Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is probably the most hyped movie of the 2016-17 season and for good reason. This represents an opportunity to salvage one of the best movie franchises of all time. George Lucas nearly killed his creation with the prequels and while Star Wars: The Force Awakens did a great job of scratching that Baby Boomer itch to see the original characters again, Rogue just didn’t pass muster.
It reads like a junior high school fan fiction. It has all the familiar phrases – heck even a lot of the same scenes that Star Wars fans loved, but there is nothing really fresh about it. Okay, I do like the fact that they finally gave a valid reason why the most powerful weapon that has ever been created was built with a simple, fatal flaw. If you want cheese, this is a good film. It you absolutely must be transported back to the Star Wars setting, this is your film. If you like hearing the same story told with different characters, this is your film. If you don’t need well written dialogue, don’t need a fresh plot and have nothing else to do… this is your film.
There are also folks who say the ending is original in Star Wars lore, but it seemed gimmicky to me. If you want to show that your version of A Star Wars story is original… don’t rip off every previously good scene in the series and tie it off with a dramatic ending bow, try writing something fresh.
After all that ripping, you’d think I would give it a 2 or a 3 star rating, but I just can’t. It is still Star Wars and that is worth a star. It is sci-fi and that’s worth a star or two. It is set in another world – another star or two. Maybe I am being too generous here… what do you think?
RATING 5 out of 10
by Chris Doelle
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3 words – “Tag and Bink”