Anghus Houvouras on the final shots of Rogue One and The Force Awakens…
– I wrote this column a few days before Carrie Fisher passed away. Like everyone else I was saddened to hear of her passing. I’m sure there are many that will find new appreciation for the final shot in Rogue One given those circumstances.
Last year Seth Rogen was on Howard Stern promoting Sausage Party. I always find interviews with Rogen to be enlightening because he’s remarkably transparent about the creative process from producing, writing, and performance. He willing throws himself under the bus when things don’t go right but never feels the need to blame others for the lack of a project’s success.
During the interview he talked at length about how difficult it is to make a bad movie, much less a good one:
“I’m more surprised when any movie is good … A hundred million things need to come together in order to make a movie good that I am not surprised when movies are bad. I am shocked when movies are good.”
I share Rogen’s perspective. I never enter the movie theater expecting greatness. Most films are average, passable affairs that barely justify their own existence. Something Rogen said in that quote stuck out while I exited the theater after seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“A hundred million things need to come together in order to make a movie good.”
Sometimes there are little things that stick out like sore thumbs when you watch a movie. Perhaps it’s an awkward casting choice or haphazard editing. Maybe you’re watching a scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story where a mind reading monster wraps its tentacles around a character and realize that the whole bit was stolen from American Dad.
The real sore thumb of Rogue One is that terrible final shot. A waxy, unrealistic CGI Princess Leia gets the plans for the Death Star and utters a cringe worthy line about hope. Almost immediately I thought about that aesthetically displeasing final shot from The Force Awakens. You know the one: A helicopter crew flies around the island while Luke and Rey stand there frozen like they’re doing a Mannequin Challenge from a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Final shots are so important, because it’s the lasting image that audiences will see. You can see examples of great final shots in movies like Fight Club, The Shining, and Planet of the Apes. Filmmakers who use those final moments to imprint something on audiences as the credits roll. Star Wars has featured some perfectly cromulent final shots. Luke and Leia watching the Millennium Falcon fly away to try and find Han is probably the most lasting (thanks again Irvin Kirschner). Revenge of the Sith does a nice job of adding some parity to A New Hope.
Rogue One though. Blech. What sucks is that they already had the shot they needed. When the door opens and the hapless soldier runs in with the Death Star plans, you see Leia’s very familiar ensemble from behind. In a world where everyone doesn’t need to be brutally beaten to death with the obvious stick, that would have been exceptional. Instead, Gareth Edwards adds another $100,000 shot of some really poorly rendered CGI taking us out of the moment. The impact is jarring. You go from several very good iconic moments to an absolute spike strip of a momentum killer.
Comparatively speaking, The Force Awakens‘ final shot isn’t nearly as bad. It’s simply a strange choice. We, the audience are watching these very close moments between two characters who share something of a destiny. Rey is looking for answers, while Luke doesn’t seem all that pleased to be discovered. There is some real drama in this unspoken moment. Instead of just ending it there, J.J. Abrams gives us a whirlybird shot that pulls the audience out of the moment and audibly wonder ‘Why are they just standing there like that?’ It takes the concept of a dramatic pause and stretches it out to ludicrous lengths. If that shot were a Stretch Armstrong, there’d be corn syrup all over the floor.
Cinematically, I believe that less is more. I realize the irony when discussing a movie that cost $200 million. Rogue One didn’t need a CGI Princess Leia (or Grand Moff Tarkin for that matter). For Rogue One, We only needed a hint of something familiar. Leia’s back would have been enough to be the bridge to A New Hope. Instead of that utter monstrosity we were left with.
Like Seth Rogen said, there’s a lot of things that have to come together to make a good movie. Rogue One had much bigger problems (for me anyway), but that final shot is the one thing hardest to shake.
Anghus Houvouras
Originally published January 7, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
