Movie Review: Rogue One: A STAR WARS Story (2016)

Greetings, my fellow movie watchers!!

Today is a very special day! It is:

May the Fourth Be With You!

Also known as STAR WARS day!! As an avid fan I, of course, have to do something to celebrate (besides blasting the soundtrack, looking at all my merch, watching a movie, and drinking chocolate milk. [The last one is a tradition]), so I have decided to review one of the movies!

Here are links to all of my previous reviews:
IV: A New Hope (1977), V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), VI: The Return of the Jedi (1982), I: The Phantom Menace (1999), II: Attack of the Clones (2002), III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), VII: The Force Awakens (2015), VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), & IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Now, I've already reviewed all of the main ones, so it is time for the side stories. And you've guessed it, I'll be reviewing the greatly loved Rogue One (2016)!

If you haven't seen this and are wondering when in the series to watch it, it comes between III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) and IV: A New Hope (1977) (But don't watch them in the order the numbers are! Watch them in the order I have above) but it can be watched really anytime because it doesn't have spoilers for the others.


My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


Rogue One: A STAR WARS Story (2016):

Jyn Erso hasn't seen her father since he was taken away by the Empire fifteen years ago. One day the rebel alliance contacts her. They have reason to believe that her father has been working on a huge weapon called The Death Star and they need to get the plans to find a way to prevent it. She teams up with Cassian Andor, and droid K-2SO, together they find a pilot who defected from the Empire who might have a clue to lead them to her father. Will they be able to gain the upper hand against the Empire when all hope seems lost?

Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure.
Length: approx. 134 minutes.
Costumes: 8, pretty standard.
Script: 9, I don't recall any bad words.
Crew:
Directed by: Gareth Edwards.
Written by: Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy, John Knoll, Gary Whitta, & George Lucas.
Starring:
Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso.

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor.

Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe.

Wen Jiang as Baze Malbus.
Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook.

Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic.
Alan Tudyk as K-2SO.
Guy Henry as Governor Tarkin.
Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera.
Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso.
Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa.
Alistair Petrie as General Draven.
Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma.
Ben Daniels as General Merrick.
Ian McElhinney as General Dodonna.
Fares Fares as Senator Vaspar.
Jonathan Aris as Senator Jebel.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Senator Pamlo.
Spencer Wilding & Daniel Naprous as Darth Vader.

James Earl Jones as Darth Vader (voice).
Ingvild Deila as Princess Leia.
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.
Valene Kane as Lyra Erso.
Michael Smiley as Dr. Evazan.
Warwick Davis as Weeteef Cyubee.
Cinematography: 6, this takes a nose dive because of the CGI. I originally didn't want to watch this movie when I learned that they used the character of Grand Moff Tarkin but because Peter Cushing is no longer with us they decided use a bunch of CGI. Now, I know that there actually is a guy there, and they projected everything onto him later, but it bothers me. Did they have to use that character? No. They could've used someone else. Other than that, it was okay.
Cinematography by: Greig Fraser.

Music: 8, when I saw this I was annoyed at how close it was to the original, but yet how far off! I just wanted it to be the same! Thinking about it now, I like that they didn't use the same, but adjusted it. After all, it isn't part of the episodes, but just a side story. The original STAR WARS score is my favorite of all time so I can be a little picky about it.
Music by: Michael Giacchino & John Williams.
Quotes: I'm going to say N/A because I really can't remember any of them.
Content: 8, there is a lot of violence with shooting, killing, and a few scary scenes.
Originality: 9, it is actually pretty original, and I am impressed that they could come up with a decent story connected to the originals, but yet be its own thing.
Good For: STAR WARS fans.
Age Range: It's rated PG-13, and I agree with that just because there is a lot of war action. Otherwise, it's totally clean so it depends on the person.

Overall Score: 8.
Bonus thoughts:

It's been a while since I saw this, but I still wanted to talk about it today. I watched this sure that I wasn't going to like it. Several things about the production bothered me: the already mentioned CGI, and the fact that they were supposed to be working on episode VIII! I also knew the whole storyline. Usually I'm really good about avoiding spoilers but I didn't on this one. It was because I was talking to a friend one time and we realized that we each love STAR WARS so I asked her, "Which one is your favorite?"
She replied, "Oh, definitely Rogue One. I couldn't believe that ------------!"
There went the ending of the movie. She had just supposed that I, like the rest of the STAR WARS fans, had seen it (but I hadn't yet, because of my small issues with it). A couple months later I was talking to some other friends about STAR WARS and they mentioned that they didn't like Rogue One. Since I already knew the ending without knowing anything else about it I asked them to tell me everything without worrying about spoilers.
A couple more months and my mom said that we should watch it. I was a bit defensive about it because people always say (I've this said to me more times than I can count),
"Rogue One is so great! It is so much better than The Last Jedi which was really disappointing."
Now, everyone has their personal preferences and favorites and least favorites (and that's awesome because otherwise it would be really boring) and if you love this movie I think that is great! But, The Last Jedi happens to be my second favorite STAR WARS. And, currently my third favorite movie of all time. So yeah. When anyone talked about how bad it was and how great Rogue One was I didn't feel like it deserved all that hype. You get tired of people hating on your favorites!
Anyway, we watched it. My mom loved it because she knew nothing about it, but I was indifferent the whole time. I didn't love it. I had heard everyone talking about how great Jyn and Cassian were, and I didn't like Cassian that much (Note, I thought that Diego Luna did a great job, just his character wasn't my favorite).

Even though I thought I knew everything, there were some surprises that were truly great, and there names are: Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, and Bodhi Rook.
Seriously, these guys are the best! If you haven't seen this movie, watch it just for them.


Okay, that's enough from me. Your turn! Tell me how you celebrated STAR WARS day and your thoughts on Rogue One!

Thanks for reading! May the Fourth Be With You!

MovieCritic

Movie Review: Patton (1970)

Hello, everyone!

I hope that you are all staying safe! I have another movie review for you today, to squeeze one last on in while it is still April! I have been trying to watch a lot of Best Picture winners (Award given from the Oscars), and today I will be talking about the 1970 one! It was rather long, and not really my favorite but I'll let you read my review before I get ahead of myself.

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free.


Patton (1970):

Based on: The true story of George S. Patton Jr. Along with Patton: Ordeal and Triumph - by Ladislas Farago & A Soldier's Story - by Omar N. Bradley.

'"Where were we?"

"We were talking about a simple old soldier."'

World War II is fully on and is raging across Europe. The U.S. has gotten involved and General George Patton, while under General Eisenhower, is in charge of hundreds of soldiers. His temper keeps knocking him down as he gets in trouble for various things, but he continues to plow on and comes up with strategies that seem impossible, but he pulls them off. The opposing side watches him constantly. Has war gotten into him?
"There's one big difference between you and me, George, I do this job because I was trained to do it, you do it because you love it."

Genre: War, Biography, Drama.
Length: approx. 172 minutes.
Costumes: 7, standard army uniforms, nothing extra.
Script: 4, there is a lot of swearing, name calling, and name taken in vain in here. I know that it is all supposed to be about Patton's "character" but yikes, there's a lot.
"Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance."
Crew:
Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner.
Written by: Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H. North, Ladislas Farago, & Omar N. Bradley.
Starring:
George C. Scott as General George S. Patton Jr.. "I'm my favorite general."

Karl Malden as General Omar N. Bradley.

Michael Bates as Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery.

Edward Binns as Major General Walter Bedell Smith.
Lawrence Dobkin as Colonel Gaston Bell.
Stephen Young as Captain Chester B. Hansen.
Michael Strong as Brigadier General Hobart Carver.
Frank Latimore as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Davenport.
Lionel Murton as Third Army Chaplain.
Morgan Paull as Captain Richard N. Jenson.
Karl Michael Vogler as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
James Edwards as Sergeant William George Meeks.
David Bauer as Lieutenant Gen. Harry Buford.
John Barrie as Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham.
Richard Muench as Colonel General Alfred Jodl.
Siegfried Rauch as Captain Oskar Steiger.
Paul Stevens as Lieutenant Col. Charles R. Codman.
Gerald Flood as Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder.
Jack Gwillim as General Sir Harold Alexander.
Peter Barkworth as Colonel John Welkin.
David Healy as Clergyman.
John Doucette as Major General Lucian Truscott.
Tim Considine as Soldier.
(I know, this cast looks huge, but I can't put a face to most of these names. Maybe only about five of them?)

Cinematography: 7, it is war, so a lot of explosions and things, which can get old, but there were some things that I thought was interesting. The most famous is the opening scene where it is Patton standing addressing soldiers with a huge flag behind him. I wasn't as impressive as I had expected, but okay.
Cinematography by: Fred J. Koenekamp.

Music: 7, I really like it, but it was hardly used! We got it during the opening and a little at the end, but that's pretty much it. I feel like if they added it more it would have given a bigger punch.
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith.
Quotes: 6, I was able to write several down, but since I watched this movie I haven't wanted to use any.
"Give George a headline and he's good for another 30 miles."
Oscars won: 7: Best Picture, Best Actor (it won, but George C. Scott refused the award), Best Director, Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced (well, that's a long category title), Best Sound, Best Art Direction, & Best Film Editing.
Content: 7, there are scenes with blood, some disgusting descriptions, smoking, death and killing. Being a war movie, you rarely can get away without those things, and there were some gruesome parts.
"It's too bad jousting has gone out of style."

Originality: 6, I don't know, I'm kind of burned out on war movies right now (I had been watching a lot of them). On all of the others there were bits that I liked, but with this...everything seemed like I'd seen it before, just not drug out to almost 3 hours. It is based on the real life of Patton, which was interesting to know about it now.
Good For: George C. Scott fans, anyone looking to watch all of the Best Picture winners, anyone who likes this genre.
Age Range: This is rated GP (which is equivalent to PG), and while the war elements aren't that bad, there is a ton of swearing. Maybe bump it up to PG-13 just for that. Plus, I don't know how many kids would be interested in this (I'll admit, it was pretty boring to me).
Overall Score: 5.

Bonus thoughts:
Sigh, I don't even know what to say about this. I don't like comparing movies to others (who am I kidding? I love to do that! This is why I'm a critic!) but that's what I'm going to do. The other two Best Picture winner war movies that I saw near this were The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) (I loved this one! A review will be coming!) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (was interesting, and I have thoughts).
All of these focus on the idea of how war can corrupt you. But, this one didn't do it as well.
My dad always talks about how great an actor George C. Scott is and wants me to agree with him, but I can't because I've only seen him in two movies (I have a system on who can be my favorite actor, a post on this is coming. Man, I have a lot of posts I need to get cracking on!) and from what I've heard of him, he's not really acting. He refused the Oscar for Best Actor claiming that the Oscars were "a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons." His words, not mine. That sounds like Patton, so it doesn't sound like he was acting. It was an interesting character, of how Patton was so fascinated with history, and how he claimed to be a rather religious man but twisted what he thought was "God's will" into his own. One part he says that he has to be part of this war because God made him for this. This is actually the same fault and motivation that one of my favorite villains Claude Frollo (from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)) has, so it was interesting to see a whole movie about him.
It's not a bad movie by any means! I just am spoiled because I saw such other good ones first, hehe. You'll probably be surprised by this based on my ranting, but there were a few parts that touched me. My favorite part was General Omar N. Bradley, we was so great! He was there so you could compare his character arc to Patton's. He is such a sweet guy, I really liked him. You are probably beginning to see my pattern of how minor characters are almost always my favorite...
Overall, I'm glad that I can cross it off of my list, but I don't ever plan on seeing it again.



Your turn! Have any of you seen Patton (1970)? If so, I would love to discuss what you like and dislike about it! For the rest of you, what is your favorite Best Picture winner? Thanks for reading!

MovieCritic

Movie Review: The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

Hello to everyone!

Being inside is the time to watch movies, right? I have so many notes taken for so many movies, I can't wait to review them all for you! Actually, I have notes on over 85 different movies and books. Yep, kind of insane. My plan is to try to review the ones that I watched/read a while ago and work my way up to the newer ones. Sound like a plan?

This one is next on the list! I watched it back in August. When movies are based on books I usually like to read the book as well and be able to compare the two, and though this is based on a book, I'm not interested enough to read it. I have far too many other books that I do want to read!

Anyway enjoy my review!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


The Jane Austen Book Club (2007):

Based on: The Jane Austen Book Club - by Karen Joy Fowler.
A lady comes up with the idea to start a book club to distract her friend from what she is going through. Because she loves Jane Austen she decides that they will only read her books! Six months, six people, six books. As the members read these works they find similarities to their lives and wonder, will they all get a happy ending?
"It's all Jane Austen all the time!"

Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy.
Length: approx. 106 minutes.
Costumes: 5, standard clothing but a lot of low and short things.
Script: 7, there are some bad words, name calling, and using name in vain.
"Is not general incivility the essence of love?"
Crew:
Directed by: Robin Swicord.
Written by: Karen Joy Fowler & Robin Swicord.
Starring:
Maria Bello as Jocelyn.

Emily Blunt as Prudie.

Kathy Baker as Bernadette.

Amy Brenneman as Sylvia.

Hugh Dancy as Grigg.

Maggie Grace as Allegra.

Jimmy Smits as Daniel.
Kevin Zegers as Trey.
Marc Blucas as Dean.
Parisa Fitz-Henley as Corinne.
Lynn Redgrave as Mama Sky.
Myndy Crist as Lynne.
Nancy Travis as Cat.
Cinematography: 7, wasn't remarkable or that interesting.
Cinematography by: John Toon.
Music: 7, because I really don't remember any of what the score was.
Music by: Aaron Zigman.
Notes: There are some STAR WARS spoilers in this movie, so watch SW first.
Quotes: 7, every time my sister and I talk about Jane Austen we quote Grigg by saying, "That bother anyone else?"
Content: 3, there are some really suggestive words and actions as well as a part where I actually turned it off until it was past (if you know what I mean by my vagueness). It also deals with divorce and remarriage, talking about body parts, and smoking. Some of these are shown as bad and characters grow from that, but others it is shown as good? I do not like this. Not to be spoilers, but I have to put this for content warning for others. A character lives a lesbian lifestyle and everything with her involves that. I personally don't agree with those ideas of dealing with that, but I don't hate anybody either (which I feel is a common misconception). I plan to do a post more deeply on my thoughts in the future (might be weeks or months from now, I don't know) and I will link it here when I do.
Originality: 8. Everyone loves reading Jane Austen, right? It was fun to see people discussing the books!
Good For: I don't know! I don't really want to recommend this to Jane Austen fans because they might love it or hate it.
Age Range: This movie is PG-13, but I don't think they handled some things very well. This is definitely not clean. Maybe more like 15?
Overall Score: 5.

Bonus thoughts:
Honestly, most of my dislike of this movie is with the content. I had a fun time watching this with my sister because we are both huge Jane Austen fans and we were trying to figure out "who was who". Even though Pride & Prejudice is my favorite, it was refreshing to see a Jane Austen movie that focused on her other works more than that one. I had never seen Emily Blunt in a role like this, so that was a change.
Can we talk about the characters? My sister and I decided that we loved Grigg. He was hilarious and sweet! He was definitely our favorite part (but, we did not like one part with him. We were not happy, Bob, not happy.) I don't see myself ever watching this again, but it was fun for one afternoon. If it were cleaner or the consequences were more sever would I? Probably. Would I possibly just watch it for Grigg? Yeah. He made the whole movie worth it.



Your turn! Where are my Jane Austen fans? Have any of you seen this?
Thanks for reading!

MovieCritic

The Marvel Heroes Movie Tag

Hello!

I bet you are all tired of seeing me do tags, but this is the last one for this month. My remaining two posts will be movie reviews.

I am doing a tag that I have stolen that was created in December of 2017. Why the long wait? Well, it's about Marvel movies and I hadn't seen them all (or, any of them) at that time and I am pretty much caught up now. But why specifically today?

"Tradition!"

Hamlette, the creator, based it off of The Disney Princess Book Tag and I did a version of it on April 26th 2018 and a version on April 26th 2019.
You may say, "That's nice, MC, except that it isn't April 26th, it's April 27th." You are very observant. Well, these questions are really hard. I stayed up late last night trying to think of an answer to all of them, but decided that a nicely executed post a day late was better than a rushed and sloppy one at the last minute.

Enjoy my answers!

The Marvel Heroes Movie Tag:

Captain America: Name a movie with a "fish out of water" theme.

Weirdly enough, Edward Scissorhands (1990) is the only one coming to my mind.

Thor: Name a movie about learning to use power for the good of others.

To be honest, this was the last question that I answered because I could not figure out any to use. The only one I could think of was Henry from Ever After (1998). Finally, I broke and asked my sister. Guess what she said. Yep, Ever After (1998), so I'm going with it.

Iron Man: Name a movie about an inventor.

I love Caractacus Potts, so let's go with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)!

Incredible Hulk: Name a movie with a main character who has two sides to them.

This question, this question, really stumped me. I guess Madmartigan from Willow (1988) has a demanding, selfish side, then he has a brave warrior side, too? I'm grabbing at whatever I can here.

Hawkeye: Name a movie that involves archery.

Hawkeye is my favorite! Hamlette used Robin Hood (which is the perfect answer), so I'll go with my favorite Pixar movie, Brave (2012).

Black Widow: Name a movie about spies.

Jimmy Stewart has to be on this list somewhere, so here's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Surprisingly enough, this took me FOREVER to think of.

Black Panther: Name a movie about royalty.

I'm drawing a blank, and the only one I can come up with is The Princess Diaries (2001).

Vision: Name a movie involving androids or robots.

R2-D2 and C-3PO are my favorites, so I'm gonna say the original STAR WARS.

Spider-man: Name a movie about teens.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) is the first Harry Potter movie where they are all teenagers.

Ant Man: Name a movie about thieves.

Ocean's 8 (2018).

Scarlet Witch: Name a movie with powerful female character.

Shall we switch universes and go to DC? Wonder Woman (2017). I like Scarlet Witch better, just so you know.

Dr. Strange: Name a movie where a character learns to be a better person.

This goes for a lot of movies (I mean, it's why we love them, right?) but I'm choosing Harold Hill who learns his lesson in The Music Man (1962).

Falcon: Name a movie with a great sidekick.

Can you have a better sidekick then Sam is to Frodo? No, no you cannot. Actually, all of the fellowship is really awesome.

Loki: Name a movie with an antagonist/villain who steals the show.

Pretty much every Disney villain, right? My personal favorite is Scar, so I'm going to say The Lion King (1994).

Agent Coulson: Name a movie where an ordinary character faces an extraordinary situation.

The Wizard of Oz (1939). Dorothy Gale is a pretty ordinary girl and she gets sucked into the magical world of Oz!

Peter Quill: Name a movie with a character who is more than they appear to be.

Beauty and the Beast [(2017) or (1991)]. The Beast might look like how he is described, but he has a heart of gold on the inside.

Gamora: Name a movie with a character who changes allegiances.

Gosh, this was so hard. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) kind of works because Hiccup changes his allegiance from the vikings to the dragons? This is all I can come up with!

Drax: Name a movie with a physically powerful character.

Hamlette used the 2014 Hercules, so I'm going to do the animated version! Hercules doesn't know his own strength so he sometimes knocks things over (like a town).

Groot: Name a movie with a character who doesn't talk much.

Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) doesn't talk at all.

Rocket: Name a movie with a talking animal.

Cats & Dogs (2001). It took awhile for me to decide whether to put this in the spies or talking animal group, but as you can see I decided to pair it with Rocket.

Thanks to Hamlette for creating this! I hope you all enjoyed reading this! Stay safe!

MovieCritic