Rogued

So I saw Rogue-One on Friday.

First a bit of context. Alert reader(s) will recall I'm 43. Those in my demographic cohort know what that means. I had all the toys, I had the pajamas, the curtains, the bedspread. I had a pirated copy of Star Wars in 1980, nineteen freakin eighty. Do you have any idea what that means? It didn't even come out on VHS until like 1985. I can say all the lines in order with all the proper inflections. Not kidding. If you're a woman married to a man just a few years older than me then you have the Princess Leah slave girl outfit in your closet.

[No!-Mrs. Stroock].

Yeah but...

[I have spoken! - Mrs. Stroock].


 I was ten at the time I didn't really care and the Ewoks never bothered me.

Yesterday I took my oldest to see Rogue-One.  Saw the movie twice in eighteen hours. That's the third time I've been to the movies in the last decade people.

[So I guess you liked it -Ed]

I came out of the theater with my fists held high in the air, metal devil horns pointed toward the gods in ultimate triumph and proclaiming, 'rock on!'.

At this point I think a strong case can be made that Rogue-One is the greatest Star Wars movie of the five.

[Five?-Ed]

We don't recognize the prequels in Stroock Manner.

[oh-Ed]

There are lots of great characters. I thought the ass kicking Baze Mabus and his cohort the blind mystic Cheut Inwe were particularly fun and interesting. Forrest Whitaker should get an Oscar for his portrayal of the extremist rebel Saw Gerrera, broken and skeptical he doesn't know how to do anything but fight. The Imperial Director Orson Crennic was also memorable I felt. The droid K-2 lives up to expectations.

Felicity Jones is a revelation and this middle aged man has found his new celebrity crush.

There's a lot of clues and set ups in this movie that are aimed at people my age and people like me, I loved all them. Bail Organa is going to go talk to his reclusive Jedi friend!

The last forty five minutes or so, the assault to get the Death Star plans, well, its like Saving Private Ryan in space. Great combat sequences, exciting, detailed in the way I prefer, gritty. Lots of old friends show up here too. This battle is easily the rival of the epic fight on and above Endor in Return of the Jedi. You know what other movie it reminded me of? Serenity. I think there some derivation from Serenity to Rogue-One, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The battle is also unpredictable. The ending is particularly brutal, almost like a horror movie and this very nicely links it in with the beginning of Episode IV. Throughout, this movie is about loyalty and sacrifice and boy is there a lot of sacrifice.

This movie is tough and gritty. Its better than The Force Awakens. Is it better than Empire Strikes Back?...