Quote:The thing that I think the movie missed out on is showing/telling more of Vader's story.
He has become such a monumental figure in the movies that it's kind of easy to forget that he was really nothing more than a goon in Ep Four. If you remember, Imperial officers talked down to him and Tarkin bossed him around like any other underling.
Then in Empire he had much more authority and sway within the Imperial Army / Navy. Ostensibly, this is because of the vacuum that was caused with the Moff's death and I can get behind that but it doesn't change what he was in Ep Four.
But Rogue One treated him as "Lord" Vader and all of the trappings that title implies which is earlier in the timeline than Ep Four. Wouldn't it have been better to see Vader grow into his new position? Maybe make HIM the rival to Crennic rather than Tarkin?
All in all, I enjoyed the movie. It was well casted, well acted and they had a sharp eye for detail and character development.
And I LOVED how they let Vader off his chain there at the end.
PSA: This post is all kinds of spoiler. Don't read it if that bothers you.
Well, I mean, we've already been told Vader's story. Like, many times. Six movies and a TV show that ran for five years. It's time to move past Darth Vader's story, because we know it already.
Vader wasn't exactly a goon in Episode IV. The Rebels TV show, which is canon, makes it pretty clear that he's in charge of the efforts to track down and destroy all remaining Jedi. Managing the Imperial Fleet falls outside his job description until he earns it, more or less. The admirals distrust him for any number of reasons, but one possibility stands out: Anakin's relationship with the admirals in Clone Wars was...strained...at times. If there were rumblings going around that this black-suited killing machine called Vader was actually Anakin Skywalker, they might feel outright threatened by his presence to the point where they wanted to continually pee on their starships and put Vader in his place. As far as Tarkin goes, the Clone Wars TV series made it clear that he and Anakin had a long history of working together and they had a great deal of respect for each other. I think it's more likely that they were equals in Episode IV, with Tarkin in charge of the Death Star (and possibly the Imperial Fleet) and Vader in more of an enforcer role with broader responsibilities that took a back seat to, you know, recovering the Death Star plans and killing off those pesky Jedi once and for all. I also think it's highly likely that Tarkin was one of a very few people who actually knew--not suspected, knew--that Vader and Anakin were one and the same.
So if Vader and Tarkin were equals, why was Tarkin bossing Vader around? Simple. The Death Star was "Tarkin's Folly", not Vader's. He had overseen the station's construction, far more so than Director Krennic actually had, and Vader knew it. How else do you explain the scene between Vader and Krennic? Had most people asked such a stupid question of Vader, he may well have killed them on the spot, particularly if he knew of Tarkin's distaste for Krennic (he probably did). Instead, Vader made a point of reminding the thorn in his friend's side that asking Vader to align himself against Tarkin was almost as stupid as aligning himself against Tarkin in the first place. Tarkin gave Vader orders and Vader obeyed them because he respected his longtime collaborator and probable friend, and because in matters relating to the Death Star, Tarkin's word would have been second only to Palpatine's.
I also think you're misinterpreting Krennic's role. He's not a threat to Tarkin, and he never was. The plot makes it very clear that despite his grand ambitions and his grand claims about his work on the Death Star, the sad truth is that he's just a middle-manager trying to get noticed by the CEO. He was a nuisance to Tarkin. A necessary one because his presence was moving the project along, but a nuisance all the same. Good luck convincing me that Tarkin's wry grin at the realization that he could destroy Scarif and prevent the plans' release once and for all wasn't partly because he was enjoying the thought of blowing Krennic into space dust.
And yeah, I was thrilled to finally see Vader on the big screen being a [BLEEP] again. After three Anakin films punctuated by the most scrawny, pathetic Vader appearance ever, the reminder that he is the most dangerous man in the galaxy was awesome.