Rogue One

Hello dear reader, quite a while back and in a galaxy that is many many miles away (Note to self: that strap line has potential but needs work, come back to it later), there was a story about a bunch of trouble making space rebels and their plans to stop a ‘rather large’ space station thingy from destroying like everything and stuff. This story was called Star Wars and it ended up making quite a lot of money. So much so that the man behind it, a Mr George ‘Jar Jar’ Lucas decided that he’d like to make some more films. And so began one of the most popular and influential sagas in film history. Directors came, went and came back again, as did the ability to write anything resembling a good screenplay. Actors got older, waistlines fought the eternal good fight against costumes, CGI was added, tweaked and then added some more and then Disney came along and bought up the entire franchise for just over four billion dollars and change. Now, you don’t part with that sort of money and not expect a return on your investment unless your last name is Trump or you happen to be clinically insane, possibly both. So, shortly after the ink had dried on the Lucas Film contract Kathleen Kennedy announced that there would be a Star Wars episode VII, VIII & IV. After this and once the internet had been fixed there was also an announcement that there would be three standalone films, that would also be set in the Star Wars universe. The first of these being the back story about how the Death Star plans were ‘half-inched’ and then passed onto those pesky space rebels I alluded to earlier. So there you have it. Episode VII has been and gone and as sure as night follows day, for the foreseeable future at least, we will be having regular visits and lots of space, Jedi, lightsaber, kill the baddies, my spaceship is cooler than yours, live long a prosper malarkey all set a long time ago in a galaxy far far away….

(I knew I’d nail that strap line if I gave it enough time)

So where to start with Rogue One. Well to begin with I will say it’s a great film but it’s by no means perfect. It does have its problems, some of which I will bring up later but before I get into the whole who, what, why when and where shenanigans I should warn you that there is absolutely no way on this earth, or on Tatooine for that matter, that I can say what needs to be said without drifting heavily into spoiler territory. In fact, I would go so far as to say that not only is it deeply in spoiler territory, it’s in flared wheel arches, twin bore exhausts and blanket on the parcel shelf territory too. So I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this then you’ve already seen Rogue One and you are fully aware of what happens, who it happens to and why they had to pluck a chicken to do it. If you haven’t seen it yet consider yourself warned and enter at your own peril…

So the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film are spent ‘world building’. We the audience get shown a series of different planets, which have all been conveniently labeled with title cards in the bottom corner. Just think Google Maps but on a much bigger scale. We’re introduced to new people and different characters. New good guys and new bad guys. 

Whilst we are planet hoping we are introduced to Lyra and Galen Erso, played by Valene Kane and Mads Mikkelsen respectively. They are the parents of Jyn Erso, a young girl who eventually becomes the hero of our film and who sets her stall out quite firmly under the good guy banner. 

Galen is visited by the Empire, in the form of Director Krennic. Krennic, who is played by one of Australia’s best ‘rent a bad guy’ actors Ben Mendelsohn and basically insists that Galen jumps on board ‘Project: Killer Death Beach Ball’ and during the course of his complex and convoluted negotiations Lyra decides to stop living and Jyn dips her toes in the world of competitive hide and seek. Krennic then leaves with Galen and before you can say ‘secretly working for the bad guys but making sure that I put a HUGE design flaw into the plans I submit’ Galen is working for the bad guys etc etc. Now, one of the reasons I think Rogue One doesn’t have an opening crawl is because this is all basically shown as flashback. Well to be honest it’s all flashback, given that it's set a long time ago but this first section is more flashback than the rest. But because this film has a time jump in it, the start gives you all the back story you really need to be going on with and it probably doesn’t need one.  

When we do jump forward we see Jyn Erso played, very convincingly, by Felicity Jones. We find her stuck in prison for doing something we never get told about but I suspect is very naughty. As she is being transferred, along with other prisoners, a small rebel group attack and set her free and this then sets in motion a very long chain of events that ultimately lead Jyn back to her father and the recovery of the Death Star plans. 

So what do I like about Rogue one? Well to start with it actually feels like a good old fashioned Star Wars film. It is full of great characters including a fantastic droid voiced by Alan Tudyk and an interesting performance from Forrest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, and if you don’t like that character name Limpy McLimperson or Breathy McBreatherson would also work just as well. Ben Mendelsohn is a great bad buy and without wishing to be too harsh makes Hayden Christensen performances look about as scary as a Jawa armed with ice cream. It’s obvious from the start that a lot of time and effort has gone into trying to make this as good as they could but this now leads me into the ‘don’t like’ portion of my blog. Some of you may see a few of these complaints as completely wrong or just plain old nit picking but they did detract from my enjoyment of watching Rogue One.  

So in no particular order here goes… 

There aren’t any swipe edits.

For an expanded universe all the planets seem to be remarkably close to each other. For example, when the X-Wing fighters are dispatched to take out the Imperial base that Galen and Krennic are on they take about thirty five seconds to arrive.

The Death Star targeting seems to be as erratic and inconsistent as your average Strom Trooper. They manage to wipe out a city on Jedha without any problem at all but when the weapon is fired at the end of the film to stop the plans being uploaded, it misses by about 10 miles. That said I do like the fact that the Death Star seems to have an Eco or Green weapon setting and can be fired at low power. 

Governor Tarkin doesn’t work. It isn’t far off from being convincing but the CGI still isn’t good enough for me. And as for the other computer generated character at the end, well that looked even less realistic, in my humble opinion. 

I miss the 20th Century fanfare at the start. 

No Star Wars fanfare at the start either.

Darth Vader seems to be wearing rose tinted sunglasses, every time he’s on screen. 

Everyone dies.

Rogue One is basically one third chase movie, one third war movie and two thirds bad maths. It’s a solid four star film and I know it comes already burdened with expectation but there is definite room for improvement. The Emperor is mentioned but doesn’t get any screen time. The score from Michael Giacchino is good but it didn’t leave any lasting impression on me and overall I just got the impression that they were trying too hard to keep everyone happy. This is a good start for the standalone series and next we have the Han Solo origin chronicle, arriving at some point 2018. If it’s as good as Rogue One I’ll be happy. As long as he shoots first of course…

Twitter Review:

Strong female lead, a great character ensemble & a very strong effort.

#DoOrDoNotThereIsNoTry 

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/?ref_=nv_sr_2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC9abcLLQpI

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/rogue-one-star-wars-story/review/

The Theory of Everything

I'm going to start with a confession. I originally didn't want to see this film. From when I first became aware of The Theory of Everything to seeing its trailer I just had at best a lukewarm reaction to it. I suspect a lot of people, like myself, categorise films when they first here about them or stumble across a teaser trailer into 'must see', 'I'll wait for the dvd', 'take it or leave it' and ‘not interested in the slightest’. This last category is where movies go to die as far as a I’m concerned and should I ever compile a list of said films to be avoided ‘at all costs’  it would include such gems as ‘The Twilight Franchise, Hugh Grant Rom-Coms (so basically every film he’s ever made) and Borat . There will of course be variations on a theme here. Some people may have lots more categories, some people less but for me The Theory of Everything definitely fell into the 'take it or leave it' pile. 

Time for confession number two. I can't really put my finger on why. It has a great cast, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Davis Thewlis, Emily Watson to name but a few. From what I saw in the trailer it looked like it was going to be an accurate portrayal of Stephen Hawkins life story. It appeared to look authentic with regards to the time period the story is set in. It had the feel of a film that had had a lot of money thrown at it and a film that wasn’t going to be lacking when it came to production values. The closest reason I can come up with for not being interested in watching this movie, which doesn’t paint me in a particularly favourable light, is that I wasn’t sure that I would be comfortable watching someone struggle with a disease that ultimately takes control of him and leaves him dependant on others. 

Time for confession number three. I was completely and utterly wrong.

For whatever the reasons were I decided that I didn’t want to see it I can only say this. I’m going to be a lot more open to suggestion and prodding from my significant other when it comes to taking trips down to my local multiplex. 

The Theory of Everything is a story based on the book that Jane Hawking, Stephen’s first  wife, wrote after they separated. (Sorry, spoiler) It tells the tale form when they first met at Cambridge in 1963 to Stephen receiving his CBE from the Queen in the early eighties. It shows Hawking and his brilliant academic mind slowly losing control of his body and succumbing to Motor Neurone Disease. A short aside here. I didn’t know that ‘Lou Gehirg’s Disease’ and Motor Neurone Disease where the same thing. You learn something new every day. 

At the films core it’s a love story. A story of struggle and compassion and the sacrifice it takes to care for someone who is slowly losing physical control. A chronicle about a marriage and the struggle of a wife who is having to balance the twenty hour care Hawking needs with raising a family and somehow finding the inner strength to do both. The film lives and dies with its two central performances. Eddie Redmayne, whose last two films sawing him having a seven day dalliance with Marilyn Monroe and then belting out the odd tune in revolutionary France and Felicity Jones who has managed to compile a short but impressive body of work including ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Breathe In’ with Guy Pearce. 

Eddie and Felicity complement each other very well. There is definitely chemistry between them and when they are on screen together they both come across as vulnerable and compassionate. However its Eddie’s portrayal of Hawking that real does stand out. Until recently I had thought that Benedict Cumberbatch was not only a shoe in for a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars for his role as Alan Turning in ‘The Imitation Game’, he’d also walk away with the thirteen and a half inch golden statue as well. Now I’m not so sure. Eddie Redmayne puts in the sort of performance that people will be talking about for a very long time. It’s one of those iconic performances that don’t come along too often. Sir Ben Kingsley’s Ghandi and Dustin Hoffman’s Rain Man are stand out roles that will be forever associated with those actors and I truly believe that Redmayne’s Stephen Hawking should be mentioned in the same category. His portrayal of Hawking as he fights to continue with his academic work as his body fails him is nothing short of remarkable. Even more so when you consider that for the last half an hour of the film he doesn’t actually talk and he verbal communications are handled by his now world famous American voice box. 

The Director of The Theory of Everything, James Marsh, has made a very compelling film here. With a lot of subject matter to cover here James, along with screenwriter Anthony McCarten, have put together a film that doesn’t feel overblown or too long. In fact I think it could have been longer without it being detrimental to the film itself. It’s a moving film at times and has light hearted moments too, including Hawking having a hug from Queen Victoria. 

As I mentioned before the supporting cast aren’t exactly there just to make up the numbers either. David Thewlis plays Dennis Sciama, Hawking’s mentor whilst he studies at Cambridge and ultimately becomes one of his most trusted and valued friends. Emily Watson doesn’t get much screen time but you know she is there when she does. An honourable mention should also go to Charlie Cox who plays Johnathan Heller Jones. He’s character is central to both Jane and Stephen’s lives and without him everything could have been very different. A gentle and broken soul who himself has had to deal with his own personal tragedy. 

James Marsh seems to be good at everything he tries his hand at and if you like The Theory of Everything and you have ninety four minutes spare I would also recommend you watch the documentary ‘Man on Wire’ that Marsh made in 2008. A completely different subject matter but equally compelling.

Twitter Review: 

Redmayne & Jones are enthralling. See the film, read the book, buy the t-shirt. The Theory of everything is a 5 star triumph.

#TimeHeals

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980516/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Salz7uGp72c

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=138755