Rogue (2001)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Dave Bundtzen

Writer:

James DeRuvo (writer)

Genre:

Short

Tagline:

The Hunt Has Begun.

Plot:

Atrocities committed in the name of the Emperor have compelled Commander Jake Dinn to join the cause of the rebellion...

Plot Keywords:

Rebellion | Space | Dogfight | Futuristic | Female Fighter

Cast

Karl Granehed	...	Jake Dinn
Gregory Lee Kenyon	...	L.T. Bora
Wendy Gough	...	Tayla
Victoria Coulson	...	Minerva
Osman Soykut	...	Admiral Keily
Bonnie MacBird	...	Amade
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Woloski	...	Stormtrooper TK766

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Star Wars (1977)

Not great but it is a fan film and good effects and solid story almost balance out clunky dialogue and poor acting

Imperial atrocities have compelled Commander Jake Dinn to go rogue and renounce his loyalty to the Emperor. A career military officer, Dinn had devoted his life to defending the Empire until the destruction of Alderan by the Death Star. His defection has sent shockwaves throughout the Empire. Intent on preventing one of their most knowledgeable officers falling into the hands of the Rebellion, Imperial Forces are ruthlessly pursuing Dinn, intent on bringing him to justice… Having watched a couple of joking Star Wars fan films it was quite nice to sit and watch one that tries to do a more serious story. The plot is pretty good and sets up an interesting but simple story. It does enough to engage throughout the whole film although some bits of it didn't ring true and were less convincing. This may have been due to the actual script, which is fairly nondescript – but then I suppose that could just be another way that it tries to resemble the Lucas films! The effects are very good considering the resources at the director's hands and, to be honest, after the CGI overload that was Episode III, less was definitely more.

The acting was naturally poor. Wooden and without a great deal of character or personality. I wanted Dinn to be much more of a roguish Rogue but he wasn't; neither was his Empire pursuer evil or memorable enough. Some of the people on the planet were just awful and I did laugh out loud at the delivery of one terrible line that finished with a "eh?" but sounded like it was being read off a massive cue-card! This is not a massive surprise to be honest and, although it would have been better with more natural performances, I was able to forgive it this.

Not a great film then but for the resources available to it, it still does well and is worth seeing. The effects are good and the story solid enough to engage. The clunky writing and roundly poor performances take a lot away from how much fun it is but it is still worth seeing as long as you understand what it is and don't expect the world from it.