Rogue One is two films, made for two distinct audiences. The first is unlike any Star Wars movie I've seen, a sort of pocket-universe combat picture that hangs heavy with imperial oppression and desperate heroes. The filmmakers camouflage their story in soot and sadness, making familiar elements easier to digest as they trickle in. Yes, Jyn (Felicity Jones) is another barren-planet orphan who finds herself fighting the Empire, but she lacks Rey's optimism and Luke's sense of galactic justice. Compelling stuff. The second Rogue One is a long, dispiriting fan-service loop of gratuitous cameos and marble-mouthed exposition that climaxes in a clumsy retread of the Battle of Endor. Last year's Episode VII waded into this pool, but promised an expansion of the mythos. Here, Disney/Lucasfilm walk that promise back, reducing the once groundbreaking series to a calendar-based motion product with goals no more ambitious than those of the Saw franchise.
Welcome to Kicking the Seat!
Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).
The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar Noé, Rachel Brosnahan, Amy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.
Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.