irony that is always a good component of successful movies.
16) An enemy (G. Erso) who Krennic was looking for for a long time, lies inert on a platform. Do you go back and finish him or get to the safety of your bitchin' ride? Maybe you don't make it off if you elect to do the former. I can see this either way.
17) Vader! Just the right amount.
18) References are made to "the Jedi", the Clone Wars and Princess Leia. So, it is possible to tie events and people from all sets of movies together in an artistic and meaningful way. This is similar to Yoda and the original recording of Princess Leia's plea for Obi-Wan making appearances in TLJ. I don't think that paying homage to other movies should be an exception, or a rule, unless you're going to do right by it.
19) The predictable line, this time about to be spoken by a droid: "I've got a bad feeling . . ." is interrupted. They even got that right, which shows a self-awareness missing from the two completed new trilogy movies.
20) And here, good guys die.
21) I think it is important to leave that line by itself. In defense of the creative types leading the trilogy movies, it is easier to kill off all of the main characters when you know there aren't two more movies in the planning stages. Yes, theoretically, there would be planning, where the writers and directors speak to each other about which ways the events might take the characters, which characters die, which ones have meaningful back stories, which ones have actual back stories, which directors know what a back story is, which actors can act, which ones aren't aliens, which ones are ulta-multicultural, etc. RO has a different feel. Instead of Rogue ONE, it is very much the ROGUE one. It being to this point the only stand-alone, it is Rogue in that way, and its merits may well keep it so, if it is compared to most of the completed movies to date.
Problem with this is that in franchises where 3 to 4 to 7 movies were made, it is almost always the first that is groundbreaking, inventive, fresh and different. It gains the benefit, like a revolution, of sneaking up on people, shocking them into a level of awareness of possibilities, and unlike a revolution, an appreciation, depending on what side you're on, that its sequels/counter-revolutions can't reach. That is why it has been so disappointing to see The Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens fail on so many levels. The promise of a new way of looking at things became, in the case of TPM, too much politicizing, a weak script and horrible directing, and in The Force Awakens, the wholesale theft of Star Wars' whole story.
22) When the rebel ships start flying over the palm trees and beaches of Skariff, my friends in the theater and my son and I, all start looking at each other, with smiles and nonverbals where we're telling each other, "hell, yes! They're doing it." They got it right. Because of what had already taken place in the movie, and the promise of things to come, they have done a great job of converting a well written script and a tremendous story onto film.
23) K-2SO: "Your behavior, Jyn Erso, is continually unexpected." That is a complement. In fairness and worthy of commendation, it could have been said of Anakin Skywalker, or Padme, Han Solo, Princess Leia or R2-D2, or Kylo Ren. The writers, directors, story people and other creative people can deliver an unpredictable masterpiece, and Rogue One is proof of that.
High
24) Admiral Raddus, another rare example of an alien in a position of leadership. Defect level of high, not because they have an alien in a leadership position, but because the aliens in positions of power across all of the Star Wars films have few peers with comparable DNA (i.e. alien DNA). This exception points out the faults with the general rule, to which all of the creatives seem oblivious.
25) Chirrut Imwe's (blind Donnie Yen), brave and deliberate march through bullets to help free up the method that will enable the transfer of plans of the Death Star flaw, reminds me of the scene from Dances with Wolves where an unarmed Costner rides with arms flung back, christ-like, begging to be put out of his misery. The motivations are different, the risks are certainly different, as Chirrut was more valuable to the effort alive, and Costner really had no motive other than to die, but the willingness to sacrifice their lives is the same.
Medium
26) It doesn't occur to Darth Vader, who eliminates 15-20 rebels in the hall of a Star Destroyer, to use the force to spirit away a small disk from the hands of mortals playing the most famous fictional version of a relay race we've seen on film. Considering how full of vengeance he was just shown to be, I'm surprised.
27) RO is a war movie. So, when all of the main characters are dead at the end of it, in order to deliver the stolen plans for a planet killer to those who can prevent the Death Star from performing its designed purpose, I'm pleased that the toll paid is the ultimate sacrifice for all of them. The first time we watch Saving Private Ryan we don't know all the names of the 8 men dispatched to the fields, farmhouses and villages of France to find the last of four brothers fighting in WWII. We don't know the tens and hundreds of thousands and millions of names of men and women who sacrificed their lives to take hills, to capture forts, overrun trenches and bunkers, stop tanks, sink ships and outmaneuver enemy fighter pilots spanning a couple hundred years of American history. They were unselfish, brave, anonymous soldiers who died for their time, and for those who would come after them.
Bonus Features
High
Doug Chiang, an artist and film designer on RO, stated that John Knoll, the writer/story resource who
came up with the idea of RO, told him to come up with 2 aliens to include in the small band of rebels
that would steal the Death Star plans. 2 Latino and 2 Chinese men, 1 robot and one English woman.
No aliens.
came up with the idea of RO, told him to come up with 2 aliens to include in the small band of rebels
that would steal the Death Star plans. 2 Latino and 2 Chinese men, 1 robot and one English woman.
No aliens.
Someone speaks these words- "diverse group of characters" in reference to the small brand of rebels.
Again, 5 human beings and 1 robot, in a world so supremely populated with freaks, is another miss.
I begin to wonder if the creatives are politicians, who minored in film, who keep repeating the same
things to themselves with the idea they're practicing stomaching the delusion they'll eventually try to
feed to other people. Mr. Abrams and Mr. Johnson- take note.
Again, 5 human beings and 1 robot, in a world so supremely populated with freaks, is another miss.
I begin to wonder if the creatives are politicians, who minored in film, who keep repeating the same
things to themselves with the idea they're practicing stomaching the delusion they'll eventually try to
feed to other people. Mr. Abrams and Mr. Johnson- take note.
All of the characters die. That was worthy of repetition if only because then Jyn and Cassian's love,
isn't a subplot featured in the sequel. Very, very few movies in the history of film avoid touching upon
the idea that two characters are in love, whether that is unrequited, forbidden, realized, animal magnetism,
seeking, desperate, or fulfilling love. Tiresome. Other than two people holding each other about to be
annihilated, there isn't the hint of a love story. The movie is the better for it.
isn't a subplot featured in the sequel. Very, very few movies in the history of film avoid touching upon
the idea that two characters are in love, whether that is unrequited, forbidden, realized, animal magnetism,
seeking, desperate, or fulfilling love. Tiresome. Other than two people holding each other about to be
annihilated, there isn't the hint of a love story. The movie is the better for it.
This last part should feel like the scene from My Cousin Vinny, where Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei)
is explaining to Vinny LaGuardia (Joe Pesci) about a little baby dear's prospective reaction to the coat
Vinny is wearing when he shoots the doe in the head:
is explaining to Vinny LaGuardia (Joe Pesci) about a little baby dear's prospective reaction to the coat
Vinny is wearing when he shoots the doe in the head:
I watched bonus vignettes where actors spoke about the grueling, but rewarding physical demands of
filming the movie; how excited actors were to be working on a Star Wars film; how enthralled the creative
group was to have a hand in shaping the events of the story; how thrilled the set designers, prop design,
costume and makeup people were about the perfect details of aging clothing, stucco walls in a battle-worn
city; how all that work . . . BAM!!! doesn't mean SHIT if the writer, director, and creative story development
team don't have a god-damned idea about how to logically AND emotionally treat the subject matter, nor
how to show a diverse set of characters dealing with tragic events in productive or nihilistic, rewarding
and mythical ways.
filming the movie; how excited actors were to be working on a Star Wars film; how enthralled the creative
group was to have a hand in shaping the events of the story; how thrilled the set designers, prop design,
costume and makeup people were about the perfect details of aging clothing, stucco walls in a battle-worn
city; how all that work . . . BAM!!! doesn't mean SHIT if the writer, director, and creative story development
team don't have a god-damned idea about how to logically AND emotionally treat the subject matter, nor
how to show a diverse set of characters dealing with tragic events in productive or nihilistic, rewarding
and mythical ways.
I have to imagine that all the supporting staff, hair, makeup, set design, actors, artists, may have worked
just as hard on the prequel movies, and the sequel trilogy movies, and there efforts are in vain because the
more noticeable parts (the script, direction, story and acting) screwed up the audience's overall appreciation.
just as hard on the prequel movies, and the sequel trilogy movies, and there efforts are in vain because the
more noticeable parts (the script, direction, story and acting) screwed up the audience's overall appreciation.
So, I gotta ask ya, (channeling Miss Vito) if you're sittin' there ready to appreciate all of that hard work,
would you care what the self-important, oblivious, over-confident creative types who can't admit their
mistakes are wearin'!?
would you care what the self-important, oblivious, over-confident creative types who can't admit their
mistakes are wearin'!?
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