Review: Rogue One- A Star Wars Story

0
9512

Star Wars it has always been a franchise aimed at children and young people. Of the ewoks, passing through the races of pods to the recent and fun animations, creating George Lucas it never had great pretensions of depth and dramatic charge. His big goal has always been to sell as many licensed products as possible, at a time when geeky memorabilia wasn't nearly the good business it is today. Collectibles – with the rare exceptions of a few more excited adults – were things aimed at kids, yes. Some reader friends may argue about the Expanded Universe – but notice how this is just an attempt to extend the canonical universe to a more diverse and – perhaps – more demanding audience. It is obviously a fun and captivating franchise, but the truth is that it has always relied on a lot of our affectionate memory for its success.

However, all of us – who have learned to love the universe of Star Wars when young – we grow up. And ewoks come to seem absolutely unnecessary; the stupid pod races; and those piles of collectibles were huddled in some corner. And there was that desire to see something more elaborate – or, at least, more serious – within the legend created by Lucas. What would it really be like to immerse yourself in this conflict between the rebels and the Empire, beyond the allegedly Shakespearean conflicts between Vader and Luke? Or more – what would it be like to see the Vader the galaxy really learned to fear, outside of the reluctant father facet we see in the original saga? Well then, dear reader. prepare your blaster, why Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is the film that finally makes us understand the “War” in Star Wars.

Crítica: Rogue One- Uma História Star Wars 1

There is no comic relief or cute pets in Rogue One. There is indeed a tremendous – and very, very brave – change of tone compared to the rest of the franchise. This movie is not a sci-fantasy Manichean light about men in pajamas and a half-robotic villain dueling with colored laser swords. It is the story of a dirty war, of a desperate and resourceless group of people rising up against an oppressive and bloodthirsty regime, which destroys cities from a distance with disproportionate power and keeps the population in check with the presence of a well-trained army. to institute fear. It is the story of a conflict that leaves behind a trail of pain, suffering, broken families and lost lives, whose resistance of a small band of strays is based partly on a feeling of revenge, partly on a distant and elusive hope of victory against a much more powerful enemy. In other words, it's not a soap opera space, it's a war movie. And it needs to be understood that way.

Not that he needs this addendum. The film has its own merits beyond counting. Starting with the fact that the plot, confirming expectations of it, actually fixes one of the biggest script holes – or bad shortcut, as you prefer – in franchise history: the opening in the Death Star that allowed Luke blow it up in A new hope. Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is a brilliant scientist forcibly enlisted by the Empire to build the Death Star's main weapon. Brutally separated from his wife and daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones), Galen decides to resist the Empire more intelligently: he deliberately leaves a flaw in the Star's design and enlists the help of a deserter, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) to bring this knowledge to the rebels. A sequence of events begins that will lead Jyn to the Alliance, where she will play a vital role in making her father's plan a success.

Being a war movie that it is, Rogue One it is much more about the context than about a specific narrative development or even about the characters themselves. It is possible to make the mistake of believing that this is a film about a woman who becomes a rebel against the Empire. It is not. It's a film about a rebellion that recruits people for a mission, no matter what the cost, and about an Empire that firmly believes in the superiority of its firepower to disrupt that rebellion. The characters and their narrative are less important than the circumstances, and this particular aspect is brilliantly crafted by the director, Gareth Edwards, in Godzilla, which exalts the moral ambiguity of its protagonists and the despair of the situation in which they find themselves. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), captain of the Alliance and responsible for recruiting Jyn, is presented in a way that justifies this argument and that will certainly shock the audience, since he is, in theory, one of the “good guys”.

Crítica: Rogue One- Uma História Star Wars 2

It is interesting to note that Andor, as well as other characters such as Saw Guerrera (Forest Whitaker), an extremist within the Alliance who represents the typical figure who does not negotiate or plan his attacks, or Chirrut Imwe (the fantastic Donnie Yen), a kind of “blessed” of the Force who keep their unshakable hope supported by their faith, play roles that always arise within a context of war, and this is one of the merits of Rogue One. Following the primer of good war movies , where this is always the protagonist, the script of Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy uses the characters to bring out different perspectives on the situation, and we have a deeper understanding of what this conflict really means – and how much it costs – for people in that universe who aren't powerful Force users or reckless bounty hunters. remember in A new hope, in the scene where Mon Mothma tells the Alliance council almost in tears that the Death Star's plans were achieved “at a great cost of lives”? this film viscerally shows us the size of this cost and the reason for this woman's expression.

Maybe for this Rogue One end up causing a feeling of strangeness for those who will watch it, believing it to be a film in the franchise Star Wars. Its pace is a bit fickle, too intense, with very little room for comic relief, and for those who weren't expecting a heavy war movie, this can be a negative shock. Incidentally, the genre of the film, coupled with Edwards' lack of talent for directing actors, makes another aspect of the film problematic – the acting is average. In fact, protagonists Jyn and Cassian are perhaps the least engaging onscreen. Felicity Jones walks through the devil on screen with an expression of one who's just really pissed off, while Luna doesn't convince as a guy with a disturbing past. It ends up being left to the supporting actors to try to steal the scene, but the short screen time and the volume of things happening doesn't allow much highlight.

Problems don't detract from the rest of the experience itself. The special effects are exquisite and the feeling of depth, generated by the perspective of destroyers parked over people's heads, or the Death Star looming over the horizon, creates an urgency, a feeling of oppression about what we see on the screen, as if the defeat of those we call heroes were imminent. However, the preciousness of the special effects is not only in the great perspectives or combat scenes, but also in the incredible facial reconstruction of Peter Cushing, who returns straight from the grave to haunt the galaxy as Governor Tarkin. Died in '94, the actor gains such a trustworthy reenactment that it's even uncomfortable to think that we can simply bring anyone back to life on screen.

Crítica: Rogue One- Uma História Star Wars 3

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story it's everything adult fans of the franchise could hope for and more. Although it has no Jedi and mentions of the Force are a distant reality preached by blind monks, the film gives us a completely new – and brutal – perspective on the events of the classic trilogy. It's no exaggeration to say that he even – given the new information he offers – improves on the classic trilogy. This whole new context is so well constructed and explored that it seems safe to say that Edwards' film is just as good – albeit completely different in tone and intent – as the best film in the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back. Disregarding the affective memory we have of those light adventures that give the grade of Ep. IV, V and VI, maybe even better. And if the reader friend doubts, wait for the third act of the film before judging. Or rather, wait until Darth Vader's last appearance, and after you've got your chin on, we'll talk.

And may the Force be with you, because to arrive unharmed until the end of Rogue One, youre gonna need it.

Review credits go to our friends at Electric Ant.

LEAVE AN ANSWER

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here