I think part of the reason why Rogue One is remembered so fondly is that it gets prgoressively better as the movie goes on. Like you point out, acts I and II are kind of weak to mediocre... but my god that third act is a banger! The battle on the ground, the battle in space, the struggles the characters are going through... and all of that is crowned by Vader's hallway scene. It all comes together in a perfect climax.
Well they re-shot the third act so maybe they should have re-shot the first two as well. Either way it’s substantially better than any other prequel or sequel imo
Something that's always bugged me. In Rogue One (set just before ANH), two stormtroopers are talking: th-cam.com/video/8Rl_LMKv-sw/w-d-xo.html "Hey, did you hear the rumors?" "Yeah, the T-15s have been marked obsolete." "Oh, boy. It's about time for that." ...which implies the T-16 that Luke Skywalker referenced is a top-of-the-line vehicle, instead of some decades old crop duster which makes sense with where Luke was at.
@@shazmosushi they should have said, "The T-17s are marked obsolete." So Luke's is two generations behind the current market and possibly Uncle Owen's old flyer that he just let sit collecting dust until Luke was old enough to make it operational to fly for fun.
@@shazmosushi I don't think this is necessarily true. For example, we might take the newest iPhone (the 7) unsupported by the current OS to be "obsolete." That doesn't mean the iPhone 8 is a top of the line smartphone just because it isn't "obsolete" yet. It could be that the latest T-X is the T-20 or something.
Hot take - I also think that the first two acts lack much character development, but the gritty, realistic, guerrilla style of the movie results in an almost documentary feel that makes these characters appear more authentic than from any other Disney Star Wars movie. So it’s actually MORE believable that we DON’T see every character’s arc because in real life, people don’t make their inner struggle obvious for a camera; they keep it inside. And only under extreme circumstances, such as Rogue One’s third act, that a hint of their inner struggle reveals itself. And that’s why this movie is unique and the best Disney Star Wars movie for me. Love the video essays - please keep them coming!
My take is the hot one (especially in a nest of fanboys). Rogue One is pure garbage. I just watched it before YT suggested this video. Pointless, pure, idiotic garbage.
Jyn didn't really lack character development though, you could argue for the rest but it can be said that their characters were already established. And at the end, only Baze had considerable character development the most followed by Bodhi and Cassian. Chirrut didn't really had character development because he didn't need one as much and K2SO is a droid much like 3Po and R2.
This is truly the most well-received Disney *_Star Wars_* movie by far. It was *_The Force Awakens_* at first but time has not been kind to TFA, and rightfully so.
Nah, regardless of what you think in TLJ or TROS let’s at least give TFA the credit it deserves, it’s a very solid beginning to a trilogy that was wasted by a lack of planning
@@benefistben7844 it destroyed everything in the previous movies, no new stort at all just a rip off of a new hope. they should have done a new story maybe starting with lukes new jedi order and a new threat comming or whatever
True. I always thought that the plan for the sequel trilogy was TFA is the tribute, TLJ is the deconstructor and EP9 is the reconstructor. Ultimately though, Rogue One is the best final product of the five Disney movies out there. Which is a shame because while I like concepts and some ideas and scenes from the sequel trilogy, it just doesn’t all mesh together.
The follow ups to TFA definitely did the movie itself a massive disservice. TFA was a setup movie to give arcs to the sequels and the sequels never followed through with any of the arcs leaving the questions posed in TFA unanswered or meaningless
It was cool they died since I really don’t like the Disney characters at all. If I had it my way, I would have done that in every Disney Star Wars movie and not killed off the original cast
@@Salamander676 Just because when this film came out when star wars was already disney doesn't make them automatically 'disney characters'. This film had a decent director and the writing wasn't dogshit etc like the sequels
@@hypeuprise7026 you know what I mean. Every other disney Star Wars project has been plagued by the same problems and it’s because of the cheap, lazy dumbasses at disney
Rey was a massive wasted opportunity. All of the sequel trilogy was. The start of TFA was great: we've got this scrappy scavenger who knows how to survive and fix stuff, we've got this brilliant fighter pilot/secret operative looking for the missing Luke Skywalker, and then there's this stormtrooper who mysteriously broke his programming. How? Did he feel his buddy die through the force? And then the pilot vanishes from the story, the stormtrooper turns into comic relief, and Rey has to carry everything, but without anything resembling a character arc. And the even trilogy as a whole lacked a point. Why did the First Order exist? What is this fight even about? Because there's barely any mention of a galaxy outside of the Resistance and the First Order, and their basis is itself questionable. Poor world building, poor storytelling, poor character development. It's just a random bag of garbage. They just went in hoping to recreate Star Wars. And that's it: it's fan fiction, and poorly written fan fiction at that.
Isn't that the point with Jynn? She's passive to start with but active when it's important? That was Padme in the Phantom Menace. Up until after the Senate hearing, she is passive, everybody else makes decisions for her (Qui-Gon, politicians), but the moment Padme becomes active, things start going her way, she saves her people.
Completely agree. He forgets that she made the choice to go to scariff when the rebel leadership said no. And others followed her leadership in that key decisive moment. It really isn’t so different from Luke. He wasn’t going to do anything to help Obi Wan until circumstances changed him into marketing the decisions, to wit, the death of he’s aunt and uncle.
The criticism comes from the fact that her character changing from "I just wanna save my papa, I don't care about the rebellion" to giving inspiring speeches about how "rebellions are built on hope" is completely unearned. The death of her father is the only event that changes her character in this movie, (killed by rebel alliance bombers btw) and it wasn't enough to completely 180 her belief system from a selfish daddy's girl into a heroic rebel leader. The movie forcefully changes her character to flow with the plot. It's enough to keep people entertained on their first viewing, but if you rewatch the movie you can feel how messy the pacing and character development are.
@@Nivomandasrail I disagree. It's not a 180 completely out of left field. She learns her father has devoted the rest of his life to planting a flaw in the empires largest control tool. If she did nothing, then he worked all those years and died for nothing. If anything she's honouring her father's legacy by taking a stance.
Rogue One is incredible. It’s also proof that people will love a female lead if they are written well. Jyn Erso is great! And I loved the entire cast. The Vader scene is just the best cherry on top.
I don't undertand why you present Jyn being a passive protagonist for the first act as a negative when that is part of her arc. The wole point of her arc is she is only going along with all this becauce she is forced to, at this point in the story she has grown disillusioned with the rebel cause, she no longer cares. This is pretty blatantly was her arc is abut, I mean look at this exange between her and Saw: Saw Gerrera: So what is it that you want, Jyn? Jyn Erso: They wanted an introduction, they've got it. I'm out now. Rest of you can do what you want. Saw Gerrera: You care not about the cause? Jyn Erso: The cause? Seriously? The Alliance? The rebels? Whatever it is you’re calling yourselves these days? All it’s ever brought me is pain. Saw Gerrera: You can stand to see the Imperial flag reign across the galaxy? Jyn Erso: It's not a problem if you don't look up. After that she is shown the hologram of her father and she begins to care again and after that she's an active protagonist. Edit: I paused the video to write this and when I continued to watch you broguht up this exact point. Now I'm even more confused as to why you presented this as a negative in the begining.
Yes, you're exactly right - she is passive because of her apathy, and she goes along with stuff because she really doesn't care! Some of this Gold Man's criticisms really don't make sense.
I was genuinely excited for this movie back in the day especially when almost every day we had a new teaser trailer or TV spot. It was a nice break to have away from space wizards and cowboys in helmets for a change and just see real people not gifted in the force or carried light sabers but still banded together to fight for the greater good at all costs. Even though it didn't have the kind of things we're used to seeing in Star Wars but it still paid homage and honored the fundamental lessons and themes that are the bread and butter, Good vs evil, family, love and sacrifice and great characters.
Rogue One is the only Disney movie that felt like it was trying to connect with the original Star Wars movies. The rest of the Disney movies tried to re-invent Star Wars, in some of them characters literally tell the audience to "burn down the past" and replace it with something different. But Rogue One is a love letter to the first movie, all it wants is to be part of Star Wars, it doesn't want to burn down the old Star Wars and replace it.
"burn down the past, destroy it" (I don't remember the exact quote) is actually said by kylo ren (the bad guy). the good guys are more "moderated" shall we say because they rather say "remember the past and learn from it"
@@shervinemohammadi8386 In fact, Yoda also sets fire to Luke's books, Yoda also burns down the past. Burning down the past is 100% the theme of the movie, for both the "good" and "bad" characters. And when Kylo says "burn down the past," he says that TO Rey, and she agrees with him because a moment later she joins forces with him and they noticably burn down the room they are in. It is very, very clearly the films intention that both the hero and the villain agree that they should burn down the past.
@@William-the-Guy no, yoda sets fire to the tree that housed the books but since he's a force ghost he knew that rey took them before leaving the planet (she did). kylo does say "burn down the past" to rey but she doesn't agree, he only says that after he killed snoke and they dealt with the praetorian guards. he barely says anything to her while taking her to snoke because he knew snoke would be watching/listening since snoke was the one that bridged their minds for the scenes where we see kylo and rey talking to each other from a distance. she also does not agree nor join forces with him since it would mean abandonning her friends that were threatened by the first order (at that point of the movie they were making a "run" for crait in transports). the throne room wasn't actually burned by them but accidentally by the blade of a praetorian guard. so, "burning the past" is the theme of the movie only for its bad guy.
@@shervinemohammadi8386 Luke spends the entire movie saying the Jedi need to die. The movie is all about severing ties to the past. It is not only a "bad guy theme" instead it is something the movie comes back to and repeats again and again, in many ways. Finding the books in the very last shot doesn't undo hours of saying how bad they were and how they should be gotten rid of. It felt like a weird last-minute edit when Disney belated realized everyone would hate the movie if they stuck with it. It was just a few seconds. Look, if you liked that movie, fine. Have fun. But you are twisting around what happened to fit a narrative that's just not true. The move was all about severing ties to the past. Even the title "Last Jedi" was about that. It was clearly the film makers intent to talk about that idea, it was NOT just something bad guys said.
@@William-the-Guy The same luke that in his last scene litteraly tells kylo ren "I will not be the last jedi". It has a bit of "severing ties to the past" but it isn't out right about "burning it", the bad guy wants to burn the past, the good guys want to learn from it. The books aren't "found" "in the very last shot", just because they are shown after yoda burns the tree doesn't mean it was a "weird last minute edit" but rather that it was in the script. Yes I liked the movie. I am not twisting what happened around to fit a narrative anymore than you are. Yes, it was something the bad guy said, no the idea wasn't entirely to sever ties to the past but to point out what should be learnt from it. Rewatch the movie as I did recently.
As a general rule I hate passive characters and think it is a aign of lazy storytelling, but in the case of Jyn Erso in the first act I think this is actually a brilliant move that reflects her character, enhances her arc, and plays into the themes of the movie. In the first act she is a passive character because she is herself passive and indifferent to what is gappening around her. She feels her father abandoned her to work for the same empire that killed her mother, and was left to be rescued by a man who tried to radicalize her into a tool and weapon for a cause that was itself a reflection of the empire itself (destructive and indifferent to the consequences of its own actions) and to leave that to find the galaxy itself is itself generally indifferent to it all, you can see why she just doesn't care about any of it. Her comment "it's not a problem if you don't look up" perfectly encapsulates this. She just doesn't care. She doesn't think her choices make a difference so she just doesn't bother to make them. She is in pure survivor mode and is completely resigned to simply adapting to whatever situation she is in. The plot drives her rather than the other way around because that is how she is living. She is not engaged, she is not driving her own life. She is merely drifting. That starts to change when she sees her father's message and the sheer destructiveness and indifference of the empire by their use of the death star. She starts to increasingly make choices, to drive the plot. In the end it is her that pushes the rebellion to do something. It is her that decides to act on her own and lead the fight. She drives the plot completely, and has a complete arc. And I don't agree that she was committed to fighting for the rebellion before her father's message or before his death. Prior to Eadu she was committed to not going back to prison so was doing what she had to do. Again, this was a character who was not exercising any agency. Her father's message and the destruction of Jedda forced her to re-evaluate many assumptions she made, and made all the weight of what she had lost and the direction she allowed herself to go come crashing down on her. In the end I don't think she fights because she is a true believer, she does it because she finally understands what's at stake and she can no longer sit by and do nothing. Yes, it's a character jump, but those things tend to happen when your understanding and assumptions about your world and life are completrly turned upside down and demolished. She, quite simply, realizes in an instant how wrong she is and how her apathetic attitudes are what allows these things to happen both personally and at the galaxtic level, and decides she has to change. She can't be a passive drifter anymore. She claims her own agency and starts to act. So yes, in general passive charcters and character motivation jumps are not good storytelling, but in this case they work wonderfully. She absolutely has a comple, compelling, and earned character arc. BTW I do think you need that scene with Vader an Krennic on Mustafar. Without it, we don't get the insight about Krennic we need to make his later actions and demise pay off, but you need to get Vader involved in the story so when he arrives at Scarif you're not asking why he is there. Vader at Scarif is the payoff for the setup on Mustafar.
So agree. Reluctant heroes is a theme of this movie and andor. It’s a reflection of reality. People don’t plan on sacrificing their life to revolution, it happens and then they step up. This movie is brilliant.
Great video! I think your critique of Jyn is exactly what makes her a good character. In the beginning she truly is a "passive character" in the story because of her apathetic nature and she is a passive character in the story structure because she does not move the plot forward. Towards the end of the movie she transitions into an "active character" because she decides to change the course of history as apposed to just being a part of it and she is an active character in the story structure because she now moves the plot forward.
I think Chirut and baze (are they spelled like this?) are important to know somebody in the ground battle on scarif. Otherwise you just see random rebels fighting and sacrificing. Not as strong as people we spent a good chunk of the movie with.
Yep. Plus they're just FUN characters to spend time with. Sometimes that's enough, and then, as you say, watching them in battle, and dying, becomes so poignant. Maybe they're not essential to the plot story, but they are essential to the emotional story.
@@erinm9445 exactly, i don’t understand why some people think everything in a movie has to serve the greater message in a grand way. sometimes enjoyable characters are enough and they enhance the experience tenfold
@@estaextrana8486 And he was monk at the temple, which empire destroyed. Him trusting force fits universe well. Especially when we consider fact he is blind - without faith in force he would be just homeless guy
I’ve always felt that Jyn Erso being passive in the first act carries a lot of weight; that’s who she was most of her life, an capable individual swept up in the tide of the Galaxy without agency except in where she could run next. Her final stand and shift to an active protagonist is the realization of who she was always meant to be but lacked the belief to do so.
I actually rewatched this movie recently and was just as happy watching it as when it released. It’s not a perfect movie, but has so many great shots and screen-saver worthy visuals. The characters are fine, but having a ground-level war movie in the universe of Star Wars was pretty much what I wanted from this IP.
Andor killing off the informant at the beginning likely also saved that guy from some pretty horrendous torture from the Empire, not to mention preventing that information from falling into the Empire's hands. Baze & Chirrut introduce the mystical side of Star Wars that'd have otherwise been all but missing from this movie. Chirrut's unwavering faith & Baze's reluctant loyalty to his friend that ultimately yields to his original faith in The Force reinforce the thematic elements of the movie. The events on Eadu solidify Jyn's desire to help the Rebellion. Prior to her father's death she's just going through the motions in order to clear her record & win her freedom. Losing him & realizing the sacrifices he made gives her a bigger purpose than just running & keeping her head down. Personally, Galen's message to Jyn was one of the weakest moments in the film for me. It serves as an info dump & is the worst offender of the rule "show don't tell" in the entire movie.
There's no question about it. The guy verbally says he has a bad leg and can't escape. Andor kills him to prevent the empire from interrogating him, and finding out about the defector.
@@TraceguyRune Considering Darth Vader's horrible torture methods, I totaly understand him. Being Vader's prisoner was worse than death from what I've heard.
No what?? His message was heartbreaking and a perfect way to get us the information fast. It made sense to the plot and was warranted. Greay writing all around
Over the years RogueOne has become my favorite StarWars Movie. I think it is one of the best sequel-movies that build upon an already established franchise and timeline, introduces new elements and at the same time honors the content that came before (even correcting some "mistakes" like the fact that it was very dumb that a Station as big as a small moon could be destroyed through a single shot). On the other hand, the visuals are simply outstanding. What stands out most to me is how every ship that is destroyed in this movie doesn't simply blow up in a fancy explosion but first gets damaged in a specific spot (for example one engine catching fire) and then gets destroyed because of that (for example by going of course into a rock) Next, I really love the dialog in this as it is very precise, has many quotable lines and also many "interesting" sentences. One that always stood out to me was Krennic saying: "Oh, it's Beautiful" when the DeathStar destroyed an entire city including the surrounding area because the shot we see while he says it IS BEAUTIFUL and you do feel the same but at the same time you remember that they just killed an entire population of a city and the city with all its culture. I personally also really like the first act because I always liked stories with multiple storylines completely disconnected from each other in the beginning which slowly cross each other to create a final story (another huge franchise where mostly one movie did this was Harry Potter with the first Fantastic Beasts, another "spin-off" I personally like as much if not more than any other movie of that franchise). I think you can at least understand the general story fine when watching it the first time but when the storyline finally comes together as one it is very rewarding, and you get a lot more out of it when watching it again afterwards. I think the actors all did an amazing job with their roles. When it comes to characters this is of course a single movie with many characters, so characterization is not as strong but I have always appreciated the variety of main characters in this movie and how at least most of them have a small story-arc of their own. I think the music in this movie is extremely good and (I know I will get hate for this) in my opinion while there is nobody better at writing Themes than John Williams, I personally always felt like other Composers and Producers could make the better final product with his themes (at least in most cases, there are a few John Williams scores nobody could have done better) and here again is one where I think this is true. Sure, Giaccino didn't create a new theme and borrowed heavily from Williams, but the end-product is non-the-less in my opinion one of the best StarWars Scores and the "Your Father Would Be Proud"-Score is probably in my top StarWars Scores of all time. I think it is pretty well done how this is integrated into the wider Canon as Rebels was produced as an animated series at the same time and they have connected this to Rebels while both were produced quite clever, showing a bit of Backstory to some characters, actions and events while not ramming it in your face so that people not invested in lore can completely ignore it. This is how a franchise should handle world-building in my opinion. ... That were just some of the reasons for me why Rogue One right now is on top of my personal StarWars Movie List
I would love it if they made “Rogue One:” their franchise for one-shot inconsequential stories like this, on all sides of the war/s and throughout any times
@@spacekitt.n agreed - I think they missed a trick with Mad Max, they could've made a similarly related/non-related series of movies about various "Max's" during the times after the collapse of society It can be men, women, children, pets etc named Max and that's the only thing they share other than the world they're in.
Wait the new trilogy was one coherent story? I guess so..... really they should've had the Emperor in the last one tell Rey n co how he was into costumes n cosplay and how he was actuality a bunch of background characters to link it all up.
@@TheUltimateWriterNZ Baby Yoda, Andor's mom, the tree at the Jedi temple.... all Palpertine in 🥸 disguise. Did I mention I'm a script writer for Bad Robot? Wait no.... did i tell you I am in writer room as a writer for bad robot!!!
I'm an old guy that grew up with the original trilogy. I never thought I'd get a SW movie that dethroned them as my personal favorite. Rogue One did it, and I don't always know how I feel about that.
Plot-Wise, Eadu serves the purpose of them getting a ride. The ship the crew steals from Eadu is what gets Rogue One through the shield gate. It being "diverted" from Eadu is important to the missions success. Also I wouldn't call what happens to Jynn or Bruce a "character jump", it's more of a realisation. Batman realises that Clark is more human than the rest of them, having Human parents with Human names (as opposed to an Alien name), it's an "Oh crap, he's just like me" moment. Jynns reasons for apathy dissolve as she realises she wasn't abandoned for nothing. But it will have been for nothing if the mission doesn't succeed. These "I was wrong" moments definitely call for an immediate 180 degree turn.
The theme of sacrifice ties together so well with the speech from Andor series: "What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see."
My God the song that plays too at the end of the battle of scarif is peak. When Andor asks "do you think anyone is listening" i feel this is an underrated line for the reasons talked about in the video. They die not knowing if they succeeded but they had hope. Rebellions are built on hope.
I actually like that Jyn is very passive in the first part of the movie because that's what she is, she is passive to what is happening to her and the galaxy, she doesn't care who wins as long as they leave her alone, she just feels empty. it reads very much like depression, like she has just given up on life and things just happen to her, she doest't make things happen. until she does. that's why i like her so much, she was able to find that spark in herself that made her fight. i'm sure she has never felt more alive than when she was so close to her death. before it didn't care, she didn't care, she didn't have a purpose. well, now she has it, she can fight, and man does she fight. I love her.
I really like how this movie added so much to the Empire as a military faction. So many new troopers where introduced that where a welcoming addition like the Death Troopers and the Beach Troopers. Also the battle of Scarif was amazing. It's on the same caliber as the battles from the prequels.
Rogue One is the perfect Star Wars movie for me. Every single part of it brought out all of my emotions, from Cassian’s first kill to Galen’s holo-message to the ending scene, I loved it all, I wouldn’t change any of it even if I had the power to
I understand your point about Jyn not being developed from girl to criminal, but I doubt that’s the part of her life the writers WANTED to develop. They wanted to work on her transition from criminal to hero, and they did that to perfection. Oh, and the battle of scarif is the best SW battle NO DOUBT!
Yeah, this movie is not about that development of hers and just not about that time in general. And I think it's weird that he complained of the lack of character development and then showed how it could've been done ... by comparing it to 2 full size trilogies that have all the time in the world to make an entire movie for their origin. Rogue One just doesn't have that time and quite honestly I don't care about that time in her life. She was getting by with illegal stuff and was on her own ... that's enough information to establish where she's coming from and from which point she's going to continue, change and develop. I like this video but there are some odd points, IMO
I'm on the fence about Jyn's character arc vs a character jump. On the surface, it may seem sudden, BUT I do feel it was earned. As we learned in Act One, it wasn't simply that she lost her parents, but she was left behind by Saw who was so in love with his big cause (and wasn't really a father). She had been deserted and not actually engaged or invited along to anything for the majority of her life - not in a way that personally connected. Then as she sees a message from her dad, being the hero she saw him as when she was a child, expressing hopes for her, passing along something he was fighting for/ against, it was like she was finally able to see a purpose in everything and someone finally invited her to be apart of this rebellion... or rather she finally had a reason and the rebellion was her personal fight, her legacy, her identity. Being his daughter wasn't something she had to hid from or reject or regret. Her father didn't just join the Empire and her mother didn't die for nothing. They didn't just hide away and then hid her. The fight was still going on and now it was her turn to take part - to be like her parents and the man who raised her. The hiding wasn't for the purpose of surviving but for the purpose of resisting. AND her father was still hiding in plain sight AND still resisting every way he can. She had hope of getting her father back, she had reason to make him proud, she no longer felt abandoned or dragged along. The rebellion was personal for her. Plus, I feel she deeply wants to redeem her father's name - and who she thought she was because of him. And maybe her father's words to the pilot - "It's not too late to do what is right with your life" - also spoke to Jyn. I do agree that she could've and should've gotten mad at the rebellion. They killed her dad, and Saw who raised her didn't believe in working with the rebellion. That change would've made things interesting, but then what would be the reason that she chooses to get over her anger and work with the rebellion? Would this be the time that Chirrut and Baze Malbus earned their place on the team by saying and demonstrating something that would make her see things differently and choose to fight FOR the Rebellion. I mean she has reasons to fight AGAINST the Empire, but still could use a reason to fight FOR them after what they did.
What option did she have but trying to work with the rebellion? Time was of the essence. And she didn't end up working with rebellion anyway, she tried to convince them, she failed. But then Andor led a bunch of people to break ranks and do it anyway. It was Andor that Jyn placed her trust in, and that trust was earned through the events of the movie. I do agree that we should see her be angry at the rebellion though, especially for killing her father. Maybe it would have been more in character for her to never try to convince the rebellion and only to convince Andor---but I don't think he would have gone for it until he saw the rebellion say no and fold.
One of the reasons why this movie is fondly remembered is because it is perhaps the only Disney Star Wars film that was a good movie. It has the feel of A New Hope, it is gritty and it actually shows ground combat in a realistic way, none of the characters in this movie are established, so Kennedy did not have an opportunity to ruin them or send them in an unrealistic direction.
I think several of the criticisms laid out here about Jyn's character development (no backstory, few actives decisions) are based on thinking of Rogue One as a different kind of movie than it is. It is not a heroic epic in the same mold as the other Star Wars films. It is a war story, and one of the most powerful resonating themes for me is that people can just get caught up in a war, with very little control or agency over their situation, and yet can still make powerful choices from that position of vulnerability.
Leonard Church from Red vs Blue put it best. "There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero never gets to see that ending. They’ll never know if their sacrifice actually made any difference. They’ll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. Ain't that a bitch?"
To this day, the ending of the trailer with the heavy orchestral hits and the Star Destroyer alarm blaring, damn. That gave me more chills than any other star wars trailer. It told me this movie was going to be more serious than previous films. I still love this movie.
Honestly if it wasn’t for somewhat two dimensional-ish characters. The bouncing forth from different planets without getting to know that (except on repeat viewings) place well. Plus a few other minor problems here and there. This would one of my favorite Star Wars movies in the franchise!
In all fairness the characters are two dimensional so you don’t get too attached to them before they die. It felt like a dream come true! I remember wanting them badly to kill them off. I don’t like Jyn or Cassian in this movie but they made Cassian more 3 dimensional in the andor series I mainly can’t stand Jyn cause her teeth are so damn distracting
@@Salamander676 xD Let's remember how they died: Jyn smiled at Cassian and said, "Look, the nuke is approaching. We're finally done with that movie." Prime acting.
@@nightmareTomek the last thing you see before they blow up is the flash of the explosion reflect off of jynn's big-ass over florescent gapped teeth Probably the only thing capable of surviving a nuclear Death Star
One thing I think nobody else comments about in this movie is the Monk character. Don't recall his name. Don't really recall anyones name, to be honest. But the idea behind him was interesting. He was clearly force sensistive, yet grew up in an era without the Jedi. And yet he knew of them, and knew what they were like in a general sense, and so developed his own form of Force use. It was weak, underdeveloped, and primitive... but it's also exactly what you'd expect to happen. I really would like to follow more force sensitives learning to use their powers without proper instructions. It's a cool idea.
Excellent analysis. This type of commentary is why I wish we had the original cut edition of Rogue one. It was supposed to be darker, grittier, and I would have loved that. Rogue one is still good though!
I have to imagine including Bazz and Chirrut was important to the old school Lucasfilm employees who had a general idea of where Lucas wanted to take the films before it was sold to Disney. The Whills was an important concept to him that Disney wanted no part of.
What's odd is I think the TFA novelization mentions the Journal of the Whills in its prologue. When I first heard that detail back in 2015 or so I thought we might actually hear more about them in the subsequent films. I'd definitely love to read George's treatments for his sequel trilogy.
I would give just about anything to hear more about the Whills...if Disney really wants to wring out the Star Wars franchise for all they can get, then they should probably think about maybe doing a spin off or even just a series of episodes within another spin off that goes into more detail....I would LOVE to watch ANYTHING about the Whills; Jedha and the Guardians, and the Temple, anything.
I liked Rogue One, and I am enjoying Andor for the same reason: It felt and looked like Star Wars, it was respectful to the lore and it didnt damage any charachters. It expands the galaxy and shows us something other than the Skywalker Saga. Both the movie and the show show us the ugly side of the rebellion too... the criminal terrorist side. Its very real in that portrayal, and alowed us to see the rebels as something other than white hat good guys, and the Empire as more than just Evil Personified. That there's more going on in both the Rebellion and the Empire and it doesn't all revolve around Jedi and Sith. The Rebellion was technically a criminal organization and had to do some shady things to operate. Andor is really good at showing how rebellions are messy and dangerous, and the Empire for the most part is just a government doing its job. And through terrorist acts, the Empire was driven to the iron fisted crackdown that inevitably motivated the galaxy to band together under a single organized rebel force... and that it was deliberately taunted out of them by rebel elements... by Mon Mothma herself. They force the Empire to hurt people, to wake them up so they all stand up. Rouge One and Andor are less Disney, less fairy tale, less "history as written by the winners" than the entire Star Wars movie Saga. I have read a lot of Star Wars literature, some directly relevant to the Skywalker Saga and some about seconday charachters and some that are merely in the same galaxy with only minor references to the events of the movies. And the 'good' ones are good because aside from being well written, they feel like Star Wars. It felt like something that could really happen in the world Lucas created, and they portray that world in a believable way. The Disney Sequels especially feel like complete fantasy. Like its certainly a fictional hero tale. They make the force out to be legit all-powerful magic without limits. They have a single warriro turning the tide of a major battle. Everything works out for everyone and they all get out alive and hugging each other. Its very fairy-tale. Rogue One and Andor are enjoyable departures from the "movies about space wizards for kids" thing that Star Wars became.
Love this movie and really enjoyed this video. One critique of your commentary is as a writer I can appreciate a critical goal of making the script as tight as humanly possible but maintaining audience interest and providing entertainment is also important. That Cassian scene at the beginning was valuable as a story element but it was also something that helped us become more intrigued with the character. It also did a great job of setting the tone for the film. Those would not be insignificant losses. You mentioned the importance of cool shit in battles but it also matters in character moments as well
Yes, and this is also part of why Chirrut and Baze were great characters, whether or not they added something important to the plot. They were fun! Sometimes that's enough. And as another poster said above, it also gives you characters you know and love to follow during critical parts of the third-act battle.
We need Bothans Spies: A Star Wars story About the bothans that stole the plans to the 2nd death star as well as acquiring the information that the emperor himself is on the station.
Except that the Emperor knew and let them steal it, to sucker the rebel fleet into an engagement with the actually-operational second Death Star. It would be a pretty depressing tale.
@@rikk319 i think it can be done well then if watched chronologically it is a little depressing knowing they were suckered, but the victory that the rebels win that much sweeter.
I'm glad I found your channel, Gold man. I was disappointed when I saw the Prequels in the theater and unsure of the continuity and storyline of the Sequels. As I've explored various Star Wars channels on TH-cam, I have to say yours and ones like Star Wars Theory and Kyle Katarn have allowed me to grow into those movies. Plus, actually sitting down and watching what Dave Filoni did with the animated series have given me a new perspective on the Prequels and connective tissue between each movie Episode. Great analysis for Rogue One.
Even though I don't agree with some points you made, this helped me better understand some problems people have with this film. However, dismissing the Eadu scene as unimportant to how the plot changes the characters is just... I can't get on board with that. 1. After Galen dies, Jyn has nothing to live for. Whatever hope she had of rescuing her father was dashed, and all she can do is carry out his last wish. Galen's death makes the movie more impactful and makes Jyn more invested in the conflict. 2. It evolves the character dynamic between Jyn and Cassian 3. It leans more into the dehumanizing nature of war, and its cost in life, which is a central theme of Rogue One.
I like how you don’t just say what’s wrong with the movie, but also how to fix it. This shows that you don’t just want to hate on the movie, but want to find ways it could have been better.
God I remember this movie so fondly, especially because of our diverse cast of characters and personalities. One detail I love, I know we're going to get more of! In the most recent Andor episode we meet Melshia in prison.
This is one of my favorite Star Wars movie period. It did so many things right. Loved the characters and action scenes. All the planets were cool. It just screamed Star Wars! I just loved everything about it!
One thing that hit me in the feel is that among all the deaths in the entire SW series, nothing feels as tragic and sad to me as the scene where K-2SO gets blasted while guarding the vault door. Man, that feels so different. He's the only droid we can empathize with his death somehow. Droid is meant to be replaceable yet K-2SO has so much character that his death is so meaningful.
I like the pacing in the first act. It is fine to me that you have pay attention and use your brain for a moment from time to time. One of the best SW films in my book.❤️🤖
I disagree that with Jin being a passive character is a bad thing. I can't remember the essay video I watched years ago but they made a good point of how worthless one's life is when they have no other choice but be passive, that for some characters they'll never have a purpose or something like that. It was years ago and I'm basically remembering paraphrases.
Because of Rogue One, TFA is the only SW movie that is correctly numbered: Episode IV-VI are the first to third movies, Episodes I-III are the fourth to sixth, but Episode VII is the seventh movie; but then Episode VIII is the 9th movie and the numbering is ruined forever. Also makes me notice that no one refers to the ST as episodes VII, VIII or IX. The PT and OT are often referred to by their number (especially the Prequels) but the ST are always referred to by their title. Come to think of it I believe marketing stopped referring to them by their number at least starting with VIII. I’m not even sure it’s part of their official titles.
@@harrisonmaul1020 it’s about jins parents and their friendship with krenick , from the clone wars to when Galen flees with lira and Jin leave the empire as deserters to live in the farm. It also tells the story of how they extinguished all geonisians that worked on the Death Star
After watching Rogue One again for the Re-release to Theaters leading to the Andor Show, I realized that one of the reasons why I love the film is the subtle evolving character growth between Jyn and Cassian. First Jyn is unsure if Cassian is a deceiving person like Saw or Galen(who she believes abandoned her coldly). The look she gives when K-2SO tells her that Cassian doesn't trust her is one of "I'm not sure whether or not I should trust him". and her line of "trust goes both ways" is her rolling the dice and opening herself up a little to another person after being emotionally closed off for so long. Obviously when she finds out Cassian was going to kill her father she displays anger but importantly also disappointment that yet another person has deceived her but quickly switches to understanding after Cassian spoke about fighting endlessly in a war sense he was young and how like her his life is filled with tragedy. She then warms up to Cassian after he got the Rebel Guerilla fighters to fight with them. Showing how he was Emotionally closed off for a long time as well as he did bad things for the rebellion but deciding to change on account of her actions, finally meeting someone who she can rely on to be be her side. My second favorite part was when they were in the Vault and Cassian got shot by Krennic and seemingly falling to his death. The look on her face showed that she was actually really starting to like Cassian and was in disbelief that he may be died, sad even. My top favorite moment was when Cassian saved Jyn and her look of happiness she gives to him, both of then walk together to the elevator and them staring into each other as they descend both fully bathed in an emotion either of them hadn't felt in a long time. And as they both faced the approaching shining death they embraced eachother warmly content on their fate. "Her faith carried him with her" that pretty much sums but there arcs in the film. If I had to choose a way to die one of the ways would be to die the way Cassian did. Staring into the eyes/face of a Beautifully Heavenly Women and being embraced with love sorrowful but gratified knowing the goals they sought to accomplish were met 100%. Dying with some regrets perhaps but overall dying feeling alive and being with a person they grow to love.
I think Gold Man here missed the point. The point is freedom and choice. She get more and more of each as the movie goes on. you can tell this was the entire point just by the framing of each shot. its starts confined, and slowly pulls out though the film.
This is honestly one of the best video essays I've ever seen. You helped me understand exactly why I feel kind of eh about this movie and why so many people disagree with me on that. This is the first video I've seen from you, and you got a rare instant subscribe from me. Great job, man.
Found you recently and have been enjoying your videos! I’m curious if you’ll do a “20 years later” video for Pirates of the Caribbean since the first movie’s anniversary is coming up very soon
There's actually something nice about Vader *not* ever mowing through mooks in the Original Trilogy: it makes it far easier for me to accept his redemption. In the OT, he's an incredibly powerful pawn, but stops when Tarkin tells him to, for example. But then in the prequels he's off slaughtering younglings, and I'm just not convinced that's redeemable.
I sort of disagree with what you're saying about it being a weakness that Jyn is a passive character in the first bit. I felt like that was reflective of both her stance on the Empire v.s the Rebellion and how her character is. Once she begins to stand up to the Empire and becomes a rebel, she starts actively making decisions.
This is a great video essay. Because it explains the faults and also gives you more to appreciate, and it’s all done in such an eloquent way. Great video
I was one of those kids that stood in line, Christmas 1977 (UK), to watch a film I was super excited to see.... I'd read the book, the pictures in it filled me with a sense of awe, we talked about it at school.... and Star Wars has subsequently been part of my life ever since. Rogue One, outside of the OT, is the best to have been released - overall, apart from Empire and New Hope, Rogue One is by far my favourite. I love how it's gritty - it feels like a Star Wars universe. Ok, it's not perfect, but.... yeah.... I just wished everything else was like this. As for pacing, ach it's super simple to keep up with. Andor's scene at the start is needed, it sets them as rebels... there's a cause.
It's ironic how many times you mention 'what does it change / it does not change anything" when the entire movie changes everything about the Death Star plans and its circumstances as we know it in ANH. :D
In other words, pre Rouge One, the fatal flaw in the exhaust port was a result of Imperial hubris (not to mention the Leia's lie about her diplomatic mission to Darth Vader was likely more believe). Post Rouge One Leia has some insane balls lying the way she does. And the flaw was purposeful.
I don’t agree with everything you said, but I will say this. You make a compelling case for every point you raise. As a result I thoroughly enjoyed this break-down and analysis. A thoughtful and considered critique that made me question and reassess my entire attitude toward this film. Extremely well done.
I truly enjoyed this movie and it's better then any of the newer Star wars movies in my opinion I can go and rewatch this movie and still enjoy it I do it all the time but would not even start watching one of the newer movies again once was enough the people making the movies these days should look back and see what made rouge one different cause it's definitely the best of all the movies
You know what most war movies do is not have a lot of character development. And I'm fine with that. Rogue One still works very well in this capacity. I agree with you on the first chapter is very weird in jumping all around. Having a main character that doesn't have any choice isn't a problem either, but when they find something to fight for, that's when they shine. For the other characters, having different flavors of characters is what war movies are all about. Try watching some. Battle of the Bulge is a good one that I like to watch. Maybe Force Ten From Navarone as well.
Frankly, I had difficulty following all the characters being thrown at me so quickly. Now I know how my Mom feels about quickly paced movies, she gets a blank look on her face. It's Input Buffer Overrun.
It's my favorite Star Wars movie from all the new ones I didn't even see the others in the cinema except 7. It gives you that old Star Wars feeling, of a huge Galaxy for you to explore.
Rogue One isn’t just my favorite Disney Star Wars film, it’s like 1B to ROTJ’s 1A for me. I do agree, there were some pacing issues in the first half of the film, and I’m not fond of the Borgalet scene, but the entire film felt so authentically Star Wars. It managed to expand the universe despite happening just before ANH and everything still had that lived in feel to it. The final battle sequence is more intense than any battle in the franchise and the Red and Gold Leader cameos drew so many cheers in the theater I was in. Top notch Easter Eggs. This film just did so much right for Star Wars that I don’t just enjoy it, I appreciate it.
This is my favorite Disney era movie and my 3ed favorite Star Wars movie period. Only beat out by Revenge and Empire. This movie was and still is fantastic. This movie expanded the SW universe like no other in canon. This film (other than some bland characters.) Has almost no flaws. Krennic, Jyn, Cassin and Vader were all great in this movie. This is fan service done right. 9.5/10 Holds up very well. I would argue this is the best modern “blockbuster” in the traditional sense. (Death Trooper ls are the best trooper.)😂
The thing that REALLY bugs me about Rogue One is the name of the droid; It should be K2SO4 ! K2SO just doesn't make sense. Without the stabiliising effect of the other three pi-bonded oxygens the potassium sulph-oxide salt would be a free radical, unstable and prone to flying apart . . . OH!, that's genius. So many layers.
You spend 40 minutes crying about how things aren’t necessary to the plot like going to see Galen but that entire scene is incredible because of the conversation between him and the imperials. Just because it’s not vital to destroying the Death Star doesn’t mean it’s a bad scene or that it shouldn’t be in the movie. I think you are nitpicking way too hard. I get trying to come up with a nuanced opinion but you want scene about Jyn as a child? Wouldn’t that NOT be vital to the plot? Just enjoy a good movie. Not everything has to be 100% vital to the end goal of the film. Jyn seeing her dad again was beautiful.
Personally, even when I was a dumb kid (dumb enough to where I thought phantom menase wasn't terrible), I loved this movie, and its my favourite star wars movie. I remember watching the movie, and felt like a lot of trailer / behind the scenes footage was absent. at first i thought my memory was playing tricks on me, but then i heard like 40% of it was reshot, but honestly, if i hadn't watched any trailers, i probably wouldve had 0 idea there was any reshooting, it feels quite cohesive / tonally consistent (i mean, mcu movies with 0 worries about reshooting feel less tonally consistent then a SW movie with this disadvantage) I just adore the action, visuals, worlds, dark themes, music and characters I didnt even find the pacing jarring at all, ive always kept up with whats gone on (and disagree with many of your issues, or I'm aware of them now but take no issue because, as humans we interpret things differently) I feel like I could ramble on about why I also love almost everything about Rogue One, but instead im going to name all the main (ish) characters in this movie just cuz youve said before some fans only remember the names of Jyn, Cassian and K2-SO (obviously for all u know i couldve just typed them up now, so i guess your gonna have to believe me remembering these names as a 13 year old + u already know that im aware of Tarkin, Bail + Vader right) the 3 i just mentioned (duh) Galen Erso Lyra Erso Baze Malbus Chirrut Imwe Bhodi Rook Saw (from CW so i already knew him) Orson Krennic Garven Dreis Mon Mothma Anton Merrick Pao + Bistan (these 2 barely appear but they were in the marketing a lot) Oh, and my favourite character from this movie, in the same way Dave Filoni loves Plo Koon, I will forever be happy this movie gave us ADMIRAL RADDUS (also my kinda Admiral Ackbar) Despite this, (along with your bad batch + resistance takes) being 1 of the few things i super, super disagree with u on, i at least respect that u mentioned the stuff you loved, and even when you didnt like stuff, you gave an explanation, maybe not 1 i get / agree with, but an explanation that isnt anywhere as absurd as a whiny man baby falsely accusing Rey of being a mary sue for having the ability to breathe and walk forward, or saying obi wans character was ruined cuz he temporarily wore googles (?). And your not trying to make people feel alone about their opinions or belittle their opinions, so thanks Cant wait for next video
A problem I see with the Jyn Erso character is that she is split into "I don't care and I don't want to be involved" and "I rebel because I am a rebel" and the switch doesn't happen naturally. Andor is a firm believer in the cause but he thinks the ends justifys the means. Jyn should have been the counterpart of the believer in the goodness that turns him around.
I always saw the nature of the plot contrivance of the exhaust port being the weakness in A New Hope was to illustrate how hubris can be ones undoing, that being the case where the emperor would have not determined that a single, tiny, insignificant exhaust port would even be considered a weakness because of how small and insignificant it was. Not unlike how the emperor had treated the rebellion up until that point, nothing more than an annoying whimper from some tiny bands of insignificant people. which was thrown away by Rogue One... Maybe I was giving Lucas too much credit... but it was always a good lesson for me when viewed through that lens...
They should have made more of these battle centric Star Wars movies. A Clone Wars battle centered around the clones and a random alien Jedi on a planet with strange conditions would be cool. A movie showing the Empire brutality invading a holdout Separatist or Rebel planet a la Dune could be scary and fascinating. And a Old Republic movie that resembles a sword and sandals movie like Gladiator, Hero, or Ran would be epic.
I find it interesting how so many fans claim that Rogue One is some of the best Star Wars put out by Disney (with some very few even saying it's some of the best Star Wars in general), but every video about the film that I come across always shows this to not really be the case. Great video by the way. If there's one crucial thing that I think was missing from the video, then it would've been the excessive amount of member berries fan service within the film. I believe that Rogue One is partially responsible for why so many of the modern day Disney+ Star Wars shows often resolve to camoes and call backs to the older films and TV shows, because Rogue One was filled with so many that didn't push the story foward and people responded well to the film
Saying it since 2019 and I'm gonna say it again. This movie isn't bad but most of its characters just don't work. Jyn sudden character change into believing in the rebellion and in hope after they were responsible for the death of her father, completely ruins the character to me. Like it felt like I've missed something for this to happen. Cassian goes from being an extreme rebel to still be an extreme rebel. Chirrut and Baze(I only learned of his name in 2021 lmao) were barely developed but it still doesn't make sense as to why they are fighting for the rebellion. They never signed up for it and they felt like they were only for the ride. They're reaction to the destruction of their whole planet is baffling. Bodhi had a small character arc by becoming more confident with himself and finishing the task Galen gave him but he also suffers from not much focus. K2 is cool and the best character on the team. Saw had the dumbest death in star wars and had no point. One of the biggest wastes of a character. Krennic was fine. Everything else in the movie was done fairly well imo but nah if the movie isn't the most overrated product ever. It isn't the best Disney movie by far. TFA is better and I prefer TROS to R1 because that movie has actual characters and good villains.
The film is gorgeous and all the heroes dying at the end was heartbreaking. Rogue One was close to greatness and could've defined a new era of beautiful, dramatic Star Wars films, but what we got was the sequel trilogy.
There was some recognition the rogue one team got but it was from the comics, where Luke after he blew up the Death Star contemplates their sacrifice and morns / gives them his respect, and he did so by renaming his fighter squadron to “Rogue” just to honour them In ROTJ the battle of Endor Rogue squadron is re-renamed back to red squadron to honour the fallen from the battle of Yavin This whole tradition of renaming rebel call signs to honour their fallen really hits hard and I really hope they continue it in the new cannon, and since the new rogue squadron show is coming out soon, I’m hoping they’ll mention why the squad got that call sign in the first place……
Well to start with Rey is like, the best example of a Mary Sue character ever. When she beats a trained Sith in a lightsaber duel in the first movie when she had never picked up a lightsaber before, after using Jedi Mind tricks with no training whatsoever, her character became completely unbelievable. She earned nothing in the entire trilogy. It was all handed to her cuz her character was invented at the beginning of Hollywood's misguided 'woke' period, which they're just beginning to recover from now after literally DOZENS of failed films. 'Get woke, go broke' is a very real thing. Jyn Erso is a much more likeable character than Rey. And the trilogy telling her story was just awful. The last movie was so bad I can't even... 'The Emperor Lives!' was the worst thing I've ever seen in a Star Wars crawl. I'll stop there, but I'm one of the people that HATES the new trilogy, but likes this movie.
@@JohnSmith-mk1rj "When she beats a trained Sith in a lightsaber duel in the first movie when she had never picked up a lightsaber before," Thank you for taking that fight completly out of context. That alone is all I need to know to tell that you're completly dishonest. I'm disapponinted in you, be better.
You say Star Wars has never really had beautiful cinematography, but if I'm being honest the prequels had gorgeous shots of all the different planets, especially Coruscant and Naboo. I grew up wishing I could live on Coruscant lol.
I wouldn’t say this is a bad movie, it’s just okay. I probably would go as far as to say that it’s hugely overrated. It has its moments as you pointed out (especially that Darth Vader scene in the finale) and I think the concept was really interesting but it was poorly executed in many ways and it genuinely baffles me that people call this not only the best Star Wars film in the recent era but one of the best in the franchise.
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I think part of the reason why Rogue One is remembered so fondly is that it gets prgoressively better as the movie goes on. Like you point out, acts I and II are kind of weak to mediocre... but my god that third act is a banger! The battle on the ground, the battle in space, the struggles the characters are going through... and all of that is crowned by Vader's hallway scene. It all comes together in a perfect climax.
Well they re-shot the third act so maybe they should have re-shot the first two as well. Either way it’s substantially better than any other prequel or sequel imo
Something that's always bugged me. In Rogue One (set just before ANH), two stormtroopers are talking: th-cam.com/video/8Rl_LMKv-sw/w-d-xo.html
"Hey, did you hear the rumors?"
"Yeah, the T-15s have been marked obsolete."
"Oh, boy. It's about time for that."
...which implies the T-16 that Luke Skywalker referenced is a top-of-the-line vehicle, instead of some decades old crop duster which makes sense with where Luke was at.
@@shazmosushi they should have said, "The T-17s are marked obsolete." So Luke's is two generations behind the current market and possibly Uncle Owen's old flyer that he just let sit collecting dust until Luke was old enough to make it operational to fly for fun.
@@shazmosushi I don't think this is necessarily true. For example, we might take the newest iPhone (the 7) unsupported by the current OS to be "obsolete." That doesn't mean the iPhone 8 is a top of the line smartphone just because it isn't "obsolete" yet. It could be that the latest T-X is the T-20 or something.
Facts. The last scene with Vader was a real zinger. I remember seeing the originals at the theater so that scene struck a major cord of my childhood.
Hot take - I also think that the first two acts lack much character development, but the gritty, realistic, guerrilla style of the movie results in an almost documentary feel that makes these characters appear more authentic than from any other Disney Star Wars movie. So it’s actually MORE believable that we DON’T see every character’s arc because in real life, people don’t make their inner struggle obvious for a camera; they keep it inside. And only under extreme circumstances, such as Rogue One’s third act, that a hint of their inner struggle reveals itself. And that’s why this movie is unique and the best Disney Star Wars movie for me. Love the video essays - please keep them coming!
Not a hot take my guy
I love this!
My take is the hot one (especially in a nest of fanboys). Rogue One is pure garbage. I just watched it before YT suggested this video. Pointless, pure, idiotic garbage.
Jyn didn't really lack character development though, you could argue for the rest but it can be said that their characters were already established. And at the end, only Baze had considerable character development the most followed by Bodhi and Cassian.
Chirrut didn't really had character development because he didn't need one as much and K2SO is a droid much like 3Po and R2.
andor definitely helps though, i’m sure season 2 will make rogue one that much better
No, i absolutely refuse to believe this came out 6 years ago... HOLY SHIT 6 YEARS!? I feel like I saw this in theaters a year ago
time is a b****
Haha,look at it like this pal,1999 was back in the 1900's ........
It's crazy. I feel like I saw it in theatres 2 months ago.
I was on high school at that time. It was one of the best movie I saw and I am glad of that
@@ericgabrielbautistajaimes9187 omg same
This is truly the most well-received Disney *_Star Wars_* movie by far. It was *_The Force Awakens_* at first but time has not been kind to TFA, and rightfully so.
Nah, regardless of what you think in TLJ or TROS let’s at least give TFA the credit it deserves, it’s a very solid beginning to a trilogy that was wasted by a lack of planning
@@benefistben7844 it destroyed everything in the previous movies, no new stort at all just a rip off of a new hope. they should have done a new story maybe starting with lukes new jedi order and a new threat comming or whatever
TFA is JJ mystery box junk.
True. I always thought that the plan for the sequel trilogy was TFA is the tribute, TLJ is the deconstructor and EP9 is the reconstructor. Ultimately though, Rogue One is the best final product of the five Disney movies out there. Which is a shame because while I like concepts and some ideas and scenes from the sequel trilogy, it just doesn’t all mesh together.
The follow ups to TFA definitely did the movie itself a massive disservice. TFA was a setup movie to give arcs to the sequels and the sequels never followed through with any of the arcs leaving the questions posed in TFA unanswered or meaningless
I really liked Rogue One. I enjoyed the acting and liked Jyn Erso way more than Rey. I was sad seeing them all die.
I think that’s one of the main reasons it was a better film. She started on the archers you know.
It was cool they died since I really don’t like the Disney characters at all. If I had it my way, I would have done that in every Disney Star Wars movie and not killed off the original cast
@@Salamander676 Just because when this film came out when star wars was already disney doesn't make them automatically 'disney characters'. This film had a decent director and the writing wasn't dogshit etc like the sequels
@@hypeuprise7026 you know what I mean. Every other disney Star Wars project has been plagued by the same problems and it’s because of the cheap, lazy dumbasses at disney
Rey was a massive wasted opportunity. All of the sequel trilogy was. The start of TFA was great: we've got this scrappy scavenger who knows how to survive and fix stuff, we've got this brilliant fighter pilot/secret operative looking for the missing Luke Skywalker, and then there's this stormtrooper who mysteriously broke his programming. How? Did he feel his buddy die through the force? And then the pilot vanishes from the story, the stormtrooper turns into comic relief, and Rey has to carry everything, but without anything resembling a character arc.
And the even trilogy as a whole lacked a point. Why did the First Order exist? What is this fight even about? Because there's barely any mention of a galaxy outside of the Resistance and the First Order, and their basis is itself questionable. Poor world building, poor storytelling, poor character development. It's just a random bag of garbage. They just went in hoping to recreate Star Wars. And that's it: it's fan fiction, and poorly written fan fiction at that.
Isn't that the point with Jynn? She's passive to start with but active when it's important?
That was Padme in the Phantom Menace. Up until after the Senate hearing, she is passive, everybody else makes decisions for her (Qui-Gon, politicians), but the moment Padme becomes active, things start going her way, she saves her people.
I was thinking this as well--that is, that the passive nature of Jynn was intentional and integral to her character and overall story arc.
Completely agree. He forgets that she made the choice to go to scariff when the rebel leadership said no. And others followed her leadership in that key decisive moment. It really isn’t so different from Luke. He wasn’t going to do anything to help Obi Wan until circumstances changed him into marketing the decisions, to wit, the death of he’s aunt and uncle.
Came to the comments to say exactly this!
The criticism comes from the fact that her character changing from "I just wanna save my papa, I don't care about the rebellion" to giving inspiring speeches about how "rebellions are built on hope" is completely unearned. The death of her father is the only event that changes her character in this movie, (killed by rebel alliance bombers btw) and it wasn't enough to completely 180 her belief system from a selfish daddy's girl into a heroic rebel leader. The movie forcefully changes her character to flow with the plot. It's enough to keep people entertained on their first viewing, but if you rewatch the movie you can feel how messy the pacing and character development are.
@@Nivomandasrail I disagree. It's not a 180 completely out of left field. She learns her father has devoted the rest of his life to planting a flaw in the empires largest control tool. If she did nothing, then he worked all those years and died for nothing. If anything she's honouring her father's legacy by taking a stance.
Rogue One is incredible. It’s also proof that people will love a female lead if they are written well. Jyn Erso is great! And I loved the entire cast. The Vader scene is just the best cherry on top.
Agreed. No complaints. It's honestly my favourite SW film aside from Revenge of the Sith.
I don't undertand why you present Jyn being a passive protagonist for the first act as a negative when that is part of her arc. The wole point of her arc is she is only going along with all this becauce she is forced to, at this point in the story she has grown disillusioned with the rebel cause, she no longer cares. This is pretty blatantly was her arc is abut, I mean look at this exange between her and Saw:
Saw Gerrera: So what is it that you want, Jyn?
Jyn Erso: They wanted an introduction, they've got it. I'm out now. Rest of you can do what you want.
Saw Gerrera: You care not about the cause?
Jyn Erso: The cause? Seriously? The Alliance? The rebels? Whatever it is you’re calling yourselves these days? All it’s ever brought me is pain.
Saw Gerrera: You can stand to see the Imperial flag reign across the galaxy?
Jyn Erso: It's not a problem if you don't look up.
After that she is shown the hologram of her father and she begins to care again and after that she's an active protagonist.
Edit: I paused the video to write this and when I continued to watch you broguht up this exact point. Now I'm even more confused as to why you presented this as a negative in the begining.
Yes, you're exactly right - she is passive because of her apathy, and she goes along with stuff because she really doesn't care! Some of this Gold Man's criticisms really don't make sense.
Gotta fill those 40 minutes
he has outrageous takes in general
I was genuinely excited for this movie back in the day especially when almost every day we had a new teaser trailer or TV spot. It was a nice break to have away from space wizards and cowboys in helmets for a change and just see real people not gifted in the force or carried light sabers but still banded together to fight for the greater good at all costs. Even though it didn't have the kind of things we're used to seeing in Star Wars but it still paid homage and honored the fundamental lessons and themes that are the bread and butter, Good vs evil, family, love and sacrifice and great characters.
Wonderfully said Miranda!
Truthfully, this is likely the best Star War film or show released since the one in May 1977.
Mandalorian didn't exist back then 😭
Rogue One is the only Disney movie that felt like it was trying to connect with the original Star Wars movies. The rest of the Disney movies tried to re-invent Star Wars, in some of them characters literally tell the audience to "burn down the past" and replace it with something different. But Rogue One is a love letter to the first movie, all it wants is to be part of Star Wars, it doesn't want to burn down the old Star Wars and replace it.
"burn down the past, destroy it" (I don't remember the exact quote) is actually said by kylo ren (the bad guy). the good guys are more "moderated" shall we say because they rather say "remember the past and learn from it"
@@shervinemohammadi8386 In fact, Yoda also sets fire to Luke's books, Yoda also burns down the past. Burning down the past is 100% the theme of the movie, for both the "good" and "bad" characters. And when Kylo says "burn down the past," he says that TO Rey, and she agrees with him because a moment later she joins forces with him and they noticably burn down the room they are in. It is very, very clearly the films intention that both the hero and the villain agree that they should burn down the past.
@@William-the-Guy no, yoda sets fire to the tree that housed the books but since he's a force ghost he knew that rey took them before leaving the planet (she did). kylo does say "burn down the past" to rey but she doesn't agree, he only says that after he killed snoke and they dealt with the praetorian guards. he barely says anything to her while taking her to snoke because he knew snoke would be watching/listening since snoke was the one that bridged their minds for the scenes where we see kylo and rey talking to each other from a distance. she also does not agree nor join forces with him since it would mean abandonning her friends that were threatened by the first order (at that point of the movie they were making a "run" for crait in transports). the throne room wasn't actually burned by them but accidentally by the blade of a praetorian guard. so, "burning the past" is the theme of the movie only for its bad guy.
@@shervinemohammadi8386 Luke spends the entire movie saying the Jedi need to die. The movie is all about severing ties to the past. It is not only a "bad guy theme" instead it is something the movie comes back to and repeats again and again, in many ways.
Finding the books in the very last shot doesn't undo hours of saying how bad they were and how they should be gotten rid of. It felt like a weird last-minute edit when Disney belated realized everyone would hate the movie if they stuck with it. It was just a few seconds.
Look, if you liked that movie, fine. Have fun. But you are twisting around what happened to fit a narrative that's just not true. The move was all about severing ties to the past. Even the title "Last Jedi" was about that. It was clearly the film makers intent to talk about that idea, it was NOT just something bad guys said.
@@William-the-Guy The same luke that in his last scene litteraly tells kylo ren "I will not be the last jedi". It has a bit of "severing ties to the past" but it isn't out right about "burning it", the bad guy wants to burn the past, the good guys want to learn from it.
The books aren't "found" "in the very last shot", just because they are shown after yoda burns the tree doesn't mean it was a "weird last minute edit" but rather that it was in the script.
Yes I liked the movie. I am not twisting what happened around to fit a narrative anymore than you are. Yes, it was something the bad guy said, no the idea wasn't entirely to sever ties to the past but to point out what should be learnt from it. Rewatch the movie as I did recently.
As a general rule I hate passive characters and think it is a aign of lazy storytelling, but in the case of Jyn Erso in the first act I think this is actually a brilliant move that reflects her character, enhances her arc, and plays into the themes of the movie.
In the first act she is a passive character because she is herself passive and indifferent to what is gappening around her. She feels her father abandoned her to work for the same empire that killed her mother, and was left to be rescued by a man who tried to radicalize her into a tool and weapon for a cause that was itself a reflection of the empire itself (destructive and indifferent to the consequences of its own actions) and to leave that to find the galaxy itself is itself generally indifferent to it all, you can see why she just doesn't care about any of it. Her comment "it's not a problem if you don't look up" perfectly encapsulates this.
She just doesn't care. She doesn't think her choices make a difference so she just doesn't bother to make them. She is in pure survivor mode and is completely resigned to simply adapting to whatever situation she is in. The plot drives her rather than the other way around because that is how she is living. She is not engaged, she is not driving her own life. She is merely drifting.
That starts to change when she sees her father's message and the sheer destructiveness and indifference of the empire by their use of the death star. She starts to increasingly make choices, to drive the plot. In the end it is her that pushes the rebellion to do something. It is her that decides to act on her own and lead the fight. She drives the plot completely, and has a complete arc.
And I don't agree that she was committed to fighting for the rebellion before her father's message or before his death. Prior to Eadu she was committed to not going back to prison so was doing what she had to do. Again, this was a character who was not exercising any agency.
Her father's message and the destruction of Jedda forced her to re-evaluate many assumptions she made, and made all the weight of what she had lost and the direction she allowed herself to go come crashing down on her.
In the end I don't think she fights because she is a true believer, she does it because she finally understands what's at stake and she can no longer sit by and do nothing. Yes, it's a character jump, but those things tend to happen when your understanding and assumptions about your world and life are completrly turned upside down and demolished.
She, quite simply, realizes in an instant how wrong she is and how her apathetic attitudes are what allows these things to happen both personally and at the galaxtic level, and decides she has to change. She can't be a passive drifter anymore. She claims her own agency and starts to act.
So yes, in general passive charcters and character motivation jumps are not good storytelling, but in this case they work wonderfully. She absolutely has a comple, compelling, and earned character arc.
BTW I do think you need that scene with Vader an Krennic on Mustafar. Without it, we don't get the insight about Krennic we need to make his later actions and demise pay off, but you need to get Vader involved in the story so when he arrives at Scarif you're not asking why he is there. Vader at Scarif is the payoff for the setup on Mustafar.
Completely agree with everything here
So agree. Reluctant heroes is a theme of this movie and andor. It’s a reflection of reality. People don’t plan on sacrificing their life to revolution, it happens and then they step up. This movie is brilliant.
Yes, all of this!!
100% agreed.
Nobody aint got time to read this eassy
Great video!
I think your critique of Jyn is exactly what makes her a good character.
In the beginning she truly is a "passive character" in the story because of her apathetic nature and she is a passive character in the story structure because she does not move the plot forward.
Towards the end of the movie she transitions into an "active character" because she decides to change the course of history as apposed to just being a part of it and she is an active character in the story structure because she now moves the plot forward.
You make great points, thanks for watching!
I think Chirut and baze (are they spelled like this?) are important to know somebody in the ground battle on scarif. Otherwise you just see random rebels fighting and sacrificing. Not as strong as people we spent a good chunk of the movie with.
Yep. Plus they're just FUN characters to spend time with. Sometimes that's enough, and then, as you say, watching them in battle, and dying, becomes so poignant. Maybe they're not essential to the plot story, but they are essential to the emotional story.
@@erinm9445 exactly, i don’t understand why some people think everything in a movie has to serve the greater message in a grand way. sometimes enjoyable characters are enough and they enhance the experience tenfold
Exactly. It also introduces the idea of a man who has the force and is not a jedi. It's awesome.
@@gargabe6618 That's what I was thinking.
@@estaextrana8486 And he was monk at the temple, which empire destroyed. Him trusting force fits universe well. Especially when we consider fact he is blind - without faith in force he would be just homeless guy
I’ve always felt that Jyn Erso being passive in the first act carries a lot of weight; that’s who she was most of her life, an capable individual swept up in the tide of the Galaxy without agency except in where she could run next. Her final stand and shift to an active protagonist is the realization of who she was always meant to be but lacked the belief to do so.
I actually rewatched this movie recently and was just as happy watching it as when it released. It’s not a perfect movie, but has so many great shots and screen-saver worthy visuals. The characters are fine, but having a ground-level war movie in the universe of Star Wars was pretty much what I wanted from this IP.
Andor killing off the informant at the beginning likely also saved that guy from some pretty horrendous torture from the Empire, not to mention preventing that information from falling into the Empire's hands.
Baze & Chirrut introduce the mystical side of Star Wars that'd have otherwise been all but missing from this movie. Chirrut's unwavering faith & Baze's reluctant loyalty to his friend that ultimately yields to his original faith in The Force reinforce the thematic elements of the movie.
The events on Eadu solidify Jyn's desire to help the Rebellion. Prior to her father's death she's just going through the motions in order to clear her record & win her freedom. Losing him & realizing the sacrifices he made gives her a bigger purpose than just running & keeping her head down.
Personally, Galen's message to Jyn was one of the weakest moments in the film for me. It serves as an info dump & is the worst offender of the rule "show don't tell" in the entire movie.
There's no question about it. The guy verbally says he has a bad leg and can't escape. Andor kills him to prevent the empire from interrogating him, and finding out about the defector.
@@TraceguyRune Considering Darth Vader's horrible torture methods, I totaly understand him. Being Vader's prisoner was worse than death from what I've heard.
No what?? His message was heartbreaking and a perfect way to get us the information fast. It made sense to the plot and was warranted. Greay writing all around
The hallway scene is one of the few scenes where the audience cheers for the bad guy.
LOL===I have to admit: when Thanos used one of the infinity stones to punch Captain Marvel right out of the movie, it garnered a cheer.
Over the years RogueOne has become my favorite StarWars Movie.
I think it is one of the best sequel-movies that build upon an already established franchise and timeline, introduces new elements and at the same time honors the content that came before (even correcting some "mistakes" like the fact that it was very dumb that a Station as big as a small moon could be destroyed through a single shot).
On the other hand, the visuals are simply outstanding. What stands out most to me is how every ship that is destroyed in this movie doesn't simply blow up in a fancy explosion but first gets damaged in a specific spot (for example one engine catching fire) and then gets destroyed because of that (for example by going of course into a rock)
Next, I really love the dialog in this as it is very precise, has many quotable lines and also many "interesting" sentences. One that always stood out to me was Krennic saying: "Oh, it's Beautiful" when the DeathStar destroyed an entire city including the surrounding area because the shot we see while he says it IS BEAUTIFUL and you do feel the same but at the same time you remember that they just killed an entire population of a city and the city with all its culture.
I personally also really like the first act because I always liked stories with multiple storylines completely disconnected from each other in the beginning which slowly cross each other to create a final story (another huge franchise where mostly one movie did this was Harry Potter with the first Fantastic Beasts, another "spin-off" I personally like as much if not more than any other movie of that franchise). I think you can at least understand the general story fine when watching it the first time but when the storyline finally comes together as one it is very rewarding, and you get a lot more out of it when watching it again afterwards.
I think the actors all did an amazing job with their roles. When it comes to characters this is of course a single movie with many characters, so characterization is not as strong but I have always appreciated the variety of main characters in this movie and how at least most of them have a small story-arc of their own.
I think the music in this movie is extremely good and (I know I will get hate for this) in my opinion while there is nobody better at writing Themes than John Williams, I personally always felt like other Composers and Producers could make the better final product with his themes (at least in most cases, there are a few John Williams scores nobody could have done better) and here again is one where I think this is true. Sure, Giaccino didn't create a new theme and borrowed heavily from Williams, but the end-product is non-the-less in my opinion one of the best StarWars Scores and the "Your Father Would Be Proud"-Score is probably in my top StarWars Scores of all time.
I think it is pretty well done how this is integrated into the wider Canon as Rebels was produced as an animated series at the same time and they have connected this to Rebels while both were produced quite clever, showing a bit of Backstory to some characters, actions and events while not ramming it in your face so that people not invested in lore can completely ignore it. This is how a franchise should handle world-building in my opinion.
...
That were just some of the reasons for me why Rogue One right now is on top of my personal StarWars Movie List
*Star Wars
You gave high praise to a bad movie
I strongly agree
@@andymiller6661 Is there a Star Wars movie that you actualy liked? The one, "WITHOUT FLAWS"?
Buddy wrote a 2000 word essay
I would love it if they made “Rogue One:” their franchise for one-shot inconsequential stories like this, on all sides of the war/s and throughout any times
that would be awesome. trilogies are overrated. serial adventures are where star wars really shines
@@spacekitt.n agreed - I think they missed a trick with Mad Max, they could've made a similarly related/non-related series of movies about various "Max's" during the times after the collapse of society
It can be men, women, children, pets etc named Max and that's the only thing they share other than the world they're in.
Wait the new trilogy was one coherent story? I guess so..... really they should've had the Emperor in the last one tell Rey n co how he was into costumes n cosplay and how he was actuality a bunch of background characters to link it all up.
@@EarJuice 5 Jawas in a cloak
@@TheUltimateWriterNZ Baby Yoda, Andor's mom, the tree at the Jedi temple.... all Palpertine in 🥸 disguise. Did I mention I'm a script writer for Bad Robot?
Wait no....
did i tell you I am in writer room as a writer for bad robot!!!
I'm an old guy that grew up with the original trilogy. I never thought I'd get a SW movie that dethroned them as my personal favorite. Rogue One did it, and I don't always know how I feel about that.
To me Rogue One was what I thought the prequels were going to be like before they came out
I’m right there with you. ROTJ was my favorite, but depending how I feel on any given day, that title could easily go to Rogue One.
GEN X here. Rogue 1 is my favourite SW. That hallway scene is peak vader.
Whats wrong with you people?
Plot-Wise, Eadu serves the purpose of them getting a ride. The ship the crew steals from Eadu is what gets Rogue One through the shield gate. It being "diverted" from Eadu is important to the missions success.
Also I wouldn't call what happens to Jynn or Bruce a "character jump", it's more of a realisation. Batman realises that Clark is more human than the rest of them, having Human parents with Human names (as opposed to an Alien name), it's an "Oh crap, he's just like me" moment. Jynns reasons for apathy dissolve as she realises she wasn't abandoned for nothing. But it will have been for nothing if the mission doesn't succeed. These "I was wrong" moments definitely call for an immediate 180 degree turn.
The theme of sacrifice ties together so well with the speech from Andor series: "What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see."
My God the song that plays too at the end of the battle of scarif is peak. When Andor asks "do you think anyone is listening" i feel this is an underrated line for the reasons talked about in the video. They die not knowing if they succeeded but they had hope. Rebellions are built on hope.
I actually like that Jyn is very passive in the first part of the movie because that's what she is, she is passive to what is happening to her and the galaxy, she doesn't care who wins as long as they leave her alone, she just feels empty. it reads very much like depression, like she has just given up on life and things just happen to her, she doest't make things happen. until she does. that's why i like her so much, she was able to find that spark in herself that made her fight. i'm sure she has never felt more alive than when she was so close to her death. before it didn't care, she didn't care, she didn't have a purpose. well, now she has it, she can fight, and man does she fight. I love her.
can't believe you think this isn't the best Disney star wars movie
Over revenge of the Sith 😮
I really like how this movie added so much to the Empire as a military faction. So many new troopers where introduced that where a welcoming addition like the Death Troopers and the Beach Troopers. Also the battle of Scarif was amazing. It's on the same caliber as the battles from the prequels.
Aged extremely well, Andor makes it even better.
Andor does make it better
one thing about Star Wars movies is no matter how good or bad you think they are the score is always fire
this movie did a great job at having its own unique score while still 'feeling' like star wars
Rogue One is the exception, though. The score is just terrible.
Fire isn't an adjective. You might as well say the score is hairbrush.
@@lucasoheyze4597 ok boomer
@@spacekitt.n In case you need reminding, the Boomers created every fucking thing while your generation has created fuck all 😎
Rogue One is the perfect Star Wars movie for me. Every single part of it brought out all of my emotions, from Cassian’s first kill to Galen’s holo-message to the ending scene, I loved it all, I wouldn’t change any of it even if I had the power to
Yet still bad.
@@andymiller6661 its not bad. Its not great. Its just a good starwars film. Something the sequels completely lacked. Just stop.🙄
@@coreymckee4844 *Star Wars
It is bad. I won't stop.
@@andymiller6661 in YOUR objective opinion. Lol. Welcome to the minority little buddy.🤣🤣
@@coreymckee4844 It's literal objective fact, not opinion. Just because I'm in the minority in itself doesn't mean that I'm wrong.
I understand your point about Jyn not being developed from girl to criminal, but I doubt that’s the part of her life the writers WANTED to develop. They wanted to work on her transition from criminal to hero, and they did that to perfection. Oh, and the battle of scarif is the best SW battle NO DOUBT!
Yeah, this movie is not about that development of hers and just not about that time in general. And I think it's weird that he complained of the lack of character development and then showed how it could've been done ... by comparing it to 2 full size trilogies that have all the time in the world to make an entire movie for their origin. Rogue One just doesn't have that time and quite honestly I don't care about that time in her life. She was getting by with illegal stuff and was on her own ... that's enough information to establish where she's coming from and from which point she's going to continue, change and develop.
I like this video but there are some odd points, IMO
I feel the word “criminal” is a bit harsh. I think she is more of a steal to survive under the rule of the empire type character
@@killhimnotme9129 Yeah you get the point.
After loosing someone so critical in my life, I would give anything and break down in tears to see them again, too
I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope Rogue One conveyed that scene as well as you would hope it would
I'm on the fence about Jyn's character arc vs a character jump. On the surface, it may seem sudden, BUT I do feel it was earned. As we learned in Act One, it wasn't simply that she lost her parents, but she was left behind by Saw who was so in love with his big cause (and wasn't really a father). She had been deserted and not actually engaged or invited along to anything for the majority of her life - not in a way that personally connected. Then as she sees a message from her dad, being the hero she saw him as when she was a child, expressing hopes for her, passing along something he was fighting for/ against, it was like she was finally able to see a purpose in everything and someone finally invited her to be apart of this rebellion... or rather she finally had a reason and the rebellion was her personal fight, her legacy, her identity. Being his daughter wasn't something she had to hid from or reject or regret. Her father didn't just join the Empire and her mother didn't die for nothing. They didn't just hide away and then hid her. The fight was still going on and now it was her turn to take part - to be like her parents and the man who raised her. The hiding wasn't for the purpose of surviving but for the purpose of resisting. AND her father was still hiding in plain sight AND still resisting every way he can.
She had hope of getting her father back, she had reason to make him proud, she no longer felt abandoned or dragged along. The rebellion was personal for her. Plus, I feel she deeply wants to redeem her father's name - and who she thought she was because of him. And maybe her father's words to the pilot - "It's not too late to do what is right with your life" - also spoke to Jyn.
I do agree that she could've and should've gotten mad at the rebellion. They killed her dad, and Saw who raised her didn't believe in working with the rebellion. That change would've made things interesting, but then what would be the reason that she chooses to get over her anger and work with the rebellion? Would this be the time that Chirrut and Baze Malbus earned their place on the team by saying and demonstrating something that would make her see things differently and choose to fight FOR the Rebellion. I mean she has reasons to fight AGAINST the Empire, but still could use a reason to fight FOR them after what they did.
What option did she have but trying to work with the rebellion? Time was of the essence. And she didn't end up working with rebellion anyway, she tried to convince them, she failed. But then Andor led a bunch of people to break ranks and do it anyway. It was Andor that Jyn placed her trust in, and that trust was earned through the events of the movie.
I do agree that we should see her be angry at the rebellion though, especially for killing her father. Maybe it would have been more in character for her to never try to convince the rebellion and only to convince Andor---but I don't think he would have gone for it until he saw the rebellion say no and fold.
One of the reasons why this movie is fondly remembered is because it is perhaps the only Disney Star Wars film that was a good movie. It has the feel of A New Hope, it is gritty and it actually shows ground combat in a realistic way, none of the characters in this movie are established, so Kennedy did not have an opportunity to ruin them or send them in an unrealistic direction.
I think several of the criticisms laid out here about Jyn's character development (no backstory, few actives decisions) are based on thinking of Rogue One as a different kind of movie than it is. It is not a heroic epic in the same mold as the other Star Wars films. It is a war story, and one of the most powerful resonating themes for me is that people can just get caught up in a war, with very little control or agency over their situation, and yet can still make powerful choices from that position of vulnerability.
Leonard Church from Red vs Blue put it best. "There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero never gets to see that ending. They’ll never know if their sacrifice actually made any difference. They’ll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. Ain't that a bitch?"
To this day, the ending of the trailer with the heavy orchestral hits and the Star Destroyer alarm blaring, damn. That gave me more chills than any other star wars trailer. It told me this movie was going to be more serious than previous films. I still love this movie.
Honestly if it wasn’t for somewhat two dimensional-ish characters. The bouncing forth from different planets without getting to know that (except on repeat viewings) place well. Plus a few other minor problems here and there. This would one of my favorite Star Wars movies in the franchise!
I totally agree with your last point!
In all fairness the characters are two dimensional so you don’t get too attached to them before they die. It felt like a dream come true! I remember wanting them badly to kill them off. I don’t like Jyn or Cassian in this movie but they made Cassian more 3 dimensional in the andor series
I mainly can’t stand Jyn cause her teeth are so damn distracting
@@Salamander676 xD
Let's remember how they died: Jyn smiled at Cassian and said, "Look, the nuke is approaching. We're finally done with that movie."
Prime acting.
@@nightmareTomek the last thing you see before they blow up is the flash of the explosion reflect off of jynn's big-ass over florescent gapped teeth
Probably the only thing capable of surviving a nuclear
Death Star
@@nightmareTomek I'm just imagining Cassian saying that at the end in his thick heavy accent 🤣 totally believable
One thing I think nobody else comments about in this movie is the Monk character. Don't recall his name. Don't really recall anyones name, to be honest. But the idea behind him was interesting. He was clearly force sensistive, yet grew up in an era without the Jedi. And yet he knew of them, and knew what they were like in a general sense, and so developed his own form of Force use. It was weak, underdeveloped, and primitive... but it's also exactly what you'd expect to happen.
I really would like to follow more force sensitives learning to use their powers without proper instructions. It's a cool idea.
Great video, mate. Just a quick observation. The Rogue One script was never finished. The kept writing it during principal photography as well
Excellent analysis. This type of commentary is why I wish we had the original cut edition of Rogue one. It was supposed to be darker, grittier, and I would have loved that. Rogue one is still good though!
I have to imagine including Bazz and Chirrut was important to the old school Lucasfilm employees who had a general idea of where Lucas wanted to take the films before it was sold to Disney. The Whills was an important concept to him that Disney wanted no part of.
What's odd is I think the TFA novelization mentions the Journal of the Whills in its prologue. When I first heard that detail back in 2015 or so I thought we might actually hear more about them in the subsequent films. I'd definitely love to read George's treatments for his sequel trilogy.
I would give just about anything to hear more about the Whills...if Disney really wants to wring out the Star Wars franchise for all they can get, then they should probably think about maybe doing a spin off or even just a series of episodes within another spin off that goes into more detail....I would LOVE to watch ANYTHING about the Whills; Jedha and the Guardians, and the Temple, anything.
@@autumnmoon4460 supposedly George's sequels would have delved into their world.
@@ioncewasmikey I would've loved that...
@@autumnmoon4460 I'm not convinced it'd be good, but I am certain it'd be more original & interesting than what we got instead.
I liked Rogue One, and I am enjoying Andor for the same reason: It felt and looked like Star Wars, it was respectful to the lore and it didnt damage any charachters. It expands the galaxy and shows us something other than the Skywalker Saga. Both the movie and the show show us the ugly side of the rebellion too... the criminal terrorist side. Its very real in that portrayal, and alowed us to see the rebels as something other than white hat good guys, and the Empire as more than just Evil Personified. That there's more going on in both the Rebellion and the Empire and it doesn't all revolve around Jedi and Sith. The Rebellion was technically a criminal organization and had to do some shady things to operate.
Andor is really good at showing how rebellions are messy and dangerous, and the Empire for the most part is just a government doing its job. And through terrorist acts, the Empire was driven to the iron fisted crackdown that inevitably motivated the galaxy to band together under a single organized rebel force... and that it was deliberately taunted out of them by rebel elements... by Mon Mothma herself. They force the Empire to hurt people, to wake them up so they all stand up.
Rouge One and Andor are less Disney, less fairy tale, less "history as written by the winners" than the entire Star Wars movie Saga.
I have read a lot of Star Wars literature, some directly relevant to the Skywalker Saga and some about seconday charachters and some that are merely in the same galaxy with only minor references to the events of the movies.
And the 'good' ones are good because aside from being well written, they feel like Star Wars. It felt like something that could really happen in the world Lucas created, and they portray that world in a believable way.
The Disney Sequels especially feel like complete fantasy. Like its certainly a fictional hero tale. They make the force out to be legit all-powerful magic without limits. They have a single warriro turning the tide of a major battle. Everything works out for everyone and they all get out alive and hugging each other.
Its very fairy-tale.
Rogue One and Andor are enjoyable departures from the "movies about space wizards for kids" thing that Star Wars became.
Love this movie and really enjoyed this video. One critique of your commentary is as a writer I can appreciate a critical goal of making the script as tight as humanly possible but maintaining audience interest and providing entertainment is also important. That Cassian scene at the beginning was valuable as a story element but it was also something that helped us become more intrigued with the character. It also did a great job of setting the tone for the film. Those would not be insignificant losses.
You mentioned the importance of cool shit in battles but it also matters in character moments as well
Yes, and this is also part of why Chirrut and Baze were great characters, whether or not they added something important to the plot. They were fun! Sometimes that's enough. And as another poster said above, it also gives you characters you know and love to follow during critical parts of the third-act battle.
We need Bothans Spies: A Star Wars story
About the bothans that stole the plans to the 2nd death star as well as acquiring the information that the emperor himself is on the station.
Except that the Emperor knew and let them steal it, to sucker the rebel fleet into an engagement with the actually-operational second Death Star. It would be a pretty depressing tale.
@@rikk319 i think it can be done well then if watched chronologically it is a little depressing knowing they were suckered, but the victory that the rebels win that much sweeter.
I'm glad I found your channel, Gold man. I was disappointed when I saw the Prequels in the theater and unsure of the continuity and storyline of the Sequels. As I've explored various Star Wars channels on TH-cam, I have to say yours and ones like Star Wars Theory and Kyle Katarn have allowed me to grow into those movies. Plus, actually sitting down and watching what Dave Filoni did with the animated series have given me a new perspective on the Prequels and connective tissue between each movie Episode. Great analysis for Rogue One.
Your channel is growing🎉 Good work.
It is! And thank you for supporting me!
Even though I don't agree with some points you made, this helped me better understand some problems people have with this film.
However, dismissing the Eadu scene as unimportant to how the plot changes the characters is just... I can't get on board with that.
1. After Galen dies, Jyn has nothing to live for. Whatever hope she had of rescuing her father was dashed, and all she can do is carry out his last wish. Galen's death makes the movie more impactful and makes Jyn more invested in the conflict.
2. It evolves the character dynamic between Jyn and Cassian
3. It leans more into the dehumanizing nature of war, and its cost in life, which is a central theme of Rogue One.
I like how you don’t just say what’s wrong with the movie, but also how to fix it. This shows that you don’t just want to hate on the movie, but want to find ways it could have been better.
God I remember this movie so fondly, especially because of our diverse cast of characters and personalities.
One detail I love, I know we're going to get more of! In the most recent Andor episode we meet Melshia in prison.
This is one of my favorite Star Wars movie period. It did so many things right. Loved the characters and action scenes. All the planets were cool. It just screamed Star Wars! I just loved everything about it!
One thing that hit me in the feel is that among all the deaths in the entire SW series, nothing feels as tragic and sad to me as the scene where K-2SO gets blasted while guarding the vault door. Man, that feels so different. He's the only droid we can empathize with his death somehow. Droid is meant to be replaceable yet K-2SO has so much character that his death is so meaningful.
Rogue One is a great movie. When listening to the video creator's critique about it, all I could think of was "wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong..."
Just rewatched Rogue One, yah still liked it!
I like the pacing in the first act. It is fine to me that you have pay attention and use your brain for a moment from time to time.
One of the best SW films in my book.❤️🤖
I disagree that with Jin being a passive character is a bad thing. I can't remember the essay video I watched years ago but they made a good point of how worthless one's life is when they have no other choice but be passive, that for some characters they'll never have a purpose or something like that. It was years ago and I'm basically remembering paraphrases.
Because of Rogue One, TFA is the only SW movie that is correctly numbered: Episode IV-VI are the first to third movies, Episodes I-III are the fourth to sixth, but Episode VII is the seventh movie; but then Episode VIII is the 9th movie and the numbering is ruined forever.
Also makes me notice that no one refers to the ST as episodes VII, VIII or IX. The PT and OT are often referred to by their number (especially the Prequels) but the ST are always referred to by their title. Come to think of it I believe marketing stopped referring to them by their number at least starting with VIII. I’m not even sure it’s part of their official titles.
The pacing for the first act was perfect. It’s not jarring, it’s engaging.
Having read Catalyst before the movie came out really provided a whole different level to the narrative of the movie. Totally recommend it!
What is it about sorry?
It gives background information for the movie
@@harrisonmaul1020 it’s about jins parents and their friendship with krenick , from the clone wars to when Galen flees with lira and Jin leave the empire as deserters to live in the farm. It also tells the story of how they extinguished all geonisians that worked on the Death Star
After watching Rogue One again for the Re-release to Theaters leading to the Andor Show, I realized that one of the reasons why I love the film is the subtle evolving character growth between Jyn and Cassian. First Jyn is unsure if Cassian is a deceiving person like Saw or Galen(who she believes abandoned her coldly). The look she gives when K-2SO tells her that Cassian doesn't trust her is one of "I'm not sure whether or not I should trust him". and her line of "trust goes both ways" is her rolling the dice and opening herself up a little to another person after being emotionally closed off for so long. Obviously when she finds out Cassian was going to kill her father she displays anger but importantly also disappointment that yet another person has deceived her but quickly switches to understanding after Cassian spoke about fighting endlessly in a war sense he was young and how like her his life is filled with tragedy. She then warms up to Cassian after he got the Rebel Guerilla fighters to fight with them. Showing how he was Emotionally closed off for a long time as well as he did bad things for the rebellion but deciding to change on account of her actions, finally meeting someone who she can rely on to be be her side. My second favorite part was when they were in the Vault and Cassian got shot by Krennic and seemingly falling to his death. The look on her face showed that she was actually really starting to like Cassian and was in disbelief that he may be died, sad even. My top favorite moment was when Cassian saved Jyn and her look of happiness she gives to him, both of then walk together to the elevator and them staring into each other as they descend both fully bathed in an emotion either of them hadn't felt in a long time. And as they both faced the approaching shining death they embraced eachother warmly content on their fate. "Her faith carried him with her" that pretty much sums but there arcs in the film. If I had to choose a way to die one of the ways would be to die the way Cassian did. Staring into the eyes/face of a Beautifully Heavenly Women and being embraced with love sorrowful but gratified knowing the goals they sought to accomplish were met 100%. Dying with some regrets perhaps but overall dying feeling alive and being with a person they grow to love.
I think Gold Man here missed the point. The point is freedom and choice. She get more and more of each as the movie goes on. you can tell this was the entire point just by the framing of each shot. its starts confined, and slowly pulls out though the film.
This is honestly one of the best video essays I've ever seen. You helped me understand exactly why I feel kind of eh about this movie and why so many people disagree with me on that. This is the first video I've seen from you, and you got a rare instant subscribe from me. Great job, man.
Thank you so much for the kind words! Means more than you know
Found you recently and have been enjoying your videos! I’m curious if you’ll do a “20 years later” video for Pirates of the Caribbean since the first movie’s anniversary is coming up very soon
There's actually something nice about Vader *not* ever mowing through mooks in the Original Trilogy: it makes it far easier for me to accept his redemption.
In the OT, he's an incredibly powerful pawn, but stops when Tarkin tells him to, for example. But then in the prequels he's off slaughtering younglings, and I'm just not convinced that's redeemable.
I sort of disagree with what you're saying about it being a weakness that Jyn is a passive character in the first bit. I felt like that was reflective of both her stance on the Empire v.s the Rebellion and how her character is. Once she begins to stand up to the Empire and becomes a rebel, she starts actively making decisions.
Wow you’re channel is blowing up like crazy
I’ll never forget the OGs!
This is a great video essay. Because it explains the faults and also gives you more to appreciate, and it’s all done in such an eloquent way. Great video
I was one of those kids that stood in line, Christmas 1977 (UK), to watch a film I was super excited to see.... I'd read the book, the pictures in it filled me with a sense of awe, we talked about it at school.... and Star Wars has subsequently been part of my life ever since. Rogue One, outside of the OT, is the best to have been released - overall, apart from Empire and New Hope, Rogue One is by far my favourite. I love how it's gritty - it feels like a Star Wars universe. Ok, it's not perfect, but.... yeah.... I just wished everything else was like this. As for pacing, ach it's super simple to keep up with. Andor's scene at the start is needed, it sets them as rebels... there's a cause.
Andor makes this movie so much better it’s honestly insane.
It's ironic how many times you mention 'what does it change / it does not change anything" when the entire movie changes everything about the Death Star plans and its circumstances as we know it in ANH. :D
???
In other words, pre Rouge One, the fatal flaw in the exhaust port was a result of Imperial hubris (not to mention the Leia's lie about her diplomatic mission to Darth Vader was likely more believe). Post Rouge One Leia has some insane balls lying the way she does. And the flaw was purposeful.
I don’t agree with everything you said, but I will say this. You make a compelling case for every point you raise.
As a result I thoroughly enjoyed this break-down and analysis. A thoughtful and considered critique that made me question and reassess my entire attitude toward this film.
Extremely well done.
That’s all I can ask for, thank you for the kind words!
If qui gon never went gambling for a child, then the death star never would have been blown up
"Rogue One" is a masterpiece. The only thing Disney had done correctly, in my opinion.
Andor was absolute fire too though!!
I truly enjoyed this movie and it's better then any of the newer Star wars movies in my opinion I can go and rewatch this movie and still enjoy it I do it all the time but would not even start watching one of the newer movies again once was enough the people making the movies these days should look back and see what made rouge one different cause it's definitely the best of all the movies
amazing movie. no notes. perfection from start to finish.
I regret never getting to see Rogue One at a movie theater.
This movie is proof that a Halo Reach movie needs to be made
I liked it and Andor is sooooo damn good.
You know what most war movies do is not have a lot of character development. And I'm fine with that. Rogue One still works very well in this capacity. I agree with you on the first chapter is very weird in jumping all around. Having a main character that doesn't have any choice isn't a problem either, but when they find something to fight for, that's when they shine. For the other characters, having different flavors of characters is what war movies are all about. Try watching some. Battle of the Bulge is a good one that I like to watch. Maybe Force Ten From Navarone as well.
Frankly, I had difficulty following all the characters being thrown at me so quickly. Now I know how my Mom feels about quickly paced movies, she gets a blank look on her face. It's Input Buffer Overrun.
It's my favorite Star Wars movie from all the new ones I didn't even see the others in the cinema except 7. It gives you that old Star Wars feeling, of a huge Galaxy for you to explore.
Rogue One isn’t just my favorite Disney Star Wars film, it’s like 1B to ROTJ’s 1A for me. I do agree, there were some pacing issues in the first half of the film, and I’m not fond of the Borgalet scene, but the entire film felt so authentically Star Wars. It managed to expand the universe despite happening just before ANH and everything still had that lived in feel to it. The final battle sequence is more intense than any battle in the franchise and the Red and Gold Leader cameos drew so many cheers in the theater I was in. Top notch Easter Eggs. This film just did so much right for Star Wars that I don’t just enjoy it, I appreciate it.
These are all great points as always
Thank you!
This is my favorite Disney era movie and my 3ed favorite Star Wars movie period. Only beat out by Revenge and Empire. This movie was and still is fantastic. This movie expanded the SW universe like no other in canon. This film (other than some bland characters.) Has almost no flaws. Krennic, Jyn, Cassin and Vader were all great in this movie. This is fan service done right. 9.5/10 Holds up very well. I would argue this is the best modern “blockbuster” in the traditional sense. (Death Trooper ls are the best trooper.)😂
100%
The thing that REALLY bugs me about Rogue One is the name of the droid; It should be K2SO4 !
K2SO just doesn't make sense. Without the stabiliising effect of the other three pi-bonded oxygens the potassium sulph-oxide salt would be a free radical, unstable and prone to flying apart . . . OH!, that's genius.
So many layers.
K2SO + 4. Everything bounded by force!
You spend 40 minutes crying about how things aren’t necessary to the plot like going to see Galen but that entire scene is incredible because of the conversation between him and the imperials. Just because it’s not vital to destroying the Death Star doesn’t mean it’s a bad scene or that it shouldn’t be in the movie. I think you are nitpicking way too hard. I get trying to come up with a nuanced opinion but you want scene about Jyn as a child? Wouldn’t that NOT be vital to the plot? Just enjoy a good movie. Not everything has to be 100% vital to the end goal of the film. Jyn seeing her dad again was beautiful.
Personally, even when I was a dumb kid (dumb enough to where I thought phantom menase wasn't terrible), I loved this movie, and its my favourite star wars movie.
I remember watching the movie, and felt like a lot of trailer / behind the scenes footage was absent. at first i thought my memory was playing tricks on me, but then i heard like 40% of it was reshot, but honestly, if i hadn't watched any trailers, i probably wouldve had 0 idea there was any reshooting, it feels quite cohesive / tonally consistent (i mean, mcu movies with 0 worries about reshooting feel less tonally consistent then a SW movie with this disadvantage)
I just adore the action, visuals, worlds, dark themes, music and characters
I didnt even find the pacing jarring at all, ive always kept up with whats gone on (and disagree with many of your issues, or I'm aware of them now but take no issue because, as humans we interpret things differently)
I feel like I could ramble on about why I also love almost everything about Rogue One, but instead im going to name all the main (ish) characters in this movie just cuz youve said before some fans only remember the names of Jyn, Cassian and K2-SO (obviously for all u know i couldve just typed them up now, so i guess your gonna have to believe me remembering these names as a 13 year old + u already know that im aware of Tarkin, Bail + Vader right)
the 3 i just mentioned (duh)
Galen Erso
Lyra Erso
Baze Malbus
Chirrut Imwe
Bhodi Rook
Saw (from CW so i already knew him)
Orson Krennic
Garven Dreis
Mon Mothma
Anton Merrick
Pao + Bistan (these 2 barely appear but they were in the marketing a lot)
Oh, and my favourite character from this movie, in the same way Dave Filoni loves Plo Koon, I will forever be happy this movie gave us ADMIRAL RADDUS (also my kinda Admiral Ackbar)
Despite this, (along with your bad batch + resistance takes) being 1 of the few things i super, super disagree with u on, i at least respect that u mentioned the stuff you loved, and even when you didnt like stuff, you gave an explanation, maybe not 1 i get / agree with, but an explanation that isnt anywhere as absurd as a whiny man baby falsely accusing Rey of being a mary sue for having the ability to breathe and walk forward, or saying obi wans character was ruined cuz he temporarily wore googles (?). And your not trying to make people feel alone about their opinions or belittle their opinions, so thanks
Cant wait for next video
Personally I think its a solid entry just not very memorable. It took me way too long to remember Jyn’s name for example.
Respectable take!
That’s just because Jyn is only in this movie.
A problem I see with the Jyn Erso character is that she is split into "I don't care and I don't want to be involved" and "I rebel because I am a rebel" and the switch doesn't happen naturally. Andor is a firm believer in the cause but he thinks the ends justifys the means. Jyn should have been the counterpart of the believer in the goodness that turns him around.
I always saw the nature of the plot contrivance of the exhaust port being the weakness in A New Hope was to illustrate how hubris can be ones undoing, that being the case where the emperor would have not determined that a single, tiny, insignificant exhaust port would even be considered a weakness because of how small and insignificant it was.
Not unlike how the emperor had treated the rebellion up until that point, nothing more than an annoying whimper from some tiny bands of insignificant people.
which was thrown away by Rogue One...
Maybe I was giving Lucas too much credit... but it was always a good lesson for me when viewed through that lens...
Good point!
I remember when this came out people were saying this was right next to Empire Strikes Back! I wanted to love this movie, but you nailed why I can't!
My opinion this is the best Star Wars movie ever
Have you not watched The Empire Strikes Back or Revenge of the Sith?
totally agree...best ever
@@smoker5989 Sith and Empire are objectively the best.
They should have made more of these battle centric Star Wars movies. A Clone Wars battle centered around the clones and a random alien Jedi on a planet with strange conditions would be cool. A movie showing the Empire brutality invading a holdout Separatist or Rebel planet a la Dune could be scary and fascinating. And a Old Republic movie that resembles a sword and sandals movie like Gladiator, Hero, or Ran would be epic.
I would buy that for a....
I find it interesting how so many fans claim that Rogue One is some of the best Star Wars put out by Disney (with some very few even saying it's some of the best Star Wars in general), but every video about the film that I come across always shows this to not really be the case.
Great video by the way. If there's one crucial thing that I think was missing from the video, then it would've been the excessive amount of member berries fan service within the film. I believe that Rogue One is partially responsible for why so many of the modern day Disney+ Star Wars shows often resolve to camoes and call backs to the older films and TV shows, because Rogue One was filled with so many that didn't push the story foward and people responded well to the film
Saying it since 2019 and I'm gonna say it again.
This movie isn't bad but most of its characters just don't work. Jyn sudden character change into believing in the rebellion and in hope after they were responsible for the death of her father, completely ruins the character to me. Like it felt like I've missed something for this to happen. Cassian goes from being an extreme rebel to still be an extreme rebel.
Chirrut and Baze(I only learned of his name in 2021 lmao) were barely developed but it still doesn't make sense as to why they are fighting for the rebellion. They never signed up for it and they felt like they were only for the ride. They're reaction to the destruction of their whole planet is baffling. Bodhi had a small character arc by becoming more confident with himself and finishing the task Galen gave him but he also suffers from not much focus. K2 is cool and the best character on the team. Saw had the dumbest death in star wars and had no point. One of the biggest wastes of a character. Krennic was fine.
Everything else in the movie was done fairly well imo but nah if the movie isn't the most overrated product ever. It isn't the best Disney movie by far.
TFA is better and I prefer TROS to R1 because that movie has actual characters and good villains.
Nicely said!
R1 is for adult.The rest of star wars movies are for kid
The film is gorgeous and all the heroes dying at the end was heartbreaking. Rogue One was close to greatness and could've defined a new era of beautiful, dramatic Star Wars films, but what we got was the sequel trilogy.
I love the sequels!
Sorry, but I think any of the Sequels are better than Rouge One.
There was some recognition the rogue one team got but it was from the comics, where Luke after he blew up the Death Star contemplates their sacrifice and morns / gives them his respect, and he did so by renaming his fighter squadron to “Rogue” just to honour them
In ROTJ the battle of Endor Rogue squadron is re-renamed back to red squadron to honour the fallen from the battle of Yavin
This whole tradition of renaming rebel call signs to honour their fallen really hits hard and I really hope they continue it in the new cannon, and since the new rogue squadron show is coming out soon, I’m hoping they’ll mention why the squad got that call sign in the first place……
You know, one thing I like about Han Solo's death is that it shows his relationship with his son and just how unstable Ren is
How people love this movie but hate the others is beyond me.
Well to start with Rey is like, the best example of a Mary Sue character ever.
When she beats a trained Sith in a lightsaber duel in the first movie when she had never picked up a lightsaber before, after using Jedi Mind tricks with no training whatsoever, her character became completely unbelievable.
She earned nothing in the entire trilogy. It was all handed to her cuz her character was invented at the beginning of Hollywood's misguided 'woke' period, which they're just beginning to recover from now after literally DOZENS of failed films.
'Get woke, go broke' is a very real thing. Jyn Erso is a much more likeable character than Rey. And the trilogy telling her story was just awful. The last movie was so bad I can't even...
'The Emperor Lives!' was the worst thing I've ever seen in a Star Wars crawl.
I'll stop there, but I'm one of the people that HATES the new trilogy, but likes this movie.
@@JohnSmith-mk1rj "When she beats a trained Sith in a lightsaber duel in the first movie when she had never picked up a lightsaber before," Thank you for taking that fight completly out of context. That alone is all I need to know to tell that you're completly dishonest. I'm disapponinted in you, be better.
@@gavinmyatt5589 Exactly. EXACTLY. God we need more people like you.
Yup
@@MediaLoverChris02 Well said brother! :D
the music gets pretty overlooked among the great visuals. It's a true bop
You say Star Wars has never really had beautiful cinematography, but if I'm being honest the prequels had gorgeous shots of all the different planets, especially Coruscant and Naboo. I grew up wishing I could live on Coruscant lol.
I wouldn’t say this is a bad movie, it’s just okay. I probably would go as far as to say that it’s hugely overrated. It has its moments as you pointed out (especially that Darth Vader scene in the finale) and I think the concept was really interesting but it was poorly executed in many ways and it genuinely baffles me that people call this not only the best Star Wars film in the recent era but one of the best in the franchise.