Rogue One & Moana.
2016, whilst a bad year for many people (and certainly, we've lost a great number of treasured and beloved actors and actresses), has been a bumper year for the House of Mouse, and nowhere is this more evident than in their bumper one-two punch of their latest animated feature, Moana, and the first in what I'm sure will be a great number of Star Wars spin-offs (or Star Wars Stories), Rogue One. Without further ado...
Walt Disney Animation Studios are on a run to rival their first late-1980s to mid-1990s Renaissance, and Moana only extends this run; no mean feat, when the last musical-animated film Disney released was Frozen, not only the fifth highest grossing film of all time, but the highest grossing animated film ever. In my honest opinion? Moana is, in places, even better than Frozen-this is not to say that Frozen is overrated, but Moana may well be one of my favourite Disney films, from a single viewing.
Set in Polynesia and chronicling the journey of mismatched duo, adventurous chieftan's daughter Moana and boastful if good-hearted demi-god Maui, (plus inept animal companion, hapless chicken Heihei,) to return the heart of nature/creation Goddess, Te Fiti, it's an altogether bigger and more adventurous picture than Frozen. A bigger scope, however, does not necessarily make a film better-Moana's true strength, oddly, comes partly from Moana herself. If Anna, Elsa and Rapunzel were the beginning of a move from the typical Disney princess, towards a more modern, and dare we say it, a more independent and feminist, style of protagonist, then Moana is a big step towards that. She's a free spirit, but also a capable leader (heck, did Elsa make one political decision in Frozen?), and her adventure is driven both by her yearning for the sea and her determination to set things right-there;s a stunning scene at the film's climax in which her inner strength truly shows. All of this from a first time actress, (Auli'i Cravalho, who I hope we see and hear many more performances from).
Around her are a great cast of supporting characters; Maui, played by Dwayne Johnson (who frankly only cements his skills as an actor with every film he makes, and has a damn good singing voice), is a great comedic foil, but also spends much of the latter half of the film evolving into a companion and mentor to Moana, and gains a greater complexity than the bragging demigod. His design, moving tattoos and all, makes him one of the standout characters that Disney have designed in this second Renaissance. Moana's grandmother, Tala, is a similarly free, ocean-loving spirit, and proves to be not only a kindred spirit, but a key motivation in her seafaring, and in revealing the past of her village, and Moana's parents are nicely fleshed out characters, and in a sense represent their daughter's conflicted heart.
Heihei...is one of the single best things about this film-largely silent, utterly hapless, and paying tribute to the best of silent cinema, from Keaton to the Keystone Cops, he pecks and struts his way from scrape to scrape. Ranged against Moana and Maui lie the varied and beautifully realised monsters, ranging from the deceptively cute Kakamora to the oh-so-shiny giant crab Tamatoa, but on their side is Moana's other great character-the ocean itself-at once playful and helpful, but also unforgiving and ruthless. The film's best moments are certainly these often wondrous or otherwise utterly charming moments, most notably the interactions between the young Moana and the sea.
Moana's other great asset, though, are its songs. If Frozen's soundtrack harked back to the classic Disney musical, then Moana, by no coincidence, sounds and feels far more like a modern musical; this is due to Hamilton composer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, and whereas Frozen's action paused for most of its Broadway-style musical numbers, the story of Moana flows through and around the songs, with characters' songs showing their mental processes and decisions, and with multiple reprises of multiple numbers, it certainly has a more musical-like structure than Frozen-as with many Disney musicals, though, the villain's song, the oh-so-catchy (and Bowie-homaging) "Shiny", together with the boastful "You're Welcome" are perhaps the best songs of the film. It's also witness to the authenticity of the film that at least three songs are either in Samoan or the Tokelauan language.
In short, thus, Moana sees Disney capitalising on their strengths, pushing boundaries both in terms of the independence, and indeed race of their protagonist, with a strong song-book, a great cast of characters, and a truly epic sense of adventure. A solid addition to the Disney pantheon.
Now seven films (mixed in success from arguably one of the best sequel ever (Empire Strikes Back) to a film I genuinely fell asleep during (Attack of the Clones) in, and buoyed by the success of faithful and beloved if warmly derivative The Force Awakens, Star Wars is now firmly back in the public imagination and now expanding its universe once more.
Coming less than a year later than Force, Rogue One is more, at least visually and in its slick execution, of what made the former so damned popular, albeit with a darker, more mature story and tone. Likable if distant female protagonist? Check. Diverse cast of mismatched heroes? Check. Likable comedic droid (though K2-SO, voiced by Disney regular Alan Tudyk, is altogether more sardonic than the silent BB-8)? Check. Jaw-dropping cameos by Original Trilogy favourites? Check. Where the two films divide is their focus-Force focuses on the "Star", Rogue One on the "Wars". Whilst the Original Trilogy was scattered with iconic space (Yavin, Endor) and land battles (Hoth, Endor) with a visceral and realistic tone, the prequel trilogy eschewed such setpieces for often boring and visually cluttered CGI slugfests, with even Revenge of the Sith, (Lucas's apology in all but name for Episodes II and III) suffering the same fate. Even Force suffered, with its space battles often sparse and oddly under-developed interludes between much better hand-to-hand (or blaster-to-blaster) fighting.
Rogue One has no such problem. Chronicling the stealing of the Death Star plans (a mere sentence on the opening crawl of A New Hope), and the third film in the so far meteoric career of Gareth (Godzilla, Monsters) Edwards, it's a physical, fast-paced, tight knit piece, focusing on the path of Jyn Erso, from reluctant collaborator with an embattled and close to collapse Rebel Alliance to the mastermind of the plan to steal the plans for the infamous (and heavily featured) Death Star.. Played to perfection by Felicity Jones, she's a street-smart and rebellious outsider still nursing the scars of her past and estranged from Death Star designer father, Galen (Mads Mikkelssen).
If Rey was the wide-eyed idealist, a child in wonder at her new powers and at the world around her, Jyn is a world-weary realist, in a harsh, and often violent world-Star Wars has never felt so realistic, not only in its return to practical effects, but in its fights and battles-the introduction of warrior monk Chirrut and Heavy Weapons Guy, Malbus comes during a set-piece which rivals any contemporary war film, with insurgents battling Stormtroopers with explosives in violent and unpredictable street battles clearly influenced by wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Neither, to the credit of Edwards, has Star Wars felt this dark since Empire-The Empire's cruelness and its power are felt keenly throughout Rogue One, from its opening scenes and even those paragons of galactic peace, the Rebel Alliance, have their darker elements in the form of extremist Saw Gerrera (a great performance by Forest Whitaker).
If there's one flaw with Rogue One, it's in its planet-hopping and slow start; whilst it makes sense for The Empire to not keep their assets on one planet, there's a good fifteen minutes that could have been cut down or reduced by removing one planet hop or so, and the film is a little too keen to exhibit its (admittedly jaw dropping) digital recreation of the late great Peter Cushing as the scheming Grand Moff Tarkin, whose rivalry with Ben Mendelsohn's Director Krennic feels a little tacked on and overwrought.
Once the film gets going, with the team being assembled, however, it clatters along with great aplomb, and the final third, full of space and land battles that rage and blaze across the scene, is up there with Empire for pacing, pathos and pure exhilaration, with Edwards leaving his ace in the hole for a truly spectacular reintroduction to two of Star Wars' greatest, and most iconic characters. His gang of mismatched outsiders feel more and more like heroes whispered around the planets of the Rebellion, his villains, particularly Krennic (shades of Ralph Fiennes' Göth come to mind) more and more like the officers spitting "Rebel scum" of the Original Trilogy, and the Death Star takes on a new fearsome reputation. Their story turns a footnote in Star Wars mythos into the first of many tales from a Galaxy Far Far Away.
Moana. (1h 53m, U)
Walt Disney Animation Studios are on a run to rival their first late-1980s to mid-1990s Renaissance, and Moana only extends this run; no mean feat, when the last musical-animated film Disney released was Frozen, not only the fifth highest grossing film of all time, but the highest grossing animated film ever. In my honest opinion? Moana is, in places, even better than Frozen-this is not to say that Frozen is overrated, but Moana may well be one of my favourite Disney films, from a single viewing.
Set in Polynesia and chronicling the journey of mismatched duo, adventurous chieftan's daughter Moana and boastful if good-hearted demi-god Maui, (plus inept animal companion, hapless chicken Heihei,) to return the heart of nature/creation Goddess, Te Fiti, it's an altogether bigger and more adventurous picture than Frozen. A bigger scope, however, does not necessarily make a film better-Moana's true strength, oddly, comes partly from Moana herself. If Anna, Elsa and Rapunzel were the beginning of a move from the typical Disney princess, towards a more modern, and dare we say it, a more independent and feminist, style of protagonist, then Moana is a big step towards that. She's a free spirit, but also a capable leader (heck, did Elsa make one political decision in Frozen?), and her adventure is driven both by her yearning for the sea and her determination to set things right-there;s a stunning scene at the film's climax in which her inner strength truly shows. All of this from a first time actress, (Auli'i Cravalho, who I hope we see and hear many more performances from).
Around her are a great cast of supporting characters; Maui, played by Dwayne Johnson (who frankly only cements his skills as an actor with every film he makes, and has a damn good singing voice), is a great comedic foil, but also spends much of the latter half of the film evolving into a companion and mentor to Moana, and gains a greater complexity than the bragging demigod. His design, moving tattoos and all, makes him one of the standout characters that Disney have designed in this second Renaissance. Moana's grandmother, Tala, is a similarly free, ocean-loving spirit, and proves to be not only a kindred spirit, but a key motivation in her seafaring, and in revealing the past of her village, and Moana's parents are nicely fleshed out characters, and in a sense represent their daughter's conflicted heart.
Heihei...is one of the single best things about this film-largely silent, utterly hapless, and paying tribute to the best of silent cinema, from Keaton to the Keystone Cops, he pecks and struts his way from scrape to scrape. Ranged against Moana and Maui lie the varied and beautifully realised monsters, ranging from the deceptively cute Kakamora to the oh-so-shiny giant crab Tamatoa, but on their side is Moana's other great character-the ocean itself-at once playful and helpful, but also unforgiving and ruthless. The film's best moments are certainly these often wondrous or otherwise utterly charming moments, most notably the interactions between the young Moana and the sea.
Moana's other great asset, though, are its songs. If Frozen's soundtrack harked back to the classic Disney musical, then Moana, by no coincidence, sounds and feels far more like a modern musical; this is due to Hamilton composer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, and whereas Frozen's action paused for most of its Broadway-style musical numbers, the story of Moana flows through and around the songs, with characters' songs showing their mental processes and decisions, and with multiple reprises of multiple numbers, it certainly has a more musical-like structure than Frozen-as with many Disney musicals, though, the villain's song, the oh-so-catchy (and Bowie-homaging) "Shiny", together with the boastful "You're Welcome" are perhaps the best songs of the film. It's also witness to the authenticity of the film that at least three songs are either in Samoan or the Tokelauan language.
In short, thus, Moana sees Disney capitalising on their strengths, pushing boundaries both in terms of the independence, and indeed race of their protagonist, with a strong song-book, a great cast of characters, and a truly epic sense of adventure. A solid addition to the Disney pantheon.
Rogue One (2h 13m, 12A)
Now seven films (mixed in success from arguably one of the best sequel ever (Empire Strikes Back) to a film I genuinely fell asleep during (Attack of the Clones) in, and buoyed by the success of faithful and beloved if warmly derivative The Force Awakens, Star Wars is now firmly back in the public imagination and now expanding its universe once more.
Coming less than a year later than Force, Rogue One is more, at least visually and in its slick execution, of what made the former so damned popular, albeit with a darker, more mature story and tone. Likable if distant female protagonist? Check. Diverse cast of mismatched heroes? Check. Likable comedic droid (though K2-SO, voiced by Disney regular Alan Tudyk, is altogether more sardonic than the silent BB-8)? Check. Jaw-dropping cameos by Original Trilogy favourites? Check. Where the two films divide is their focus-Force focuses on the "Star", Rogue One on the "Wars". Whilst the Original Trilogy was scattered with iconic space (Yavin, Endor) and land battles (Hoth, Endor) with a visceral and realistic tone, the prequel trilogy eschewed such setpieces for often boring and visually cluttered CGI slugfests, with even Revenge of the Sith, (Lucas's apology in all but name for Episodes II and III) suffering the same fate. Even Force suffered, with its space battles often sparse and oddly under-developed interludes between much better hand-to-hand (or blaster-to-blaster) fighting.
Rogue One has no such problem. Chronicling the stealing of the Death Star plans (a mere sentence on the opening crawl of A New Hope), and the third film in the so far meteoric career of Gareth (Godzilla, Monsters) Edwards, it's a physical, fast-paced, tight knit piece, focusing on the path of Jyn Erso, from reluctant collaborator with an embattled and close to collapse Rebel Alliance to the mastermind of the plan to steal the plans for the infamous (and heavily featured) Death Star.. Played to perfection by Felicity Jones, she's a street-smart and rebellious outsider still nursing the scars of her past and estranged from Death Star designer father, Galen (Mads Mikkelssen).
If Rey was the wide-eyed idealist, a child in wonder at her new powers and at the world around her, Jyn is a world-weary realist, in a harsh, and often violent world-Star Wars has never felt so realistic, not only in its return to practical effects, but in its fights and battles-the introduction of warrior monk Chirrut and Heavy Weapons Guy, Malbus comes during a set-piece which rivals any contemporary war film, with insurgents battling Stormtroopers with explosives in violent and unpredictable street battles clearly influenced by wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Neither, to the credit of Edwards, has Star Wars felt this dark since Empire-The Empire's cruelness and its power are felt keenly throughout Rogue One, from its opening scenes and even those paragons of galactic peace, the Rebel Alliance, have their darker elements in the form of extremist Saw Gerrera (a great performance by Forest Whitaker).
If there's one flaw with Rogue One, it's in its planet-hopping and slow start; whilst it makes sense for The Empire to not keep their assets on one planet, there's a good fifteen minutes that could have been cut down or reduced by removing one planet hop or so, and the film is a little too keen to exhibit its (admittedly jaw dropping) digital recreation of the late great Peter Cushing as the scheming Grand Moff Tarkin, whose rivalry with Ben Mendelsohn's Director Krennic feels a little tacked on and overwrought.
Once the film gets going, with the team being assembled, however, it clatters along with great aplomb, and the final third, full of space and land battles that rage and blaze across the scene, is up there with Empire for pacing, pathos and pure exhilaration, with Edwards leaving his ace in the hole for a truly spectacular reintroduction to two of Star Wars' greatest, and most iconic characters. His gang of mismatched outsiders feel more and more like heroes whispered around the planets of the Rebellion, his villains, particularly Krennic (shades of Ralph Fiennes' Göth come to mind) more and more like the officers spitting "Rebel scum" of the Original Trilogy, and the Death Star takes on a new fearsome reputation. Their story turns a footnote in Star Wars mythos into the first of many tales from a Galaxy Far Far Away.
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You should submit these to Rotten Tomatoes's user community. They're much better than half the sh*t I see there regularly.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I was disappointed by Saw's limited screen presence. Considering how Star Wars: The Clone Wars ended his character, this felt like a natural end result with some gaps missing along the way. Hopefully Star Wars Rebels will flesh him out more...
It was certainly a better (extended) cameo than others I could mention.
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