“Rogue One” Review
With an outstanding cast of Rebels and misfits, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is a much more realistic “Star Wars” film than the main “Skywalker Saga.”
With May the Fourth having come and gone, I’ve realized that I never got around to reviewing the Star Wars films that are outside of the nine-film “Skywalker Saga.” When Disney announced that not only would a sequel trilogy be made to continue the events of the beloved original Star Wars films, but that they would also be making live-action spin-offs, no one knew exactly what it would be like.
The closest thing that Star Wars fans had to anthology films, as they are now called, were two made-for-television Ewok films from the 1980s, neither of which are either remembered or acclaimed, and the 2008 animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” which served as a long pilot for the universally loved television series of the same name. So, when it was announced that the first anthology film, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” would show how the Rebel Alliance got the plans to the first Death Star, which would prove vital to the original “Star Wars” film, no one knew what to expect.
People were blown away by the film because of how realistic it was, since no Jedi are present, and just how spectacular the action was which is why “Rogue One” is a massively entertaining Star Wars film that was far more incredible than anyone could have possibly imagined.
Set right before the events of “Star Wars,” the film follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the daughter of a scientist in the Galactic Empire (Mads Mikkelsen) who is responsible for the design of the dreaded Death Star. Upon being recruited by Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) of the Rebel Alliance and a reprogrammed Imperial Droid named K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk), they go on a mission with a rag-tag group of rebels to find the plans for The Death Star because Jyn’s father put a weakness in the space station so that it can be destroyed.
While brief, the appearance of Darth Vader in “Rogue One” is as epic as it is terrifying.
What makes the film so investing is that it is much more realistic in the way it’s shot and just the overall mood of the film. There’s no Jedi, only a few minutes with Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) and most of the main characters are just normal people who have become engulfed in this conflict.
Despite being set in a galaxy far, far away with spaceships and blasters that shoot lasers, there’s a real tangibility to the entire film. Just as George Lucas was inspired by dogfights from WWII films when he made the spaceship conflicts in the Original Trilogy, it seems that Gareth Edwards was inspired by gritty war films when making “Rogue One.”
The film boasts a strong supporting cast with several colorful characters including K-2SO, a blind fighter named Chirrut with a strong faith in the Force (Donnie Yen), his guardian named Blaze who has a proficiency in firearms (Jiang Wen) and an Imperial Pilot named Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) who has defected to the Rebellion. All of these characters have strong personalities which results in a great clash of egos. K-2SO is constantly full of great one-liners and the banter between Chirrut and Blaze is fantastic.
Jyn and Cassian aren’t quite as interesting as the supporting players which is where the film leaves much to be desired. They’re not horrible by any means but they appear to be blank slates for the audience to insert themselves. And in a film with Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, who has been resurrected with CGI to look like Peter Cushing, the main villain of the film, Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), isn’t as interesting in a franchise that excels in making incredible bad guys.
But what the film lacks in strong characters, it more than makes up for with a strong sense of action. The third act of the film contains some of the most visually stunning action sequences in any Star Wars film with conflict in both space and on the ground. There’s spectacular dogfights with the action going from small ship to ship combat to pushing a large frigate into another and there’s never a dull moment.
The action of “Rogue One” is where the film excels, particularly with the third act which contains some of the biggest spectacles ever shown in a “Star Wars” film.
On the ground, there’s conflict on a beach with Imperial Stormtroopers and Rebels charging at each other in a scene straight out of “Saving Private Ryan” and, without giving anything away, there’s a scene involving Darth Vader that had my mouth hanging open in awe for two minutes straight. Just when I thought I’d seen everything involving one of the greatest villains in cinema, “Rogue One” gave me something new that was action-packed and just fantastic.
While not as epic in story as the other Star Wars films, “Rogue One” has enough action to satisfy a Star Wars fan as well as provide more of a unique perspective of the galaxy many film lovers know so well. Unlike the main “Skywalker Saga,” which has to be epic every single time, these Anthology films can be smaller in story. Sometimes, the best way to further explore a universe is just looking at a story that is more realistic and simple as opposed to an epic.
