Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Rogue One -- A Shakespearean Tragedy (SPOILER ALERT)

Today I went to see "Rogue One." I have come to the conclusion that the script is really a long-lost Shakespeare play -- because MORE FREAKIN' PEOPLE DIE IN THE MOVIE THAN IN HAMLET!!!! (In Hamlet, Horatio lives. Not gonna happen in this show.)
Holy crap!
If you haven't seen the movie yet, and if you tend to get emotionally involved in movies, this thing will wipe you out.
It's worse than Gandalf's dying (because we all knew he was coming back anyway), worse than Dumbledore's dying, worse than Han Solo's dying.
Important characters who die in Hamlet: (OH-- Uh, SPOILER ALERT, just in case you're not up on a 400-year-old play) King Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes, Gertrude, Rosenkrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet.
That's 9. Horatio lives.
Important characters who die in Romeo and Juliet (Sigh: SPOILER ALERT): Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, and Lady Montague.
That's 6. Benvolio lives.
Important Characters who die in MacBeth (yes, all right SPOILER ALERT):
MacBeth, Lady MacBeth, Lady MacDuff, Banquo, several unnamed MacDuff Children, at least 2 servants, and Duncan.
That's at least 10. But MacDuff, Fleance, and both princes live.

Important characters who die in Rogue One (SPOILER ALERT)
Saw Gerrera, Bodhi Rook, Jyn Erso, Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus, General Merrick, Galen Erso, Lyra Erso, K-2SO, Cassian Andor, and Orson Krennic (but you want him to die).
That's 11. Nobody lives. Not unless you count the cameo of Princess Leia at the end, which is pretty gut-wrenching to see the day after Carrie Fisher died.
See? Rogue One could be a Shakespearean tragedy.

(By the way, I'd love it if someone could tell me how they did that. There's a clip of Leia that looks so much like 20-year-old Fisher that it's unbelievable. Was it really good CG? Was it an old, unused clip from 1977? Was it time travel? it was spiffy.)

I am now ready to huddle in a fetal position while I recover from this emotionally devastating movie.

UPDATE: at this source I found this interesting info about the Leia cameo: 


This is the big one, as it comes in the very last few shots of the film. The plans make it to the Tantive IV space-corvette and are delivered into the hands of a person wearing pristine white robes. The person turns around and, obviously, its Princess Leia Organa. And just like Tarkin, young Carrie Fisher has been recreated for her few seconds onscreen via CG. This shot is a big deal as it establishes even more about Leia Organa’s backstory; we now know that Leia was present during the entire battle over Scarif, and that she escaped on board the Tantive IV by the skin of her teeth. Even before we see Leia for the first time in “A New Hope” as she uploads the plans into Artoo, she’s already survived one harrowing space battle. We’ve always known that Leia’s tough as nails and a survivor, and this one scene in “Rogue One” just confirms that. And on top of all that, Leia gets the final line of the movie as she states, a smile on her face, that the rebels now have a new hope.