rogue one | the m0vie blog

New Escapist Column! On “Andor” as the Most Consistent “Star Wars”…

Posted on November 24, 2022 by Darren

I am doing weekly reviews of Andor at The Escapist. They’ll be dropping every Wednesday evening while the show is on, looking at the Rogue One prequel as it progresses from one episode to the next.

Rix Road brings the first season of Andor to an end, closing the cricle by bringing the primary cast back to where it all began. It’s a fascinating and compelling way to close out the season, underscoring how much these characters have changed by bringing them back to their starting position. Rix Road is a breathtaking and impressive season finale to what has been the most consistent run of Star Wars ever produced.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: andor, finale, rogue one, season, star wars, Television, the escapist, Tony Gilroy | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Andor”, Revolution and Reaction…

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Darren

The first six episodes of Andor comprised two three-episode arcs, which seemed like a logic structure for the show going forward. However, the seventh episode of the season is a mostly standalone episode, one that seems largely dedicated to the fallout from the previous adventure. However, it’s also a showcase of what Andor does well, particular when compared to so much modern franchise media. It is a cleverly written and thoughtful episode that advances the show’s characters and themes in interesting and compelling ways.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: andor, escapist, reaction, rebellion, revolution, rogue one, star wars, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Rogue One” as “Star Wars” for the Twenty-First Century…

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Darren

I published an In the Frame piece at Escapist Magazine a little while ago, looking at Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Like most films, the original Star Wars was a product of its time. It spoke to simmering tensions and traumas related to the late seventies, from lingering atomic anxieties to the horrors of the Vietnam War. However, a lot of time has passed since the original trilogy, and our cultural anxieties have changed over the intervening years. Since the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney, the Star Wars franchise has been fixated and focused on the original trilogy. However, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the only film to make an effort to ask what those tropes and conventions mean moved to the present day.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: afghanistan, debate, films, iraq, Movies, review, rogue one, star wars, terrorism, trauma, vietnam, Vietnam War, violence, war on terror | Leave a comment »

11. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – This Just In (#152)

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, This Just In is a subset of the fortnightly The 250 podcast, looking at notable new arrivals on the list of the 250 best movies of all-time, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Continue reading →

Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: imdb, podcast, rogue one, star wars, The 250 | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Rogue One – A Star Wars Story

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Darren

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story feels torn between two extremes.

On one extreme, it is an epic war movie about a universe that is caught in turmoil. Through the lens of science-fantasy, Rogue One can tease out all manner of interesting ideas about the conflict at the heart of the Star Wars franchise. What does an interstellar war look like in the early years of the twenty-first century? What is the view of this epic confrontation from outside the cockpit of an X-Wing or the Millennium Falcon? There are points at which Rogue One almost plays as a war film that just happens to be set within the Star Wars universe.

Too TIE-d to continuity?

On the other extreme, Rogue One often feels like a collection of deleted scenes intended to bridge Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith to Star Wars: Episode VI – A New Hope. The basic premise of the film involves the theft of the Death Star plans that propel the plot of A New Hope, which should be enough to connect it to the parent franchise. Instead, the film is saturated with cameos and callbacks. While it makes sense for a number of minor characters to overlap, Rogue One contorts to include two of the franchise’s biggest characters.

So Rogue One is trapped between being an exciting and exhilarating glimpse of an existing franchise from a new perspective, and feeling just a little bit too much like fan fiction. It is no surprise that the former is much more interesting than the latter.