Remember: Review contains spoilers. No attempt to hide them will be made.
The climatic scene of Rogue One, the battle on Scarif, was shot in sunlight with fully saturated colors. I just want to take a moment to appreciate that. Fully. Saturated. Colors. It was a horrifying sequence, in terms of plot, and still amazing to look at. Even the inside of the Imperial base, where you'd almost expect gray, they did almost in jewel tones, and Vader's pad on Mustafar was vividly red. What a change from the dreary gray tones of so much of contemporary film. It was refreshing.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled review.
First things first, I liked it. Quite a lot, actually. I warmed up to The Force Awakens after a while, but this one, I liked right away and continue to like. My reasons are outside of the "elements" format, so I'll get to them more in depth at the end of this essay.
Let's just go straight into the elements.
Plot: More on this later, but essentially, I see this as a very well executed bit of fan fiction (and no, that is NOT AN INSULT). It's a very plausible answer to several questions raised in the canonical films, and it explores something that has to have happened: The battle mentioned in the very first opening crawl of the series, where the rebels stole the Death Star plans. The story follows Jyn Erso, daughter of the engineer who was coerced into designing it, as she first finds him and learns about the flaw he built into the station (nice gap-filling on a major fan question), then, with the team she's built along the way, leads a suicide mission against the Imperial archives to obtain the plans and transmit them up to the fleet, where Leia will retrieve them and set us off on the saga. The movie ends perhaps a day, perhaps only minutes, from Leia's capture at the beginning of A New Hope. (And makes her lie about being on a diplomatic mission all the more audacious, since she's literally been chased from the battle.)
Character: Probably one of the weaker elements. I wasn't really drawn into the conflicts of any of the OCs (original characters) who populated this tale. I mean, there was nothing wrong with them, but with the exception of the reprogrammed imperial droid, K2SO, I didn't think, "Wow, I can't wait to find out what that one is doing next." Jyn's got some good moments, but I feel like they tried to force a character arc on her by making her cynical without any particular explanation, so that she could later find belief. I didn't really understand Cassian at first; I thought after he killed the informant that he was an Imperial spy, and waited the whole movie for something to come of it (either that he'd betray the rebellion at a crucial moment or he'd reform). I realize that was a wrong assumption, but the first act we see him take is murdering a rebel after getting information, so... Kind of a curveball, and not in an interesting way. Krennec isn't a very credible villain (and it's not helped by the costume... most of the costuming is good, this poor guy was saddled with what looked like the kind of bedsheet cape kids will trick-or-treat in this year). Vader is great, but doesn't get much screentime. Tarkin... more later. I like Chirrut and Bazea and (especially) Bodhi, but I guess I'm just as glad I didn't get attached. Was that the plan? To have characters not be especially attachable so that people wouldn't be particularly phased by all of them dying at the end?
Setting: There are several settings, from the city of Jehda to the rebel base to the Imperial base at Eadu, to the amazing Scarif base. I've already mentioned how refreshing Scarif is. Eadu is more standard, but they chose to set the battle during a raging rainstorm, and it looks fabulous. Jehda is more or less the standard desert planet trope of Star Wars. Looks good, but it should... they've had enough practice! To be fair, I'd think the desert-planet type is likely to be a common occurrence, so that one's fair to have several examples of.
Theme: Rebellions are built on hope. Conveniently stated outright. (Though of course, the Empire was originally built on hope of correcting the corrupted republic, too. Hmm.)
Style: This is a gorgeous looking film. Saturated is the best word for it, I think. The look is detailed, there is great care given to lighting and sound, and the creators clearly love the fact that they are working in this universe. They savor the details.
Beyond the elements:
There is, of course, more to the movie than the regular elements because it is an entry in a long-running, well-beloved series.
I referred earlier to the movie as well-executed fanfic, which is what I believe it to be. Good fanfic interacts with the canonical text, asks questions, offers ideas, and plays around with what is plausible and even probable within the world. Rogue One does this wonderfully. It takes that open question -- that shiny bauble: "How did the rebels get the plans to Leia?" It's an obvious question, and it leads to other questions. Who were the people who got it? Why did they take that risk? What happened to them, and why did we never hear of them again? It even looks at minor questions like why the call sign Red Five was available for Luke to take over. The script is a well-thought out and highly plausible answer to the questions. It feels like the real answer, or at least like it could be the real answer. (And no, I guess I don't ultimately feel the Disney era stuff is canonical. I mean, it's not anti-canonical and there's nothing wrong with it, but I just don't subjectively feel like it's part of the saga.) Full marks for fan imagination here.
My main fannish quibble is that they brought in a lot of Expanded Universe stuff, like Kyber Crystals, that are part of a whole overly-complicated structure that I wish they'd stayed away from. They didn't need to reject it outright, but I'm not a big fan of bringing things in from outside the main line. If people are just watching the movies, they should be able to just watch the movies -- the rest of it is like tinsel on the Christmas tree. People should be able to take the tinsel off if they want to, and I feel like a lot of it got tangled up in the branches here. That's probably just me, though. I did a little jig when I found out Disney was jettisoning the EU, and I don't like seeing it back, largely because I detest the Star Wars EU. Which, you know... is probably just me.
I hadn't read up on the movie a lot before seeing it, so I actually didn't know that they'd used CGI to bring back Peter Cushing's face for the role of Tarkin, or a 1977-vintage Carrie Fisher (the real CF did the voice of course) for Leia. As a concept, I don't mind it, though I think they're going to have to start making deals with actors in their contracts to use their likenesses in other films, potentially far in the future. If you're dealing with a series that may well jump around in time, it's the best solution. My problem wasn't moral or ideological. It's just that, while the Leia appearance was all right (not perfect, but pretty good), Tarkin kind of screamed "Hi, I'm a CGI character." It was just not... quite... there. A little bit of Uncanny Valley going on there. The tech will get better, though.
God bless James Earl Jones for voicing Vader again. The character would just not be right otherwise.
And now, the big fan war: Force Awakens or Rogue One? God knows why SW fandom is so given to these fights, but it is, and I come down on the side of Rogue One. I didn't dislike TFA. It's okay. But for me, the main saga was satisfactorily closed with Return of the Jedi. (Well, chronologically with Revenge of the Sith, I guess.) The saga was the story of Anakin Skywalker -- how he rose, how he fell, and how he was redeemed. Because of that, TFA felt a little... unnecessary? Disconnected? And any connection seems forced (no pun intended) because the story is over. The final shot at the celebration was the eucatastrophic moment (ref, Tolkien) that put a button on the tale. It began with the equivalent of "Once upon a time..." and ended with "And they all lived happily ever after." It was done. Reintroducing it and grafting on problems that didn't need to be there just... I don't know. Of course it's the beginning of a new story, so you need a problem, but... I guess I just didn't need the new story.
The fill in stories, though, the back stories and one-offs and midquels and so on? Those, I feel like there's an unending need for. What about the life of the Imperials? I wrote a story once about kids trapped in an Imperial boarding school when the Death Star went up, who needed to escape from enraged mobs. The normal, everyday people of the Empire would seem to be endless fodder for this kind of story. What about the handmaidens? What happened to them? Did Obi-Wan do anything during his exile? Did Vader have moments before RotJ when his loyalty to Palpatine may have wavered? How did Leia end up in the Senate at the age of 16? It's fertile ground, and I hope Disney continues to explore it.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I caught up on my movies today. I've been meaning to see this one and needed to see Rogue One (review later), so I said, "You know? Let's just hang out at the multiplex."
So, Fantastic Beasts. As always, please recall that I review WITH SPOILERS. There will not be immediate pre-warnings or blanking out.
The verdict? Eh.... not bad.
Enjoyable, actually. It's a story about grown-ups in Potterworld, which is neat. It's in a new setting, which is also neat. Eddie Redmayne is a blast, and the critters are cool.
But...
I don't know. Something didn't entirely click.
So, the elements of the story are all not bad.
Plot: Newt Scamander, author of future!Harry's textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, arrives in New York in 1926, carrying a suitcase full of magical creatures. The dark wizard Grindelwald is on the loose, but Scamander doesn't have much to say about it. Meanwhile, in New York, a very explosive magical force is destroying a lot of things, and it's being blamed on gas leaks. A former Auror named Tina Goldstein (related to Anthony Goldstein, later of Hogwarts?) is investigating a muggle (non-maj... was there any reason for Americans to use a different term for this? That one's pretty clunky, so I'll just use Muggle) group called Second Salem, which is calling for the destruction of the wizarding world (though of course, no one else believes they exist). One of Newt's critters -- a Niffler -- gets free in a bank and causes havoc, which sends Tina after Newt. Meanwhile, Newt bumps into a Muggle named Jacob Kowalski, and they accidentally switch suitcases. Jacob doesn't know what's happening, and several creatures escape. Tina brings Newt in, but is ignored by the upper echelons of MACUSA (the American wizarding government), and they go to find Jacob, though it's too late to stop the escape. Tina brings both men back to the apartment she shares with her sister Queenie, who immediately falls for the kindly Jacob. Then there's another attack by the violent force, this time killing a young politician, and for a time, suspicion falls on Newt's creatures. He explains that the force is an obscurus, a violent expression of suppressed magic, but they don't believe him and sentence both him and Tina to death for breaking the statute of secrecy and possibly causing a war with Muggles. They're rescued by Queenie and Jacob, and it all comes to a fight with the obscurus, which is the magical energy of an abused teenage boy who was raised by the head of Second Salem. The MACUSA wizard who's been in charge of the case -- who's been blocking the heroes at every step -- turns out to be Grindelwald in disguise, and he wanted to start a war because he wants to dominate Muggles, as we know from the books. His position is not made especially clear in the screenplay, though. After the battle is over, Newt's creatures help with a mass obliviation spell, which ultimately has to include Jacob (don't worry, Queenie re-introduces herself later), and Newt returns to Britain to write his book, promising Tina that he'll come back.
Yeah... there's a lot of plot. The magical creatures plot is pretty good. The Second Salem plot doesn't quite work, and the obscurus plot is melodramatic to the point of being unintentional self-parody. It reads like about a million poor-ickle-Draco fanfics. But the rest of the movie is quite charming.
Character: Newt is just awesome. Awkward, a little annoying. He's Sherlock Holmes-ian in his inability to fit in. Smart and kind-hearted as well. His real purpose in America is to release a thunderbird named Frank back into the wilds (it's Frank who saves the day in the end), and he is willing to die to protect his creatures. He's also friends with an adorable bowtruckle. He's not so good with Tina and Queenie (possible romantic heartbreak in his past), but he's delightful with Jacob. Jacob himself is a great addition to the universe. I thought for a while that he might be excused from obliviation, but he isn't. He's gobsmacked by the magical world, but he keeps up and works with Newt all along. Tina -- a bit insecure after her sacking, but determined and well-meaning, and able to change her ideas about Newt as she sees the truth of the situation. Legilmens Queenie is a little pushy, but funny and appealing.
Most of the American wizarding government has pretty short shrift. Graves, the persona Grindelwald is using, is more than a little over-the-top, but I'm guessing, with Johnny Depp taking over the Grindelwald role, that the man is supposed to be over-the-top. The less said about the Second Salem group, the better. I don't mean, "Wow, they're unpleasant." They're villains, that would be allowed. I mean, they're soap opera villains, with motives so paper-thin that I couldn't suspend my disbelief over them.
Theme: Don't suppress your talents and gifts, or require others to do so. Not a bad theme. I imagine anyone who's been told to give up an aspiration to be in the arts feels it, or really anyone who has a particular talent that's being hidden. All of the smart kids who feel they have to play dumb to get along, all of the creative ones whose ideas are shot down as absurd, all of the hopefuls ones told to get real.
Setting: New York City is a super odd setting for that theme, though. I mean, the essence of New York is not letting anyone hold you down. You have a city of... what was it in the 20s, three million? Every one of them chasing down one dream or another. The only city less likely for the "don't suppress your gifts" theme would be L.A. (Unless you're talking about a gift as a nuclear scientist, I guess, but in terms of municipal mythos... not so much.) We didn't see a lot of the American wizarding world, which I'm glad of because I prefer to imagine it for myself, but it seemed relatively interesting.
The other setting is the inside of Newt's suitcase, which is full of magical environments for the beasts. It has the wonder of Hogwarts in the earlier episodes, and I'd dig an entire movie set in the suitcase.
Style: This movie is in the same style as all of the later Potter movies, with the same effects and design, and, outside of the suitcase, the same bleak, gray undertones so common in pop movies today. I have no idea why this is a thing, but there you have it. I guess there's no getting around it. (Except that Rogue One kind of does... but that's for later.)
So, Fantastic Beasts. As always, please recall that I review WITH SPOILERS. There will not be immediate pre-warnings or blanking out.
The verdict? Eh.... not bad.
Enjoyable, actually. It's a story about grown-ups in Potterworld, which is neat. It's in a new setting, which is also neat. Eddie Redmayne is a blast, and the critters are cool.
But...
I don't know. Something didn't entirely click.
So, the elements of the story are all not bad.
Plot: Newt Scamander, author of future!Harry's textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, arrives in New York in 1926, carrying a suitcase full of magical creatures. The dark wizard Grindelwald is on the loose, but Scamander doesn't have much to say about it. Meanwhile, in New York, a very explosive magical force is destroying a lot of things, and it's being blamed on gas leaks. A former Auror named Tina Goldstein (related to Anthony Goldstein, later of Hogwarts?) is investigating a muggle (non-maj... was there any reason for Americans to use a different term for this? That one's pretty clunky, so I'll just use Muggle) group called Second Salem, which is calling for the destruction of the wizarding world (though of course, no one else believes they exist). One of Newt's critters -- a Niffler -- gets free in a bank and causes havoc, which sends Tina after Newt. Meanwhile, Newt bumps into a Muggle named Jacob Kowalski, and they accidentally switch suitcases. Jacob doesn't know what's happening, and several creatures escape. Tina brings Newt in, but is ignored by the upper echelons of MACUSA (the American wizarding government), and they go to find Jacob, though it's too late to stop the escape. Tina brings both men back to the apartment she shares with her sister Queenie, who immediately falls for the kindly Jacob. Then there's another attack by the violent force, this time killing a young politician, and for a time, suspicion falls on Newt's creatures. He explains that the force is an obscurus, a violent expression of suppressed magic, but they don't believe him and sentence both him and Tina to death for breaking the statute of secrecy and possibly causing a war with Muggles. They're rescued by Queenie and Jacob, and it all comes to a fight with the obscurus, which is the magical energy of an abused teenage boy who was raised by the head of Second Salem. The MACUSA wizard who's been in charge of the case -- who's been blocking the heroes at every step -- turns out to be Grindelwald in disguise, and he wanted to start a war because he wants to dominate Muggles, as we know from the books. His position is not made especially clear in the screenplay, though. After the battle is over, Newt's creatures help with a mass obliviation spell, which ultimately has to include Jacob (don't worry, Queenie re-introduces herself later), and Newt returns to Britain to write his book, promising Tina that he'll come back.
Yeah... there's a lot of plot. The magical creatures plot is pretty good. The Second Salem plot doesn't quite work, and the obscurus plot is melodramatic to the point of being unintentional self-parody. It reads like about a million poor-ickle-Draco fanfics. But the rest of the movie is quite charming.
Character: Newt is just awesome. Awkward, a little annoying. He's Sherlock Holmes-ian in his inability to fit in. Smart and kind-hearted as well. His real purpose in America is to release a thunderbird named Frank back into the wilds (it's Frank who saves the day in the end), and he is willing to die to protect his creatures. He's also friends with an adorable bowtruckle. He's not so good with Tina and Queenie (possible romantic heartbreak in his past), but he's delightful with Jacob. Jacob himself is a great addition to the universe. I thought for a while that he might be excused from obliviation, but he isn't. He's gobsmacked by the magical world, but he keeps up and works with Newt all along. Tina -- a bit insecure after her sacking, but determined and well-meaning, and able to change her ideas about Newt as she sees the truth of the situation. Legilmens Queenie is a little pushy, but funny and appealing.
Most of the American wizarding government has pretty short shrift. Graves, the persona Grindelwald is using, is more than a little over-the-top, but I'm guessing, with Johnny Depp taking over the Grindelwald role, that the man is supposed to be over-the-top. The less said about the Second Salem group, the better. I don't mean, "Wow, they're unpleasant." They're villains, that would be allowed. I mean, they're soap opera villains, with motives so paper-thin that I couldn't suspend my disbelief over them.
Theme: Don't suppress your talents and gifts, or require others to do so. Not a bad theme. I imagine anyone who's been told to give up an aspiration to be in the arts feels it, or really anyone who has a particular talent that's being hidden. All of the smart kids who feel they have to play dumb to get along, all of the creative ones whose ideas are shot down as absurd, all of the hopefuls ones told to get real.
Setting: New York City is a super odd setting for that theme, though. I mean, the essence of New York is not letting anyone hold you down. You have a city of... what was it in the 20s, three million? Every one of them chasing down one dream or another. The only city less likely for the "don't suppress your gifts" theme would be L.A. (Unless you're talking about a gift as a nuclear scientist, I guess, but in terms of municipal mythos... not so much.) We didn't see a lot of the American wizarding world, which I'm glad of because I prefer to imagine it for myself, but it seemed relatively interesting.
The other setting is the inside of Newt's suitcase, which is full of magical environments for the beasts. It has the wonder of Hogwarts in the earlier episodes, and I'd dig an entire movie set in the suitcase.
Style: This movie is in the same style as all of the later Potter movies, with the same effects and design, and, outside of the suitcase, the same bleak, gray undertones so common in pop movies today. I have no idea why this is a thing, but there you have it. I guess there's no getting around it. (Except that Rogue One kind of does... but that's for later.)
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