Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first Star Wars Movie that is not a Saga movie, but instead answers the question “how did the rebellion learn about the Death Star and how did Leia get the Plans, which ultimately leads to its destruction in Episode IV.
Rogue One follows Jyn Erso, daughter of an imperial Scientist, and a Group of rebels that tries to find out what sort of super weapon the Imperium is building and how to destroy it.
Disney made it very clear, that this movie is going to be different. It’s not an “Episode” movie but instead is going to be different in tone, style and story. It is an Experiment.
And it was a success.
Short story overview (Spoiler):
Over the course of the first act, we get to know Jyns (Felicity Jones) past, her relation to her father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) and how she is freed from prison by Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his Robot and ends up with the rebellion. She has to help finding out what kind of super weapon the imperium is building and how Galen is connected to it.
On Jhedda a scavenger hunt to find an old ally Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) ensues and some more people tack along the gang, while on the imperial side Orson Krennic battles with Tarkin about the control over the Death Star, the rumored super weapon. With the destruction of Jhedda, the movie expands the hunt for Galen and the plans of the Death Star to several planets until the final act on Scarif, where the rebels must extract the Death Star plans from the Surface and it all ending in a huge 3-pronged battle, on land, the air and in space.
While the movie is still clearly Star Wars, with the colorful characters, the heroic underdog fighting against the overwhelming empire, the movie also feels very different in tone. From the very beginning the differences a clear, when the movie opens without the crawl and without the legendary theme. No mysticism of the jedi, no lightsabers or forceghosts. The movie solely focuses on warriors, soldiers fighting the dirty fight in the mud. It is the French Resistance during WW2 and not a fantasy story about Samurai and wizards. It is as much war as there ever was in Star Wars.
I think the movie does a great job introducing the characters and forming them into a group. The first act builds a great world and gives us the context of the story and the characters, so that we can lose ourselves in the movie. Jyn Erso, the reluctant protagonist, who just wants to save her father and doesn’t care much about the rebellion. Orson Krennic, ambitious imperial officer who wants to rise through the ranks and solidify his power with the construction of the Death Star.
On the other side, I feel the second act lacked some much-needed character developments. With so many characters, some of them must come short. And so, some characters like Donnie Yens Chirrut Imwe starts off interesting and there might be a cool backstory, but we never learn about it and so he and his companion kind of just tack along and follow the main characters. Except for Jyn and Cassian, all the characters seems to stand still.
And then there is the third act. Probably the best 3rd act in any Star Wars movie gives us the huge action-packed battle. While Jyn and co try to infiltrate an imperial base a battle ensues on the ground and the air, while space. The action is majestic and the stakes are as high as they could possibly be. It is here that the movie also does a great Job of connecting Rogue One to A New Hope. With old material from Ep IV used in Rogue One and CGI version of old characters the movie smoothly transitions into the original Trilogie. And yes, the CGI characters of Tarkin and others isn’t quite there to not be noticed. To me it still felt a bit off and I almost hoped they had used it even less, but it gives us hope that in maybe 10 years we can get to a point where we can see a version of a young Leia or Luke showing up in a movie.
In the 2nd trailer we saw that Vader would return. For maybe the last time we see him on the big screen. His screen time is deliberate, small but when he shows up it is too huge effect. He still is the menacing presence that no one can stand up against.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a fantastic addition to the Star Wars universe. It is a great movie that shows the universe beside the Jedi and the Skywalkers. The action is incredible, the setting beautiful and the story dirty and gripping. Everyone who is even slightly interested in Star Wars will definitely like this movie.
I can’t wait for Disneys next "Experiment" in Star Wars.
My rating: 9/10
I am one with the force and the force is with me.
I am one with the force and the force is with me.
I am one with the force and the force is with me.
