*** Rogue One: A Star Wars Story *** (NOW WITH SPOILERS)

Richdog said:
Yeah, it's much better than Force Unleashed imo. Force Unleashed, while undoubtedly a far better effort than episodes I II and III, was still completely stupid in many places and didn't capture the feel of the original trilogy even half as well as this one. Gareth Edwards is simply a better director than J.J. Abrams and he followed his ideas through with conviction, producing a consistent, dark and mostly sensible movie with good immersion, as opposed to the lazy-ass writing that was present in Force Unleashed. Thinking about the female stormtrooper commander shutting down the shields of the planet still makes me facepalm with frustration. Abrams tried to capture the Star Wars feel, but ultimately it was only skin deep compared to Rogue One.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Just let him do the rest of the new trilogy.
 
I personally thought the CGI actors were awesome. People would have been kicking off if they used another actor for that role, so they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.
 
Panos said:
The work they did to revive an actor who is dead 22 years now, was impressive. By far the best part in the film, which indeed was flat in many places.

And not because I am fan of Peter Cushing and his work, or Grand Moff Tarkin, but as software developer by profession and graphics animator (hobby with Unity Engine).
The feat was impressive and exceeded expectations.

And as overall film was better than Force Awakens. By miles.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid if you think the Tarkin scenes were the best part of Rogue One you're probably looking at the "technical" feat, rather than judging the scene on it's merits. Personally I am also a fan of Peter Cushing and The Tarkin Character and I honestly think I've seen better use of his legacy in Star Wars Rebels and the Clone Wars. I thought The Tarkin Scenes were overacted and overused and clearly technically more difficult without Cushing alive, which is why they should have been minimised.

That said Gareth Edwards shows far better understanding of the Star Wars universe than Abrams, start to finish in this film. I didn't find it flat in any way shape or form, I fully respect a director making a Star Wars movie that emphasises "the War", arguably more than any other film in the series.
 
Steedie said:
I personally thought the CGI actors were awesome. People would have been kicking off if they used another actor for that role, so they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure which approach is the lesser of the two evils... I'll concede the CGI has come on, but based on this outing its not quite fit for purpose to replace real actors just yet. Maybe they needed more time or resources in this case, as I feel with more work it could have been better... They lacked that essential something to make them human and it stood out a mile for me... it took me out of film, rather than enhance it.

Cushing had such a strong featured face I think it would have been near impossible to find someone close enough, even with prosthetics and that would have been just as bad.

For me, a partially obscured (using angles, reflections and shadows) presentation of Tarkin would have been better than the full on way they did it.

It will be interesting to see if my eldest son notices the fact they are not real when we go again on Monday... I can't wait to see it again.




.
 
Last edited:
The point of the CGI actor is not so much about having a CGI actor but how prominent and how often and how blatant he was used. Whenever he came on it took me right out of the movie. That's the problem. It's the only thing I can think of when he was on screen and he was on screen far too many times.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The point of the CGI actor is not so much about having a CGI actor but how prominent and how often and how blatant he was used. Whenever he came on it took me right out of the movie. That's the problem. It's the only thing I can think of when he was on screen and he was on screen far too many times.
Click to expand...

Seems bizarre in a film so reliant on CGI, in just about every aspect, you're saying the use of a CGI actor takes you out the movie...ok
 
stewski said:
I thought The Tarkin Scenes were overacted and overused and clearly technically more difficult without Cushing alive, which is why they should have been minimised.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. They did not capture his expressions or manner as well as they could have... too many little smirks, quirks and smug expressions. In the original Tarkin was all coldly business and never let petty emotion show on his face. He was commanding and aloof, used to absolute authority, and Rogue One made him seem weaker. As you say, they gave him too much screen time and the time they gave him was not well spent.

Steedie said:
Seems bizarre in a film so reliant on CGI, in just about every aspect, you're saying the use of a CGI actor takes you out the movie...ok
Click to expand...

Steedie, it's not rocket science... having a CGI actor surrounded by real people makes the flaws glaringly obvious.
 
Last edited:
But it's not as if it's the first CGI character among real actors in the series. As I said earlier, if they replaced the actor people would have been outraged, so they couldn't really win short of doing ridiculous angles every shot which would have been even more obvious that something was amiss
 
Steedie said:
I personally thought the CGI actors were awesome. People would have been kicking off if they used another actor for that role, so they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Click to expand...

They didn't need to show them fullstop - this is my only (minor) gripe. The blurred reflection of Cushing would have been enough and there was no need to show Leia's face at all.

Anyways - loved it! Consistently good throughout with some great high points.

Vadar at the end! - I had a full chubby for that entire fight scene!
 
Warbie said:
They didn't need to show them fullstop - this is my only (minor) gripe. The blurred reflection of Cushing would have been enough and there was no need to show Leia's face at all.

Anyways - loved it! Consistently good throughout with some great high points.

Vadar at the end! - I had a full chubby for that entire fight scene!
Click to expand...

I fully agree. The technical achievement is impressive, but you could tell it was CGI which cheapens the film. The first scene I honestly thought I was watching star wars rebels.

When you can't tell CGI from the real thing is the time to use it. Chicken and egg I guess as they need the work and funding to make the improvements.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vtZxxiQ8nbA/Uae5LA5uTdI/AAAAAAAAJog/LTlJtsXbUZw/s1600/jordu.jpg

http://i.onionstatic.com/avclub/5533/98/16x9/960.jpg

look at the above, it's night and day!
 
Last edited:
Steedie said:
But it's not as if it's the first CGI character among real actors in the series. As I said earlier, if they replaced the actor people would have been outraged, so they couldn't really win short of doing ridiculous angles every shot which would have been even more obvious that something was amiss
Click to expand...

The problem is not necessarily they did CGI, but that they didn't get it quite right. His mannerisms were overwrought and not faithful to the original.

Don't forget Star Wars fans, namely those who live and breathe the original trilogy, are some of the pickiest people on Earth and if justice is not done to a character then it will be noticed and mentioned very quickly.
 
The issue with Tarkin is simply that mocap CGI was shockingly bad. It was video game quality. The moment character moved and started talking we were back to first LoTR Smigol. It's not about actor being dead, it's not about mocap CGI in general - mocap today already allows for more - young Anthony Hopkins scenes in Westworld looked heavens better in terms of face animation, and let's face it - Westworld didn't have a fraction of SW budget. Compared to the superb execution of CGI in R1, mocap face animation was just shocking quality. No ifs no buts. And this time around it was easy to escape this rubbery "smigolness of Snoke" awfulness - Tarkin in first scene could be left standing as we saw him in first cut - with his face reflected in the glass to mask the terrible CGI, then in further scenes we could watch his hologram - to at least make an effort and mask it.
 
Its interesting that Storm Troopers armour only seems effective when a blind guy is hanging onto him, taking multiple hits. The rest of the time they're dropped in 1 shot 0_o Maybe they should all have rebels handcuffed to them in the next movie so they can take numerous hits.

Also Felicity Jones really bugged me in this, literally anytime she had her mouth closed in this movie you could see that she was making a conscious effort to keep her lips pressed tight together, mostly because her front teeth are a bit prominent. When you notice this once it gets very obvious in most of her scenes.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom