The story opp that Rogue One missed

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RE. ROGUE ONE*

I didn’t enjoy Rogue One nearly so much.

Here’s some of what bothered me:

• Darth Vader is now a pun-cracking wiseguy who lives in a big stupidly villainous castle, seemingly on the planet where he lost his duel to Obi-Wan. (There’s something potentially cool in that second idea, but it feels wasted here.)
• It’s world-shrinking. The characters bump into the smugglers that fight with Luke and Obi-Wan in Mos Eisley (do they just go from planet to planet jostling good guys?) – The Death Star now has a weakness because Mad Mikkelsen snuck it into the plans. The temptation with “expanded universe” plays is to rely on your connections to the originals – and when done so casually, I think it makes the universe feel smaller and more deterministic.
• The robot isn’t nearly funny enough. In more and more modern films, I see characters set up with a punchline, and every sign around it suggests it’s a joke – but the writing or the performance just isn’t there. Compare with similar lines in most Marvel movies.
• Why are we spaffing around with this new Imperial antagonist when he’s surrounded by some of the best villains around. Considering all the main characters die on their mission, it would only empower characters like Vader and Tarkin to be the ones that chase and destroy them (and make it all the more threatening when Luke and co. take them on in Episode IV.)

It’s so easy to pick holes in things. So, during the more boring moments of the film, I decided to think through a potential alternative.

The biggest missed opportunity here is Darth Vader.

The alt take on Rogue One

Bear in mind that this small window between Episode III and Episode IV is the only spot where we can have any more of the character. And, last we saw him, he’s a bit of a pathetic joke, stumbling around in his new suit with a pantomime “Noooooooooo”. Not to mention: imbued with all the poor characterisation of Anakin in the prequels.

So what if instead, this film was used to show Darth Vader and Tarkin at the height of their powers. In scenes that would set up the Episode IV conversations about the power of the dark side vs the Death Star, they could be locked in a struggle of faith vs science, also trying to curry favour with the Emperor.

Now, the character archetypes shown in Rogue One can be used to make the role of Han, Luke and the team even more impressive in Episode IV.

The Han Solo shaped character loses because he’s not as good as Han. The blind semi-Jedi character loses because they aren’t trained like Obi-Wan (also adding depth to Obi-Wan’s sacrifice, because you wonder if he could have taken Darth again.)

You end up accomplishing many of the same story beats, while both using the existing capital in characters more effectively and adding to it ahead of the next film.

Most importantly of all, Vader becomes frightening again in the way you see in the last 5x minutes of the movie.

Regardless, I do think there’s one encouraging sign from Rogue One: Disney is willing to roll the dice a bit and try these experiments out. The reviews I’ve seen have been generally positive and rewarded that approach.

Hopefully, this is just the start of what we will see in the years to come.

EDIT: another thought (just because this is probably the best place for it)

Star Wars has a rich history of Father-Offspring drama. What if Mads M’s character joined the Empire but actually ended up genuinely believing in their cause.

Now, his daughter is sent by the rebels to confront him – but finds a shocking figure in his place. (Echoes of Luke and Vader here a little.)

Through most of the film, he now takes the role of the existing antagonist (Empire general) – until, in the conclusion at the top of the tower, his daughter, who he hasn’t seen for years, who he abandoned, manages to turn him back to the light.

And maybe she must die to motivate the change. Someone like Vader cuts her down – and he realises the Empire he served is a lie. So he hits the final button to transmit the plans, completing his arc, and his daughter’s, and the film’s necessary business.