In an earlier post, I talked about how the days of arthouse epics such as “2001: A Space Odyssey” may be behind us. Well by the looks of the Star Wars spin-off movie coming out this December, things might be changing. At least judging by the movie’s cast that is. Former director of the 2014 “Godzilla” remake has cast the creme de la creme of international arthouse royalty. So what can we decipher from the movie so far, and what can it tell us about what the end product might look like?
Ok, let’s get some background. As I said earlier, originality in cinematic blockbusters appears to have gone the way of the Dodo. A time of sequels, prequels, remakes and reimaginings means that original storylines appear to be done with. Even the films themselves are about as unoriginal and safe as Granny’s sweet tea. I mean last year’s “Jurassic World” was the most studio-manufactured, boring and predictable, dumb sequel I’ve yet to see. Even “The Force Awakens” was literally the story of “A New Hope” retold. Crowd-pleasing yes, original no. So I obviously assumed “Rogue One” would be more of the same. Let’s see why this might not be the case.
The Director.
Gareth Edwards is most notably known for his remake 2014 remake of “Godzilla”, and his extremely low-budget dystopian flick “Monsters”. Both were highly original, and tried new things, yes even the mega-blockbuster, studio-managed re-make, “Godzilla”. The fact Edward’s made that thing even remotely original is a miracle. Plus it made a shit-tonne of money. Can he strike oil twice?
The Ghostbusters Disaster Happened.
A couple of weeks ago the trailer for the new “Ghostbusters” remake dropped, and it bombed. Like majorly bombed. I’m talking almost half a million dislikes bombed. Perhaps this was the mass public saying they’ve finally had enough of remakes. They want something original and different. Disney has a lot of Star Wars planned for us. Perhaps a good way of ensuring there $4 billion investment doesn’t go down the drain is to not make the same mistakes as Sony Studios.
It’s a Spin-off.
You know what else was a spin-off from a Disney owned, multi-billion dollar franchise? Yes, “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Without the pressure from execs to set up future trilogies, prequels, or spin-off’s itself, there be actual room in the movie to, you know, tell a story! Plus, with it being a re-make disney studio execs will be distracted with bigger fish to ruin, sorry I mean “adapt and adjust to become more suitable for audience enjoyment”.
It’s got Ip man!
Ip man! IP MAN! IP MOTHERFUCKING MAN.
If you don’t know who Ip Man is. First of, shame on you, secondly here’s a clip below to highlight his epiceness. Enjoy and thank me later:
It’s Also Got Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker.
This is like the all-star cast for internal art-house cinema royalty. This really is an independent cinema fan’s dream cast. I should know, I am one.
Diego Luna was one of the leads in the 2001 coming-of-age, Mexican classic “Y Tu Mamá También”. Whitaker exploded a tour de force performance as charismatic African dictator Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland” and Mads Mikkelsen was famously part of a Danish revolution in independent cinema by starring in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy.
Ben Mendelsohn, star of the Australian independent ‘Scorsese-esk’ crime thriller “Animal Kingdom” will also be joining this international cast of famous arthouse actors.
It’s Got Alan Tudyk.
This is big for one reason. It means Gareth Edwards is a fan of the cult sci-fi t.v. series “Firefly”. This t.v. was not financially successful by any stretch of the imagination, it didn’t even finish it’s first series. But it is a damn good show. The fact that Edwards is clearly a fan of it illustrates that he is about more than just the profit margin.
It’s almost as if Edwards has used the fact he’s directing a Star Wars movie to attract every single actor he’d ever dreamed of working with in one movie. He’s having fun and making some bold moves. Edwards casting can perhaps also give an insight into what the films that have most influenced him are, and maybe even the type of film he wants “Rogue One” to be.
Regardless, I’m impressed. Don’t let us down Edwards, you’re our only hope.
ohhimarksite 