crosspost: whining about RO

[anghraine]

Sometimes I remember that Rogue One was initially proposed as a mini-series, and

a) waaaaah

b) I love RO, but I’ve been upfront about how I think it’s flawed. And a lot of its issues—especially the weird gaps and general underwriting—seem pretty obviously byproducts of the film-length time crunch. When I first heard that it was conceived of as a TV series led by Jyn, Cassian, Kay, and (as antagonist) Krennic, I was like … well, a lot of things make more sense now.

I genuinely think a mini-series would have done more credit to the underlying story. And while RO as is makes for much richer fandom materials—something with a lot of brilliance and a lot of unexplained gaps is fandom catnip—it’s difficult not to pine over the series-that-wasn’t.

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Original tags:

#imagine if eighty percent of bodhi's character arc wasn't offscreen #or if we got some transition between the various stages of jyn and cassian's relationship #('some of us just decided to do something' -> 'welcome home'?) #or some sense of chirrut and baze's backstory beyond about three lines #i mean #ro's troubled creation means that it probably would have been very different in some ways and not just extended from what it is now #but i think a lot of the problems it had would probably not exist without the time crunch! it's just a fairly involved concept #a heist film is one thing #but tying jyn to the death star adds an extra layer of complexity #and then to saw (which as-is is probably the most underwritten major element) #then there's cassian and yoked to him is the entire coming of age of the rebellion itself #there's bodhi's defection via galen #there's the imperial office politics #this is just a ... lot for a given film and esp an action-adventure film #seven major characters! sEVEN #at the very least a duology would have helped

 

Comments

[elperian]

with added new angst now that there's a cassian prequel tv series!

[anghraine]

Right? I'm trying not to be bitter that RO itself didn't get one, even as I'm immensely gratified on Cassian's behalf. /sigh

[rosaxx50]

I think all the time about how much I wish there had been more Jyn & Saw scenes. Or Bodhi & Galen. Though the deaths at the end of the series would have made it all even harder, I think.

[anghraine]

It would definitely have been harder at the end! But I do think there are enough moving parts that it would have been better for it.

[ladyoftheunderworld]

This drives me crazy! So many of my issues with RO stem from just having too many characters in too little time to get enough of anyone.

[anghraine]

Yeah. It's framed as an ensemble film, but I think the original Jyn-Cassian-Kay-Krennic structure definitely shows through the cracks, and the little amount of time they did give to other characters left cracks with them, too, etc. I still love it, but I definitely think it's trying to do too much in too little time.

[shadaras]

I knooooow

Like, it is a heist film? But only sort of? Especially with that ending, it doesn't feel like a heist -- it's a war movie masquerading as a heist, or something. Which is fine and fascinating but fuck if it'd had more time I would've loved it even more.

[anghraine]

Yeah, "war movie masquerading as a heist" is about right. It's definitely a war movie at its roots, I think, but trying to be other things just enough to feel uneven. I love it, but I'd love it more if it had the space for more balance.