I was not particularly interested in seeing this movie. I know there are a lot of people (some of whom I know personally) really love the Star Wars universe. And I get it why they do. I like Star Wars as well, but I pretty much like any good science fiction. As I've noted before, I'm more a Star Trek kind of guy.
We went to see "Rogue One" last night, and as we were leaving we both said, "That was a lot better than I expected". That's because we had low expectations for the film. But the film didn't just beat those low expectations, we both enjoyed it very much.
It gets off to a really slow start. The first 15-20 minutes are spent introducing the main characters in a variety of different, non-connected locations and situations. We also get a tour of various galactic hot spots: moons, planets, Imperial bases and the like. Sort of like a dramatis personae crossed with a travelog. Boring. I was literally falling asleep during this part.
But fortunately the story started and it got interesting and exciting.
Consider the problems of the story writer. Before this we knew nothing about how the Alliance got the plans for the Death Star beyond the bare fact that some rebels had obtained them. The writers (it took 5 people to write it) had to come up with a story with virtually nothing to guide them. It helped, I'm sure that they had the details of the Star Wars universe to fill in the background.
Great literature it's not but, really, what did you expect? I don't think anyone had a conversation that lasted more than 2-3 sentences. Exposition was not what you came for anyway. You came for flying spaceships, blasting blasters, weird aliens and the occasional wise crack. You came to the right place.
Lots of daring do, great fight scenes, peril, explosions, bravery, evil intentions, and the story made sense. What more do you want? My biggest problem was trying to figure out everybody's name. I pretty much failed at that.
So, if you're not that really into Star Wars, go see the movie anyway.
One more thought. Does it seem to you that pretty much every Star Wars character, except for the crisp military people, wear rags and live on dusty planets?
2 comments:
Loved the movie. I'm like you...I like any good piece of science fiction. But SW is at the top of my list. Has been since I was a kid. By the way... didn't you get the memo? In the SW universe... all of the cool kids dress in rags.
Actually, my nephew told me that this movie/storyline is very similar to a 1995 Star Wars video game
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