Movie Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story *SPOILER WARNINGS*

As soon as we were graced with the hype and experience that was "Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens", it wasn't long before the announcement of the newest addition to the Star Wars movie series heard. But instead of the expected announcement of the expected release of Episode VIII, we have instead an Anthology entry to the Star Wars universe. This normally wouldn't be a surprise to most of us fans, as Star Wars has an IMMENSELY expanded universe, both in the original Legend AU and the new canon through games such as Knights of the Old Republic, to the newest novel of Thrawn for the new canon.

But what makes Rogue One so surprising is that unlike the previous entries before, this is the first time we're getting a Theatrical Star Wars movie that isn't connected to the Star Wars Episodes, and as a HUGE Star Wars fan myself (which is obvious considering one of my two fics XD ), I've decided to leave my thoughts on the movie as an entry to the Star Wars mythos and as a movie on its own.

Be forewarned, there are SPOILERS abound:

Now, as for the story as a whole, it is GOOD, I have no doubt about that, it's a great movie. But for those of you coming into the theater expecting the original Space Opera feel of the original episodes, you may be a bit surprised.

In the original episodes, it emphasized the "Star" aspect of Star Wars, by creating a world based on the Fantasy aspect of the series, through the Force and Jedi, all having the campy feeling of fun and excitement you'd expect from a Spielberg movie.

Rogue One is NOT that kind of movie anymore. This time, it emphasizes the "Wars" aspect of the series, and that's exactly what this story is: A War Movie, and it's like this in spades.
While the Force and the Jedi are mentioned in this movie, the focus lies more with the fight with the Rebellion and the Empire, and the struggles that are undertaken during such conflicts.
And make no mistake, this movie is DARK, as it should be as a war movie. Heck, some scenes look like some of the modern-day conflicts that we’re having in the Middle East, with extremist factions attacking the Empire straight out of a scene from “BlackHawk Down”.
Even the Rebellion itself, which in the original series were played as the Ultimate Good, are presented in a very greying light, showing that they’re willing to resort to underhanded tactics, such as stealing, smuggling, assassinations, and even killing innocent people (with severe REGRET I might add) in order to survive against the Empire.
As a moral person myself, I cannot condone such actions on behalf, but who am judge the Rebellion in their struggles? This movie highlights the struggles of WAR, especially on the side of the Rebellion where it’s not just a political fight, but a fight for freedom and survival against the Empire, and unfortunately against such an enemy, fair fights don’t win wars.

Even the original Legend canon understood this fact as well:

"It's like you said: the Death Star had to be stopped. Just as the Empire must be destroyed. If that's going to happen, some of us have to get blood on our hands. We have to be willing to kill, and willing to die. It's not easy and it never will be. But I can tell you this much, Kyrell. It's easier than standing by and doing nothing."
-Wedge Antillies

As you can see, this movie is dark and gritty, but it’s not completely depressing.

For the story, it takes us back to one of the pivotal moments of the original trilogy that lead to the downfall of the empire: The theft of the plans of the Death Star.

The story begins when an Imperial scientist who has defected has been recaptured by the Empire and forced to complete the development of the Death Star against his will. His daughter, Jyn, who’s managed to escape such capture well within her adult years has found out that her father in secret has placed a weakness within the Death Star to ensure it’s destruction to prevent such a super-weapon from unleashing its terror against an unsuspecting galaxy.

Thus, it’s a race against time for the Rebellion to discover the weakness of the Death Star before it can unleash its destructive power against the rest of the galaxy, and a ragtag team of the Rebellion consisting of Jyn Erso (the daughter of the imperial scientist), Cassian Andor (a Rebellion intelligence officer), Chirrut Îmwe (A blind Monk who sees with the Force), K-2SO (an Imperial droid reprogrammed for the Rebellion), Baze Malbus (A berserker partnered with Chirrut), and finally Bodhi Rook (an Imperial pilot who has defected to the rebels).

Now as for the characters themselves, their actions in this movie are memorable, however their names are another story. With Force Awakens, it made the characters names easy to remember. I chalk it up to myself having trouble remembering names to begin with, but with the strange names that our characters possess, a lot of us may refer to their character archtypes, which is kind of a problem. Had to look up the characters afterwards to get their names down.

Despite the name problem however, the characters still have quite a presence and each have their moment to shine, especially in the Final Act when getting the Death Star Plans.

That said, it makes all the more tragic for what fate awaits them in the end, because there’s a reason why they don’t show up in the rest of the trilogy, and it’s not because of a lack of screentime.

I think my favorite characters of the entire Rogue One group are a tie between Cassian, Chirrut, and K-2SO.

Chirrut because he’s a tie to the mysticism of the Star Wars universe, showing that you don’t have to be a Jedi to use the Force to your advantage, and just like Toph and many other blind characters before him, he still manages to kick some ass despite being blind.

K-2SO was a character that I just loved to see onscreen. He’s polite like C-3PO, but with the snark of of HK-47, especially when it came to the odds of the mission (another SW throwback). Honestly, I would’ve loved to see him interact with the characters more, just to hear more of his quips.

Cassian, however, is probably my favorite COMPLEX character because of his inner struggles. He’s a soldier who’s done some….questionable things for the Rebellion, all in the name of survival against the Empire, and while he’s attempted to justify his actions, he still feels morally conflicted and makes the moral choice in a pivotal moment, even if it may seem like the most pragmatic and “right” choice at the time. I admire characters like that, who still feel regret for their actions and strive to atone, even if such actions “had to be done”.

What’s even more amazing about this movie that this is the first time that a character from the Clone Wars series (a cartoon) was transitioned to the Live-action movie series, in the form of Saw Gerrera, leader of the Onderan Rebels. That’s never been done before, and it shows that the writers are taking the Star Wars mythos seriously in how each character has a place in this universe.

As for the villains, I think this is where the movie shines the most.

Orson Krennic, the Imperial officer in charge of the weapons development of the Death Star, is definitely memorable, especially with that flowing cape of his. He’s definitely not like the other stereotypical Imperial Officers that have plagued the movies in the past, in that he KNOWS what he’s doing, and he feels damn confident about it. There is a REALLY funny scene in the final act, where there’s an attack happening on the base, where everyone is just staring out in awe, and he yells to everyone, “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR!? WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!!” That was especially hilarious.

What scenes especially had me grinning from ear-to-ear was the rivalry that he shared with Governor Tarkin over control over the Death Star. It’s not often that you see characters stand up to Tarkin without cowering in fear of their career or lives, and I was pleased that this character showed balls in front of Tarkin.

That being said, there are a LOT of nods and cameos in this film tying into A New Hope. The biggest ones are of course Governor Tarkin, Darth Vader himself, a brief shot of Princess Leia at the end, Mon Mothma, Senator Bail Organa, and both Red Leader and Gold Leader from the Death Star attack.

As for Tarkin being back, Peter Cushing’s likeness was brought back with the use of extensive CGI to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. It took me a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t makeup or a really convincing actor that it wasn’t a real actor, but a really extensive construction of CGI. A similar technique was done for Princess Leia, to bring back Carrie Fisher’s 1977 likeness.

The same couldn’t be said for Red and Gold Leader, as they were mostly just reused scenes from A New Hope with different backgrounds. Still impressive cameos though.

Now, this move with Tarkin has generated a lot of controversy about the use of CGI to essentially bring back characters from the dead back to the big screen, and I can see why. For Tarkin, what made him so memorable was Peter Cushing’s performance as both an intimidating, yet calm officer of the Imperial Army. Thus, is replacing him long after he’s gone with extensive CGI and a sound-alike voice actor a tribute, or simply stealing from the dead? Something to think about…

My personal opinion? I’m in the camp of it being a tribute, because you can’t have the construction of the Death Star without Tarkin overseeing it, and they did a damn good job at capturing Peter Cushing’s likeness.

Now, probably the biggest cameo that got me jumping in my seat was of Darth Vader, who only has two major scenes in the movie, but they are still leave an impact. James Earl Jones returns for his timeless role, and he doesn’t disappoint. He’s still creates a strong presence and fearful atmosphere whenever he speaks.

But perhaps the most memorable scene with Darth Vader is his final confrontation with the rebels at the end, and it is jaw-dropping, to say the least. It’s like something out of a horror movie, with the rebels caught between him and a malfunctioning door, and the curbstomps them despite everything they through at him, screaming for help as he effortlessly takes each rebel down one by one. This is not the sword-tapping narm charm from the New Hope, no.
This is Darth Vader: The Sith Lord fully realized, and it is amazing as well as horrifying.

As for the cinematography of this movie, it is excellent. The locations are a beauty to look at, all vibrant and beautiful to look at.
As for the action, it’s a little bit more intense than the last few Star Wars movies, even the prequels. You can actually FEEL the weight of the explosions as the stormtroopers are tossed around like rag dolls.
That being said, it makes sense that the action is more intense than the previous films, as this is more of a War movie, and the final battle on Scarif is probably one of the better land battle scenes I have ever seen in a Star Wars movie.

Overall, out of all the Star Wars films thus far, this probably one of the better films to come out. While the character’s names are hard to remember, and the jumping from planet to planet can be a bit jarring, this is still a fun, but still dark action film that’s sure to please any Star Wars fan.

Thus, I give this film a solid 9/10.

But what do you guys think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Comments

[LanceOmikron]

I was a little skeptical when Disney announced that they would release a Star Wars film every year. But when info for this movie started coming out, I changed my tune as I realized the simple genius of it: We'll get a Star Wars movie every year, but not every one of them will be a numbered episode.

For my part, I loved this movie. It was quite something to see another story set in the iconic Galactic Civil War period, and you could tell just how much love and respect the filmmakers had for the setting, given how much effort went into making sure that the feel of the overall aesthetics of the movie matched the original trilogy. From the locations, to the designs of the weapons, vehicles, and characters, Vader's scariness, and even recreating Peter Cushing and 70s!Carrie Fisher (Which I gotta say was pretty darn nifty). Not only did we get plenty of feel-good nostalgia, but we get to bear witness to the brutal reality of just what sort of day-to-day fight the Rebels had on their hands. Like you said, it's most definitely a war film, and it really nails the intensity of that sort of story.

So yeah, enthusiastic thumbs-up from me! I really look forward to seeing more Star Wars movies of this sort in the future. The universe is simply a goldmine for these sorts of compelling sidestories. Next up is the Han Solo movie, if memory serves. Can't wait! ^_^

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

I'm glad that you liked this movie, but I'm sorry to say that Rogue One is actually my least favorite of the new Star Wars movies. I found it crushingly boring, and a lot of the characters were just dull and uninteresting to me. When they killed off everybody at the end, I didn't care at all... I just felt a profound sense of disappointment, at the fact that I couldn't even care to remember Felicity Jones' character's name or why I should be sad about her dying...

And also, I felt that the movie just wasted Forrest Whittaker as Saw Gerrera. I couldn't understand a word he was saying!! He wheezed and rasped so much that he just came off as sounding like "The Godpigeon" from Animaniacs. I'm sorry, but that was the thought I had in the theater... he sounds like a parody of Marlon Brando, and that killed any chance of me investing in the character or his death.

Though, I will agree with you. The Darth Vader scenes were absolutely outstanding. (Especially seeing him choke Krennic - another character I unfortunately thought was wasted. He just came off as a whiny loser to me. Complaining about how Tarkin won't let him play with the Death Star or something.)

(Speaking of Tarkin, I'm glad you feel that way about the character's CG portrayal. I really hate the people who call it "grave robbing"...)