Captain Peregrin wrote:Leopardnight wrote:In reference to The Force Awakens vs. Rogue One, I'm not really sure which I preferred, but I know I like them both for different reasons. I thought while Force Awakens did use a lot of plot elements from A New Hope, I thought it was a good, fun movie and a good first film to begin the new trilogy. I liked Rogue One because it brought a different kind of Star Wars movie that was darker and more intense. I liked it because it threw me a couple curveballs. I'd assume it would go one way, and then it wouldn't. I'm not really sure which of the two I preferred, though.
Speaking as someone who was once heavily entrenched in the Star Wars EU, Rogue One wasn't such a novelty for me. JUST GIVE ME MARA JADE, IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?
On a more serious note, I wasn't that fond of Rogue One. The stuff with Vader was cool, but I didn't really get into the new characters much (and even the ones that I did care about...). It felt a little pointlessly dark, and the only "hope" at the end is exactly what you knew was coming all along. Maybe it would have worked better if they had tied it a little more to the events of A New Hope. I didn't hate it or anything, I just didn't get really invested.
I actually really liked The Force Awakens! Sure, it repeats a lot of the plot beats from the first movie, but I feel like they needed that framework to get the new story on its feet. I like how it humanizes the storm troopers and even the droids. It just feels like Star Wars, and I'm excited to see where they go with it next.
I just got back from watching Rogue One. Super minor spoilers below.
I think I enjoyed both of the new films equally, just in different ways. It's difficult to compare the two since they serve different purposes.
The introduction was a little boring, I thought. It took a while for me to care about what's going on and for the film to pick up a decent pace. Ultimately, around the last half of the film, I found it really engaging and I honestly cared for the characters. Without giving too much away, I loved Chirrut, the blind character. He was such an interesting inclusion and a lot of fun to watch. I adored the droid. BB8 was too much "the new R2D2". This droid is nothing like the ones we've had before and he/it brought some good laughs into the film.
All of the references to the original trilogy were pretty spot on, however I think some more of the original music could have been included. I did appreciate hearing the Imperial March at the appropriate moments, but there were some great moments to cue the Force theme which never happened, and I was left feeling a little empty. Same goes for the opening part of the film. At first I figured they'd skip the classic introduction all-together, but then the original "in a galaxy far away" text was displayed and I really thought it was going to happen... And then it didn't. Again, left feeling empty. I always love seeing the Star Wars logo zoom up and hearing the famous music. It makes it feel really exciting. It wouldn't really have been appropriate for this film, but then I wish they hadn't made it seem like they were going to do it. Just leave it out completely or go for it. Pick one. No?
One thing which I have mixed feelings about is Tarkin, the guy who works for Darth Vader who was in the original films. The actor who played him is long dead, so obviously they couldn't ask for him to pop back. They could have gone for a new actor, but I appreciate that they didn't. That said, the CGI recreation of his face was... unnerving. I'm not sure if it was something which worked for his character or distracted from the film. I found it incredibly noticeable.
All in all, I think it's a great inclusion to the Star Wars franchise. It exceeded my expectations, but that's probably due to the fact that I had incredibly low expectations. When the film was first announced I thought it'd be a sloppily written fanfic-like script to milk the franchise dry. Instead, I feel I got a very well-written and well-produced film to milk the franchise dry. I'm satisfied.
Tomorrow, I'm finally going to watch Moana, and in the evening I'm seeing Assassin's Creed with my boyfriend. He wanted to watch it in the cinema but doesn't like going alone. I don't mind going with him.
