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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
The third act of the original movie is beautiful: well-paced, gorgeously shot, and emotionally compelling. The novel's focus on the characters' inner lives gives the ending another resonance. Not all Star Wars books are successful, particularly the novelisations, but this one really works for me.
From my blog:
I loved almost everything about Rogue One: I loved its beautiful and beautifully diverse cast, I loved its relentless and brutal pace, I even dug its CGI missteps. It's a dark, dark film, to be sure, but it also seems very apt and timely. Rebellions are built on hope, etc.
I picked up the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novelization by Alexander Freed because I kept coming across good reviews. I was skeptical -- I had tried to read Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of The Force Awakens and found the writing style so tedious that I couldn't get past the first chapter. Thankfully though Freed doesn't seem to suffer from this: his writing style is relatively spartan and straightforward, which serves this kind of story well. Even so I was still very much surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this, and even more surprised at how much more depth it managed to add to the story.
One of the main criticisms about the film is that we don't spend enough individual time with the characters too feel much of anything when they meet their ultimate fate. Which is fair: movie's are all about the external after all, whereas in books and comics you can delve more into the character's feelings and motivations -- literally get inside their heads. This is what Freed does in the novelization, and to great effect. We get so many details regarding each character's background, personality, and motivation.
Cassian stashed his paranoia in the back of his brain -- out of the way but within easy reach.
Jyn knew the sounds of occupation well. They were the sounds of home.
Baze did not limit his targets to those who might spot the blind man, but he kept Chirrut under observation nonetheless; where the Force would fail Chirrut, Baze would not.
And it does affect how you feel about the characters as the plot happens to them. This is made most evident in K-2SO's final scene, an already heartbreaking moment in the film, but here Freed adds one last final touch that makes is all the more tragic and all the more beautiful. Totally evil stuff, but good nonetheless.
This device isn't limited to the characters either: for the more technical aspects of the plot we get things like communiques and log entries interspersed throughout the story, and they are also used to great effect. In a particularly brilliant entry, we get to find out just how Galen Erso, with the help of sheer bureaucratic nonsense, ensures the flaw he engineered in the Death Star reactor remains in place. A detail that is both morbidly hilarious and also incredibly realistic.
I do think that one of the things that makes the movie such a visceral experience gets totally lost in the translation, however, and that is much of the action. Freed does a serviceable job, but the action still very much slows down and lack urgency and tension. Darth Vader’s big scene is an absolute show-stopper in the movie, for example, whereas here it reads as very much anticlimactic.
But that is admittedly a minor criticism that applies mostly to the third act, and I do think that the material and information that was added to the story more than makes up for it.
Highly recommend reading this before you watch Rogue One for the eight time.
Alexander Freed captures the beauty and grit of the film in his novelization. Both the glory and pain of Jyn and the rebels came alive for me as I read. More than a great telling of the movie's story in prose, however, this was simply a good novel. I highly recommend it!
Yes, that’s right much maligned on all sides, Rogue One is an excellent movie and a Five Star Novelization. Freed recounts the events of the movie precisely and with emotion, and so it’s not only: Rogue One the story but Rogue One the story told in a way that makes it so much more than it was on the big screen. I am — I am so happy. I knew I would get a five star star wars read eventually, and it’s here!!! Also...first real five star read of the year
