Will’s Unpopular Opinion – The Rogue Oneders – 4-7-16
It’s here! Play the Yub Nub song! The trailer everyone forgot about and had no teased teasers for (somehow) has landed and put ‘The Force Awakens’ in the number 2 slot for internet over reactions; only sitting directly under it’s new Star Wars brethren, ‘Rogue One: A Dinosaur’s Story’, Disney’s first stand alone Star Wars movie ever released (since the Ewok abortions.) In this movie we got to see another female lead (completely igniting the entire internet community); Forest Whitaker (looking like an old black Darth Vader.), a mopey Empire senator (or something) giving off Admiral Thrawn vibes, and no Millennium Falcon! I didn’t see it anywhere! Did you!? There wasn’t even an homage to a Luke or Han or a robot hand anywhere to be seen. It was almost as if it’s a movie that has all new characters? And a new…..”sss-tory?” Come to think of it, how on earth is this movie going to succeed!? Maybe it will by not completely relying on nostalgia, and by actually telling a brand new adventure we haven’t seen before in this universe? Shut up and go home! You’re drunk on blue milk.
Trashed on Pabst Blue Milkin’
But yes it’s true, it is another Star Wars movie, with the same spaceships and world’s and costumes, but the trailer for ‘Rogue One’ did something I haven’t seen in a Star Wars movie for 30+ years… It gave me “hope”. It made me gleeful for a time where I didn’t need to know a lifetime’s worth of backstory just to understand what was going on, or wish I had read all the books before I had gone in to see the movie. ‘Rogue One’ is setting out to accomplish something a studio hasn’t done with a franchise.. maybe ever? (I’m sure somebody will correct me.) But, it’s telling a one-off story with no needed previous knowledge or precursor to the film before seeing it, while setting it within a known franchise. The movie will span between the first and second trilogy….or second and first trilogy (whatever works for you). No word yet if it’ll feature Darth Vader. Although not putting Darth Vader in a movie where the character is in his prime and oversees the construction of the most popular set piece in Sc-Fi history, would making Mac’n Cheese without cheese.
Will the movie work as a stand-alone film? The obvious answer is a resounding “yes”, but not completely because of the obvious Star Wars insignia plastered across posters and trailers alike, but possibly due to this being a Star Wars story people will be able to see fresh. As soon as the trailer began, you could tell this was not a typical story revolving around the Skywalker legacy, but was attempting to be it’s own thing. The grittiness and use of practical effects harkened back to an earlier era of film making. ‘Rogue One’ doesn’t seem to be being specifically marketed as a sequel or a remake, brandishing aliens and lightsabers everywhere it could. Rather the trailer simply tried to lay out an abbreviated semblance of a story in 90 seconds that felt like it wasn’t shoehorned in a universe so many people hold dear. It felt like there was actually a tale to tell.
Because a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, you picked a look and stuck with it forever…
That being said, I do think ‘Rogue One’ may have some marketing issues to newer fans. After all, this is a movie that further prequels ANH 77′ film, than sequels ROTS 05′. If someone unfamiliar to the series watches this, after only being exposed to ‘The Force Awakens’, it may be difficult to separate the two Death Stars in both films; putting the novice viewer in the position of assuming ‘Rogue One’ is a direct prequel to ‘The Force Awakens’. It’s not a total marketing nightmare, but possibly an unavoidable conundrum Disney may need to clarify closer to the release of the film. Right now all we know is a lose plot, and casting. It doesn’t say much to the movie as a whole, but definitely seems promising not just from a Star Wars fan’s view but a Sci-fi fan’s perspective as well. And I think that point specifically is what could separate this movie from others in the franchise. The rumors of a potential Han Solo movie will still feel as though it’s being carried heavily by nostalgia. Although ‘Rogue One’ is to a degree a nostalgic spin-off as well, it’s not reliant on anything but what you’ve been shown in the trailer to be understood or entertained by. It’s self sufficient and may actually become somewhat more relatable to movie goers because of that.
Now all of this isn’t to say it will outperform ‘The Force Awaken’. Actual sequels are huge money makers. You can’t discount audiences clamoring to see what happened to their favorite old heroes. It would be surprising to not see ‘Rogue Squadron kill in theaters, probably taking in just over a billion domestically. It’ll most likely be critically adored with minimal nay-sayers, receiving something like 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Thankfully a movie’s worth isn’t solely measured by it’s box office take in, but in this instance, they’ll probably accurately sit hand in hand. As far as having another female lead goes? Who give shit.
-Will Valle
