Rogue One: A Stars Wars Story Review

PG13: Extended Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action 

Disney, Lucasfilm Ltd.

2 Hrs and 13 Minutes

Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker

REVIEW: Gareth Edwards is known for doing films of big scale. If you need to know anything about me, I really wasn’t a big fan of his 2014 reboot of Godzilla. Okay, I really disliked Godzilla. But once he was announced to direct the first Stars Wars anthology film centered on the rebels of the Empire and how they got Princess Leia the blueprints for the Empire, I welcomed him with open arms. Now after long wait we have the first cinematic proof that Disney can do more with their Star Wars franchise besides their episodes.

Jyn Erso, a Rebellion soldier and criminal, is about to experience her biggest challenge yet when Mon Mothma sets her out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. With help from the Rebels, a master swordsman, and non-allied forces, Jyn will be in for something bigger than she thinks.

THE GOOD: Because of Rogue One not being a Star Wars Episode film, this gives it a lot of leeways to break from tradition. No scroll crawls, no circle transitions, and no Jedis. Compared to every Episode, this is the most tonally darkest Star Wars film to date and it’s shameless about it. If this film is your introduction to the Star Wars universe, this is the perfect way to get into the hype. It is a film that can be seen as a perfect precursor to A New Hope without having to watch Episode 1-3. 

If you are a huge Star Wars fan and know about the fate of the rogue rebels, you know it’s important to not get attached to any of the characters. As much as it is hard to do at times, you know where this film will go, but it’s the journey that makes it satisfying. Two characters I did attach myself to was Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe who is one of the coolest characters this film introduces. He’s like Daredevil mixed with Hawkeye where he’s blind yet skilled with a staff and a crossbow and charismatically making jokes about it. Another one is Alan Tudyk as the voice of K-2SO who is personally my favorite Droid introduced into the Star Wars universe to date. He is a hilarious character who unlike 3-CPO or R2-D2, helps out on the action and joins in the fights. He is completely badass. And besides that he is genially funny by having a cynical personality.

What makes Rogue One special in its own right is the amount of world building that it does. You experience new characters and creatures of different looks and designs to the ones that we know and love. We see so many new planets that have their own distinct look and doesn’t make you think back to any of the planets the episodes introduced us too.

The film is loaded with amazingly choreographed action sequences. When it’s just a fighting sequence or a gun fight, Edwards does a great job capturing every ounce of action no matter how When Gareth Edwards work with small scale characters fighting against a CG effect of a bigger scale. He’s done it well with Godzilla and he’s done it well here. 90% of the CG mixes well with the characters. It’s something The Force Awakens perfected with as well. When you see the characters on land fight against classic weapons such as age At-At Walker, you are just blown away of how realistic it looks. Each action sequence shifts to a different genre than the Sci-Fi it’s classified as. There’s martial arts action and then full on war. By the climax, the film drastically turns into Saving Private Ryan mixed with The Magnificent Seven (2016).

I hate fan service in movies especially in large franchises, but boy this delivers nearly as much as Captain America: Civil War does. One of the biggest reveals in the film’s marketing was Darth Vader. James Earl Jones returns to do the voice work of the iconic character, but once he’s shown BOOOOOOOY! I dare you not to get giddy about it. Although he is unnecessary, Vader is bak and is displayed as a threat similar to Freddy Kruger in the first NIghtmare on Elm Street. The film even introduces him in all white fog from the light walking up like he’s a God, Even minor things Star Wars fans love will have something to get a kick out of. There is something for nearly everyone in this.

THE BAD: I have several major problems with the movie. For one our leads are very undeveloped. Jyn Erso is the audience’s avatar for this adventure and the film tries it’s best to flesh her out into a third dimensional character, but yet it fails to do so somehow. The film is paced way too fast to give her more of a personality than she is showcased to have. Casein Andor who I personally refer to as Han Manolo (if you have seen The Book of Life you’ll get it) isn’t that fleshed out as well which I think is for the best due to the fact that by it’s conclusion you would walk out depressed.

As much as the film’s visual effects are amazing there is one that is incredibly out of place. One of the important Star Wars characters in A New Hope was Grand Moff Tarkin played by Peter Cushing who passed nearly two decades. Since he was crucial to the story, the visual effects studio, Industrial Lights, and Magic came in to recreate him through CG and you can see it. It looks impressive but it isn’t impressive enough to not notice. It’s obvious that he’s CG and the film gives him a long amount of screen time and yet every time he appears you cringe onto how much the CG doesn’t mix well with actual human actors. I commend them for the effort, but it wasn’t effective enough.

Lastly Forest Whitaker. He’s not wasted but he’s barely in the film. He’s barely given anything to do, but when he’s speaking you don’t understand him for it doesn’t even sound like him. It feels as if he’s whispering all of his dialogue similar to Eddie Redmayne in Jupiter Ascending, but doesn’t hit the screw it route. Some of his character’s decisions are really some pretty bad ones where he ends up pulling a Man of Steel Kevin Costner. His relationship to Jyn is teased but never shown when you really want to know more about them which hurts the character development of Jyn in the process. 

LAST STATEMENT: Different from the rest of the Star Wars Episodes, Rogue One is a surprisingly dark yet brilliantly action packed and fun anthology film with beautiful visuals and new characters that proves Disney is still just getting started on their endless world building of their Star Wars franchise despite its underveloped characters.

Rating: 3.5/5 | 73%

Super Scene: DARTH MOTHERFU**ING VADER!