Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker

Directed by Gareth Edwards

The Story:
The Empire is building a massive, planet-destroying weapon known as the Death Star, and needs Imperial weapons developer Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) to finish it.  He's reluctant to join the Empire, and is taken by Imperial Military commander Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) against his will.  His young daughter, Jyn, manages to hide and is rescued by Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker).

Fifteen years later, Jyn (Felicity Jones) is recruited by the Rebel Alliance and joins a ragtag group of rebels to find her father and gather information on the Death Star.  Joining her is Intelligence officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Imwe (Donnie Yen) - a blind warrior who strongly believes in the Force, mercenary Malbus (Jiang Wen) who is also Imwe's best friend, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) - a former Imperial pilot who defects to the Rebels, and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) - a Rebel-owned Imperial enforcer droid with a dry wit and sarcastic nature.  Together they venture to the outer regions of the solar system to stop the massive weapon from destroying everything they know, and save the world from the evil Darth Vader.

The Synopsis:
Ever since Disney acquired the rights to the "Star Wars" franchise, people have been wary of the new pairing, expecting the Mickey Mouse company to dumb down the franchise and make it almost a cartoonish version of its old self.  When "The Force Awakens" was released, any fears were immediately squashed, as the film proved to be one of the best since the original trilogy - even if it's moreso a retelling of the original - which paid homage to the original as well as introduce new characters to further deepen the mythos of the series.

Then Disney announced three standalone films: one centering on the backstory of Han Solo, one about Boba Fett (which is the most famous bad guy ever in films to only be in the films for about a total of ten minutes), and one centering around the formation of the Death Star.  That is what "Rogue One" was: a tale of how the Death Star was created, and the story of a small group of Rebels who set out to destroy it.

The problem with prequels is that you already know the outcome.  Still, it's a fantastic tale filled with action, decent acting and great effects - for the most part. While it holds the title of "Star Wars," it doesn't wholly feel like a "Star Wars" movie.  Sure, there's the Death Star and Darth Vader (more on him later), but to me it was more reminiscent of "The Dirty Dozen," "The Magnificent Seven" and "Saving Private Ryan."  In essence, it is a war movie, which seems rather fitting since it's included in the title, but it could've passed for any ordinary war movie if it didn't feature small details true to the "Star Wars" universe.

There's no Jedi in the film, as the Jedi has still been mostly eliminated after "Episode III," and that's a big factor in having the film not feel like a "Star Wars" film.  Plus there's no light saber scenes until the end, and in a series where sabers are as frequent as water, that adds to the detraction of the "Star Wars" motif.  However, neither of these aspects takes away from the whole of the film, which beautifully serves as a bridge between "The Revenge of the Sith" and "A New Hope," so much so that you could immediately watch "A New Hope" after and wouldn't miss a beat. 

The effects of the film are spellbinding, as they incorporate the classic model ships as well as the latest in CGI animation to deliver a nearly pitch-perfect film.  The only big negative to this is the return of Grand Moff Takin, played by Peter Cushing in the original films.  Cushing passed away in 1994, and they used his digital likeness to bring him back to life for "Rogue One."  While it served as a potentially legal and ethical issue (can Hollywood use the digital likeness of famous passed on actors on a whim?), it also detracted from the film and took me out of the moment when I saw him, because it was so digitally enhanced around a group of common actors that it really stood out in a negative way.  Once again, though, it's just one small blimp in an otherwise impressive film.

Director Gareth Edwards is known for hiding the enemy in the shadows.  In "Godzilla," we hardly see the titular monster until the end, instead honing in on the characters and their plight.  In his highly underrated directorial debut "Monsters," he keeps the actual monsters in the background as he focuses more on personal dynamics.  With "Rogue One," he keeps to that mantra by focusing on the personal relationships of the main characters and keeps the ultimate villain - Darth Vader - in the peripheral.  That's not to say Vader (James Earl Jones returning to voice the most famous villain in movie history was an excellent touch) doesn't have a lot to work with.  The last scene with him alone cements his villainy and re-establishes him as a truly terrifying bad guy after being mostly neutered by the end of the original trilogy. 

The actors garnered for this film are a little off from the traditional "Star Wars" flare in the fact that there's some well-established, Oscar winning/nominated actors as well as the traditional nearly unknown actors that "Star Wars" is known for (Harrison Ford was a nobody before the original "Star Wars," as was Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, and Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were relative unknowns before "The Force Awakens").  Oscar nominee Felicity Jones plays the lead, and does so in a way that seems like every other female-centric action movie in recent memory.  She's tough-as-nails, determined, strong and resourceful, akin to Katniss Everdeen, Tris, or even Rey herself.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but seems rather redundant in light of previous strong female leads. 

The remaining actors do decent jobs in their roles, while the two standouts are Donnie Yen's Imwe and Alan Tudyk's K-2SO.  As the blind warrior Imwe, Yen exudes old fashioned fighting with a strong "Star Wars" centrist theme: a strong belief in the Force.  He can take out waves of Stormtroopers with ease, as well as maintain a witty, sarcastic attitude.  When he gets a bag put over his head to prevent him from seeing where they're going, he replies, "Are you kidding me?  I'm blind!"  One of the best lines of the film.

The majority of the other best lines belong to Alan Tudyk's sarcastic droid K-2SO.  Not since "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's" Marvin have I laughed so hard at a droid, as K-2SO delivers some of the best one liners an zingers in the film.  After Jyn shoots a similar looking droid, he asks her, "did you know that wasn't me?"  In another scene he tells Jyn "I'll be there for you," and Jyn looks at him quizzically, and he replies, "the Captain said I had to."  The best line was when he said, "Captain, there's a problem on the horizon...there's no horizon."  He adds the element of the cooky sidekick in a way that didn't annoy me or seem implausible to the plot, but rather organic to the character.

Speaking of quotes, the line that will reverberate throughout the history of "Star Wars" (along the lines of "The circle is now complete," "The Force is strong with this one," "Do, or do not, there is no try," and "Use the Force") comes from Jyn, when she faces the Rebel council and simply says, "We have hope.  Rebellions are built on hope!"  One of the major themes in "Star Wars" is hope, and to hear it said in such a plain, matter-of-fact way really drove home that theme and makes you further appreciate the films after seeing "Rogue One."

Many people say "Rogue One" is the best "Star Wars" film since the originals, but I tend to disagree.  While I do hold it higher than the prequels (lets face it, that's not a very high bar to set), I think "Force Awakens" was better than "Rogue One," in as much that "Force Awakens" felt more like a "Star Wars" movie.  While nothing can touch the originals (although a strong case can be made for "The Return of the Jedi" being rather weak because...Ewoks), "Rogue One" still stands tall in the "Star Wars" universe.  Oddly enough, it's also the only "Star Wars" movie to not be scored by the Oscar winning musical genius John Williams.

Ultimately, "Rogue One" did what "Star Wars" fans have been eagerly awaiting for since 1977: it answered some serious questions they had after seeing "A New Hope" and thinking there had to be something before.  We now know how Princess Leia got the Death Star plans, how the Death Star became fully operational, and most importantly, how to destroy it.  It might've took 39 years, but it was well worth the wait.

The Summary:
More a war movie than a "Star Wars" movie, "Rogue One" managed to connect events between the prequels an the originals in a way that was wholly organic and made sense in the expansive span of the "Star Wars" universe.

The Score: A