Sunday, December 25, 2016

ROGUE ONE - A STAR WARS STORY (2016)



Director:     Gareth Edwards
Writers:       Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy (screenplay)
John Knoll, Gary Whitta (story by)
Actors:  Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed

COMMENTS:   It’s a Star Wars movie, so of course I had to see it.  I’d been a fan since the first one and worked at Fox when it was released.  I liked things about it and felt saddened by other things.

What I liked about it:  The grandeur, the scope, the overall vision and the action/adventure aspects are absolutely breathtaking.  George Lucas, who conceived and initiated this franchise must have a telephone line directly to extraterrestrial species who are telling him the true nature of our reality.  With the billions of galaxies out there, and the billions of stars in each galaxy, somewhere out there this kind of thing must really be happening.

What saddened me about this movie is the sheer complexity of the storyline.  It was so hard to follow.  I lost track of who were the good guys vs. the bad guys. The first movie had so much to say about human frailty and emotional territories.  This one focuses more on techno aspects and galactic territories.

Maybe that’s the reality… that compared to the uncountable ET species out there who have evolved through thousands and millions of years, our intellect is like an ant’s mind compared to human IQ.  Maybe we need to pay attention to movies like this to prepare for what some day may arrive to confront us.  If we don’t evolve fast enough to use more than our current 10% brain-usage standard, then we ain’t got a chance against future reality.

That’s just what I think.  Back to the movie:  It’s a Star Wars journey where an individual dares to revolt against an entire galactic power (an ant deciding to bite all humans on Earth?).  It’s a heroic journey for Jyn, well rendered by Felicity Jones. Forrest Whitaker has a forbidding character to play, and he does so with exquisite artistry.  I wished Diego Luna, who portrays sensitive characters well, had put more dash and derring-do in his portrayal.  But then, there’s only one Harrison Ford, right?    I LOVED Donnie Yen's character, the superb, but blind martial artist.  His story is worth watching in a separate movie, along with his wonderful sidekick, played by Wen Jiang. Gareth Edwards directed with vision, but I yearned for George Lucas's understanding that ultimately, it comes down to heart and soul.

Nevertheless, I believe this movie is worth watching on so many levels, especially the CGI effects, which are complex, sophisticated beyond human ken, and unquestionably brilliant.  Just be prepared to get lost a few times.  I wasn't prepared for the surprise ending, which made it fun!

SUMMARY:  GEN: 8;  JUST: 6 (Darth Vader is still alive, but then there would be no future movies if he died, right?); HUVA:  5 (of course in wars, human values are nearly zero).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/?ref_=nv_sr_2
TAGS:  Star Wars, Rogue One, Gareth Edwards, Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forrest Whitaker, Donnie Yen, Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy

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