Vader
This might be a point of contention for some people. A big part of the perceived excitement surrounding Rogue One is that it will be different from your usual Star Wars flick, that it will leave the Jedi/Sith Force stuff to one side and focus on the often less flamboyant parts of the SW world. Others however want to see Darth bloody Vader, still in his prime, kicking ass and taking names. I straddle both camps and I think we can have the best of both. Vader can be present in this movie, but he doesn’t have to drag it into force territory. He is a military presence in the Empire remember, he can be there instructing, lambasting and looking badass without igniting his lightsaber or force choking annoying minions.
I want Vader in this movie, but unlike most (I would imagine), I want him to be there because he’s Anakin Skywalker, not just Vader. People didn’t exactly like the prequels, nor Hayden Christensen in the role of Anakin, but I firmly believe that he, given the right (good) material and solid (good) direction, can redeem his status amongst the Star Wars faithful. As soon as Rogue One was talked about, I had an image in my mind of Darth, his helmet being removed for some much-needed repairs, and Hayden Christensen’s charred face staring back at us. He doesn’t even need to speak, the power of seeing this monstrous machine, brought back to a human level like this, could be incredibly powerful. This would be really neat, and I would be totally on board for such a scenario.
There is an image in the Rogue One teaser of a black cloaked figure bowing in the presence of Imperial Guards (could the Emperor be in this film?!) and while this individual doesn’t looking very much like Vader — why would he wear a hood? — it’s not out of the realms and could be the Anakin moment I was referring to. How awesome would it be to see Vader returning from a battle unseen, his helmet missing after being partially removed (save the lower piece), to meet with his master. This would be a pretty cool opportunity if they wanted to go down this route. The only problem with Vader being present in any capacity, is that it will surely draw attention away from the rebels. A throwaway Vader/Anakin cameo could work though, if handled rightly, and the possibility is just another log to help build the Rogue One flames of excitement.
Something Different But Also Old
Rogue One has a huge opportunity. With the latest trilogy we are getting a new story, with mostly new characters. We can guess but we don’t know what’s going to happen in Episode VIII and IX — it’s new. Rogue One however is intrinsically familiar to us by being placed just before A New Hope in the SW timeline. Rogue One is going to have that ‘classic era’ feel to it — shown as much in the teaser. We will see all of our favourite costumes, droids, ships and weapons from the films we grew up watching over and over again on VHS (or DVD for you younglings). This film looks to have a cosy, comfortable feel about it because of this. However, Rogue One will be, so it seems, unlike any SW film we’ve had before.
Not only is it the first film to not be a part of a trilogy, it looks to be falling into a whole other genre (or at least straddling them) from the previous movies –being equal parts heist flick and straight up war film. Removing the more magical Jedi type elements from proceedings, Rogue One has a unique chance to give us something we’ve not seen before — A film that focuses on the comparatively weak, a hero/heroes that can’t rely on an unquantifiable force to save them when their backs are against the wall. This will — again all we have is the teaser to go by — be a film about a normal ragtag group of guys and gals infiltrating a totalitarian regime to steal the plans for a doomsday device. This could be a story set in WW2 or something. This is exciting, for sure.
This new approach and feel for Rogue One, is also what is exciting about these anthology movies going forward. A new multi-genre SW stable of films is nothing but intriguing. A western, man with no name, Obi-Wan movie, post Episode III, comes to mind as something potentially awesome. Rogue One has the chance to launch this new direction for the franchise, while still having its bankable traditional trilogy, but also experimenting with interstitials. It’s going to be a hard to task to accomplish, to get fans on board with something they probably never thought they might want, but getting to see, come December, if Rogue One can pull it off, is going to be darn interesting.
Final Thoughts
The idea of new genres, grouped together with this wonderful trailer, fantastic cast and new opportunities to explore old characters, certainly has me ready to open my wallet. I don’t need to see anything else, I’m on board, as I am sure many of you are as well. Each will have their own things that get them hyped for Rogue One, there is no dearth of material to garner such feelings. This film might flatter to deceive, as so many do, but so far, so god damn good. We can only judge what we see and what see here is great stuff indeed. Now show me Mads!!
Samuel Brace
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
