ScreenJunkies has unveiled a new Honest Trailer poking fun at Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. If you are a fan of Star Wars, it's a great time to be alive. The franchise is in the midst of a resurgence unlike any other effort in motion picture history, as Disney and Lucasfilm aggressively expand the world of of Star Wars into a fully-functional cinematic universe. In 2015, J.J. Abrams successfully reinvigorated the property with the mega-success, The Force Awakens, which reskinned the franchise for a new generation, while paying respect to what has come before. The release also happened to pave the way for the first spinoff story in the series, Rogue One.
While The Force is truly strong with the Star Wars franchise, the first spin-off was referred to an "experiment" and its success was far from guaranteed. It was the first live-action film to not have a Skywalker in a prominent role, while it also had a scarcity of Jedi lightsaber action that the franchise is known for. However, despite all of the questions for the spinoff about the caper to steal the Death Star blueprints, the movie went on to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Money isn't everything and Rogue One enjoyed an immense critical run at the theaters also, boasting a 85% Rotten Tomatoes score which indicates the movie was a success with pundits as well. However, ticket sales and reviews aren't everything and Screen Junkies' infamous comedy series, Honest Trailers, is here to pick apart the spin-off while pointing out every glaring flaw in film. Such as, the primary heist that seemed overly complicated and convoluted, the questionable morals of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Darth Vader's dad jokes, how Chirrut (Donnie Yen) was essentially a pseudo-Jedi, and the complete ineffectiveness of Stormtroopers' armor that now may be their defining characteristic over their legendarily bad aim.
If you had been following the promotional campaign leading up to the release of the Rogue One, you probably noticed a large amount of the scenes from the trailers that didn't make it into the film's final cut. These include the crew of Rogue One's escape on Scarif's beach with the Death Star's hard drive, Stormtroopers marching on the beach's shore, and Jyn's (Felicity Jones) face-off with a TIE Fighter, among other scenes. These omissions points to extensive reshoots that were reported during the movie's production last year. There have been conflicting reports over the nature of the changes, however it's clear that a lot was left on the cutting room floor and that there were major alterations to the film's original vision.
Fortunately for Star Wars fans, despite all of the inconsistencies that Screen Junkies brings to light, the movie was an unquestioned success. It also has laid a sturdy foundation for Lucasfilm to launch an all-new series of spin-off adventures from the Star Wars universe. The next film, the Han Solo movie, is currently filming and is set for release May 2018. So if you are a Honest Trailer devotee, get ready for a lot more hilarity to come from the Star Wars universe over the coming years.
Source: Screen Junkies