A few months ago, before Rogue One was released, I published a post on Facebook detailing my apprehensions about the upcoming film. Now that the movie has been released, I've decided to repost my original thoughts here. Here are (were) my concerns:
1.) Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) has a huge attitude problem. In the
trailer, Mon Mothma describes Jyn as "reckless, aggressive, and
undisciplined", to which Jyn shoots back an impudent "This is a
rebellion isn't it? I rebel." Later, in response to a question from what
looks like a superior officer, Jyn gives a very surly and disrespectful
"Yes, sir". Maybe it was just the way the trailer was cut, but I don't
think so. That being said, I have zero interest in seeing a movie about a
lone-wolf heroine who thinks she's too cool for the Rebel Alliance and
was only recruited because the Rebellion is desperate. Even if she ends
up having a character arc in which she discovers that there are things
more important than herself, we've already seen that in Han Solo (who
was much more likeable from the start). I'd much rather see a movie
about a heroic group of individuals who are willing to put their lives
on the line to stand up and fight against tyranny for the good of the
galaxy, in total alignment with Rebellion ideals.
2.) The tone is
too dark. Star Wars is known to be dark on occasion (Empire Strikes
Back, The Force Awakens) but it is always, ALWAYS, balanced by a sense
of wide-eyed wonderment at getting to experience such a huge universe.
(If you don't believe me, go rewatch the asteroid belt sequence from
Empire or Finn and Rey's escape from Jakku in The Force Awakens.)
Conversely, this movie feels like it's trying to mimic the tone of The
Dark Knight, just like Star Trek Into Darkness tried to mimic it in
2013. I kept expecting to hear Benedict Cumberbatch doing a voiceover
"Darkness is coming... you think your world is safe..." and to see the
Millennium Falcon crashing to the ground trailing black smoke. There was
also a scene with beach warfare that looked more like Saving Private
Ryan than Star Wars. This Russian poster (http://tinyurl.com/jew3rtv), accompanied by the headline "This Russian Rogue One Poster Puts the War in Star Wars", really says it all.
3.) No John Williams. Rogue One will be the first live-action Star Wars
movie to not be scored by John Williams. Instead, the music for this
movie is being composed by some guy named Alexandre Desplat. Not only
does his name sound like a tablespoon of mayonnaise hitting the sidewalk
but, judging from what we've heard so far, he's not even trying to come
up with anything original or innovative. Even after the huge success of
the original Star Wars soundtrack in 1977, John Williams didn't rest on
his laurels. He went on to compose the instantly classic Imperial March
for Empire Strikes Back and then other instantly recognizable tunes
such as Kylo Ren's theme from Episode VII, Duel of the Fates from
Episode I, or Across the Stars from Episode II. Mr. Desplat, on the
other hand, appears to have opted for re-orchestrated covers of already
established John Williams themes. They sound pretty much like the
originals except, you guessed it, *darker*. (And occasionally mixed with
a blaring siren, for good measure.)
4.) Fan Service. The most
recent (I think) trailer ends with a shot of Darth Vader activating his
light saber in slow motion. This shot lasts for a full 15 seconds. 15
seconds. Of Darth Vader activating a light saber. I don't mind Darth
Vader being in the movie, but only if he contributes to the plot in a
meaningful way. I'm worried that Darth Vader will be crammed into a
movie where he doesn't belong just because the filmmakers decided "Oh,
we *have* to put in Vader!". We've all seen what happens when a new
movie sacrifices originality in order to cram in as many needless
references as possible to older (and better) subject matter. (I'm
looking at you Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Hobbit trilogy).
5.) Mr. Miyagi. The trailer shows a scene (twice) that features an
oriental-looking man, wearing what looks like a karate gi, beating up
stormtroopers ninja-style with a wooden staff. Now, I have nothing
against ninjas, but they have no place in a Star Wars movie. That's why
we have Jedi. Who knows, maybe he is a Jedi and he just didn't have a
light saber. For whatever reason, the fact that he didn't have a light
saber really bothered me. Call me crazy. To be fair, he could be using a
fighting style found in the (now apocryphal) EU that hasn't yet been
seen on the main screen. However, to be more fair, I don't really care
about the EU, and 95% of the audience won't either. The EU gets pretty
weird guys. Shots fired, I know. Crucify me later. Finally, to be
completely fair, Kylo Ren's "cross-guard saber" really bothered me too
when I first saw the Star Wars VII teaser, but I ended up loving that
movie.